October Announcements

by Amanda Graupner, Extension administrator for CES digital support 

The Land of Opportunity: A Conference for Farmland Owners brought together 68 participants from across the state to Wabash on Oct. 5 and Terre Haute on Oct. 6. Designed for farmland and woodland owners — including farmers, absentee landowners, people who live near their property and those who might inherit land — the conference addressed topics that shape Indiana agriculture.

Participants learned about farmland leasing, conservation practices, legal and tax considerations and communication with tenant farmers. The program reached an audience that agricultural education often overlooks: landowners, whose decisions affect the productivity and long-term sustainability of farmland.

A statewide team planned the conference, led by Jenna Nees, Courtney Schmidt, Beth Vansickle, Mathias Ingle and Ed Farris, with support from seven other Extension educators. Speakers and moderators from Purdue Extension, USDA, Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance and other organizations shared expertise. The North Central Extension Risk Management Education Center, through a USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture award, provided funding to reach a larger audience.

Participants said the conference introduced them to issues they had not previously considered. One left with a “to do” list to work through at home, and attendees at both locations asked when the next conference would be held.

Landowners left the conference with a new support system: Extension educators who understand the stresses and complex questions of owning land. One participant, for example, asked an educator for advice on how to approach creating a written lease with a family member. "We discussed ways to frame the lease as a tool for clear communication and long-term planning rather than a sign of distrust," the educator said. "I hope this participant, and others who attended the program, feel empowered to take steps that protect both their family relationships and their farmland interests."

by Amanda Graupner, Extension administrator for CES digital supportor

Since 2022, Purdue Extension professionals serving the South Region have delivered its version of Food Is Medicine nine times, reaching 110 participants across five counties in Indiana and Kentucky. Though Food Is Medicine programming is offered in various forms throughout Indiana, this approach has been tailored to meet the needs of southern Indiana communities. Most sessions have been held at the Purdue Polytechnic Building in New Albany, and others were hosted at Glick Apartment Communities.

Over 12 weeks, participants take part in lessons on nutrition, meal planning, food labels, food preparation, physical activity and healthy behavior change. Hands-on cooking demonstrations, weekly meal kits, practical tools and incentives help put what is learned into practice. Flexible sessions have included topics such as stress management, sleep, communication with healthcare providers, and accessible physical activity. Participants also complete health screenings at the beginning and end of the program, including measures such as blood pressure, A1C, and cholesterol.

The program addresses barriers — such as food costs, accessibility concerns and competing priorities —  that often make healthy behavior change difficult. It combines Purdue Extension and EFNEP curricula with grocery provisions and other supports, offered at no cost to participants through grant funding. The work has brought together Purdue Extension’s Health and Human Sciences & EFNEP teams as well as Baptist Health Floyd.

Program data has shown improvements in health measures for some, including blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI and A1C. Surveys also indicate that participants feel more confident in choosing and preparing healthy foods, adding movement to daily life, and sharing what they learn with others. Just as meaningful, the classes have grown into a community of support: participants exchange recipes, produce, resources and encouragement, and celebrate or support one another through life changes. As one educator said, “It has become a space where a lasting sense of connection, belonging and resilience thrives.” Reunion sessions, added in response to requests, help keep those connections going after the class ends.

by Olivia De Young, communications specialist

The Extension Communications Team is working with Ag Comm to develop a digital newsletter template in Cascade. More information will be shared by Dec. 1.

At this time, the best approach to sharing news digitally will be sharing information on regional Facebook pages.

Updates and more details will be provided in the Regional Teams Toolkit on the Hub when available.

by Amanda Graupner, Extension administrator for CES digital support

The Communications Team thanks staff for their support on the new regional Facebook pages. Three weeks after launch, the pages have a combined reach of 6,210 followers.

The Communications Team has received questions about the new pages and is developing an FAQ document that will be shared on the Hub in November. If you have any questions that are not yet addressed in the Regional Social Media Toolkit, please share them with Amanda Graupner at awoodrow@purdue.edu.

We want to reassure everyone that your day-to-day social media responsibilities have not changed at this time. Please keep running county pages and following current social media practices and expectations during this transition. Amanda will be reaching out to regions in the coming months to discuss sunsetting county pages or transitioning them to county 4-H pages.

If you have regional programming you want promoted on the regional page, please contact Amanda Graupner at awoodrow@purdue.edu.
For more information about regional pages, please visit https://extension.purdue.edu/hub/regional-social-media-toolkit/.

by Lily Thill, digital communications coordinator

Key Points

• Regional webpages will contain information about CD, HHS and ANR programming and regional team staffing. Lily Thill will manage these pages with content input from Regional Operations Leaders.
• 4-H web pages will remain in Cascade within the county environment (county folder structure). Counties must maintain a dedicated 4-H page that includes educator and office staff contacts, shared email addresses, office addresses and important information for families.
• The current process for posting county 4-H news and events will remain unchanged.
• Cascade users can add events and news stories that will appear on their static regional websites.
• Authors must add the correct regional tag at the bottom of every regional news and event form, using the exact tag name.
• If you need assistance adding a 4-H page or learning how to enter news and events, please email Lily Thill at morrrislc@purdue.edu.

As the 12 regional websites are developed, county educators and staff should be aware of several important changes and responsibilities related to website content in Cascade. While some Extension content will transition to the new regional webpages, 4-H will remain within the county environment. Understanding how these changes will affect county pages, news and events will help ensure that 4-H families and community members can continue to find the information they need.

Only Community Development (CD), Health and Human Sciences (HHS) and Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) will transition to the regional webpages. These webpages will be managed by Lily Thill. 4-H will remain within the county environment in Cascade, and no changes are being made to the current process for posting 4-H news and events.

County 4-H Pages Will Remain

With county homepages being phased out, each county will need a dedicated 4-H page within Cascade. Counties will receive information from Lily Thill and Jenny Clark by Dec. 1 with reminders for refreshing and maintaining their 4-H web page.

These pages will serve as an important resource for families seeking county-specific 4-H information. Each page should clearly identify the county’s 4-H educator, office managers and assistants, shared county email addresses, and county office addresses. Counties should also include any other relevant 4-H information that families may need when connecting with their local program.

Keeping this information current and accessible will help families know who to contact and where to go for support and information about 4-H in their county.

Adding 4-H News and Events in Cascade

The process for adding county 4-H news and events will remain unchanged. Authors should continue using the existing county folders in Cascade to publish content.

To add 4-H news, navigate to Extension-News > County > XXXX County > Year > Month. To add 4-H events, navigate to Extension-Events > County > XXXX County > Year > Month.

These established processes will continue to be used for county-specific 4-H content.

Posting News and Events on Regional Webpages

Anyone can add news and events content to the regional webpages by navigating to the appropriate regional folder.

To make edits to static regional pages, please reach out to Lily Thill (morrislc@purd.edu).

To publish regional news, go to Extension-News > Region > XXXX Region > Year > Month, select Add Content, and choose News Post. To publish regional events, go to Extension-Events > Region > XXXX Region > Year > Month, select Add Content, and choose Event.

When adding regional news or events, authors must include the appropriate regional tag at the very bottom of the news or event form. There are 12 regional tags available:

Central, East Central, North, North Central, Northeast, Northwest, South, South Central, Southeast, Southwest, Southwest Central and West Central.

Tags must be entered exactly as listed above for news and events to appear on the appropriate regional webpages. Authors should double-check their selections before submitting content to help ensure it displays in the correct location.

Questions

County educators and staff who need help learning how to edit 4-H Cascade pages or add news are encouraged to contact Lily Thill at morrislc@purdue.edu.

As the regional websites take shape, county staff play an important role in keeping local 4-H information accurate, accessible and up to date. By maintaining county 4-H pages and following the established processes for publishing news and events, staff can help ensure that families and community members continue to find the information and resources they need.

by Extension Communication Committee (Jenny Clark, Olivia DeYoung, Rachel Dillhoff, Amanda Graupner, Molly Hunt, Lily Thill, Walt Sell)

Over the past month, some educators have noticed that they are not able to see the Purdue-branded templates on their Marq accounts. The Communications Team recommends you take these steps to resolve the issue:

1. Make sure you submitted a Marq account request through Purdue Brand Studio at https://www.purdue.edu/brand-studio/toolbox/marq/.

You must request a license through Purdue Brand Studio to receive access to the Purdue-branded templates. If you sign up for an account directly on the Marq website, it will not be automatically linked to Purdue.

2. Check your spam folder for a Marq invitation from Purdue Brand Studio.

Sometimes the invitation to join the Purdue University license can go to spam. The invitation email should be along the lines of "NAME (email@purdue.edu) has invited you to join Purdue University in Marq and access the subscription benefits and shared assets/templates associated with their account."

3. Make sure to click the button to accept the invitation.

Accepting the invitation and doing so soon after receiving it should ensure your account is set up correctly and prevent the invitation from expiring.

4. Still not seeing templates? Reach out to who sent you the invite or submit a help request with Purdue Brand Studio.

Purdue Brand Studio fully manages the Marq licensing system. If there is an issue with your license, try reaching out to the person who sent you the invitation. You can also try submitting a request with Purdue Brand Studio to resolve the issue at https://www.purdue.edu/brand-studio/contact/request/general/.

5. For further questions or support, reach out to Olivia De Young.

If the issue is still unresolved after taking these steps, reach out to Ag Comm communications specialist Olivia De Young at odeyoung@purdue.edu. She can reach out to Brand Studio on your behalf to further investigate the issue.

Quick tip — Check out the new Extension templates in Marq

The Extension Communications Team has created some Marq templates especially for Extension staff. Some of the template options are social media graphics, printable flyers, monthly impact reports, business cards, and a regional newsletter. More designs may be added by request, if there is a need.

You can find the Extension templates on Marq at: https://app.marq.com/folder/invitations/accept/inv_c1b358e7-d24e-4fb6-b702-ce15a4c10686