Publications

Bottle feeding kids and lambs is a critical skill for small ruminant producers. When done correctly, these animals can grow into healthy additions to the flock. Mistakes in bottle feeding can lead to sick or dead kids and lambs. This factsheet offers detailed instructions on how to properly bottle feed lambs and kids. Authors: Maegan Perdue and Susan Schoenian Title: Bottle Feeding Kids and Lambs (FS-1157)

Volunteer recognition is one of the seven steps to volunteer administration according to the ISOTURE Model. It is often an overlooked aspect of volunteer development, but can play an important role in creating a sense of belonging in volunteers and a culture of appreciation in your program. This factsheet using The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Work Place to identify ways to help professionals and others show appreciation to volunteers.

This infographic showcases themost important finding from a survey amongh farmers in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States about nontraditional water use, including water reuse, in agriculture.

This fact sheet describes the results from a survey which assessed farmers' opinions regarding notraditional water use for agrriculture in the Mid-Atlantic United States.

A basic understanding of common agricultural practices is important for agricultural service professionals and advisors to possess. Because these professionals are making decisions on conservation and production practices, their understanding of how these practices work on the farm can influence the recommendations and cost-share decisions they make.

Children's mental and behavioral health is affected by the quality and regularity of their daily routines. This fact sheet addresses four simple routines that families can incorporate into their lives to support their children's mental health. Author: Alexander E. Chan, Ph.D., LCMFT; Title: Four Basic Routines for Children’s Well-being (EBR-53).

Vitamin D is an important nutrient that helps keep bones healthy and allows muscles and nerves to work properly. It also supports immune system function. Vitamin D can be sourced through foods and supplements, as well as sun exposure. Of late, there has been a lot of attention to the role and function of vitamin D in the context of obesity, prevention of cancer, hypertension, and type II diabetes. Vitamin D is also involved in a variety of cells within our body. The amount of vitamin D that people need each day varies depending on age, lifestyle, and certain health conditions. Dietary sources and vitamin D supplements can meet this requirement, though dietary sources are more commonly preferred. This fact sheet will help you understand how much vitamin D you need, how it affects overall health conditions, and the major vitamin D sources. Authors: Hee-Jung Song, Mona Habibi, Dhruti Patel, and Harley Kappey; Title: Vitamin D: Deficiency, Relevant Health Issues and Major Sources (FS-1146)

The monarch butterfly needs help from all the people and businesses across the country, not just a few. As researchers discover the direct effect of the decline of these amazing insects, we the people need to take action to help correct the problem. The purpose of this Extension Fact Sheet is to help eliminate one threat to the monarchs; uneducated humans. Humans that do not know what the monarch butterfly looks like in the caterpillar stage will oftentimes kill it when they find it in their garden. Knowing what the life stages of the monarch butterfly looks like, and protecting them allows another monarch butterfly to reach maturity, meaning it can then lay more eggs to produce more butterflies. Saving one butterfly at a time. Author: Doris Behnke; Metamorphosis: The Life Stages of a Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed in North East, Maryland ((FS-1144)

In 2020, the pandemic brought much upheaval to life as we previously experienced. Cancellation of events, such as county fairs and shows presented unique challenges to 4-H members. The youth did not have the usual opportunities to interact with and educate the public about their 4-H projects. Communication skills that are the hallmark of 4-H and county fairs as a forum to develop those abilities by interacting with the public fell by the wayside. Youngsters no longer had the usual earning potential for the hard work they invested on their projects. Without 4-H fairs and shows, premiums and monies generated from the sale of products were severely limited or not possible at all. The 4-H program, like basically all of life, had to be done in unique ways in learning to market 4-H projects.

This fact sheet explores anger related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also provides strategies that readers can use to manage anger alone and in relation to others. Author: Alexandar E. Chan, Ph.d., LMFT; Title: Managing Anger (FS-1152)