The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
ANNUAL REPORTING FORM
 
Timothy Prather, Extension Specialist I
Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science
Annual Performance Period: January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006


A. SUMMARY AND IMPACTS.

1. Summary. Provide an overall summary (500 words or less) of your accomplishments during the reporting period.

Farm Safety Education in Tennessee: Farm safety programs include group meetings, youth farm safety day camps, news releases, newsletter articles, and the farm safety website. Major efforts of the farm safety program were related to supporting Extension agents and others involved in promoting tractor and machinery safety, including tractor overturn prevention, use of roll over protection structures (ROPS), safe operation of farm machinery on public roads. Other major topics included safe use of outdoor power equipment (chainsaws, lawnmowers, etc.), personal protective equipment and fire safety. I was appointed to represent UT Extension on the TN Department of Health Commissioner’s Core Injury Prevention Project committee. Three farm safety mini-grants were awarded to fund local projects using proceeds of the Goddard Farm Safety Fund. The projects were the ‘Farm Safety Store’ at the 2006 Milan No Till Field Day, Clay County Farm Safety Day Camp and Lincoln County Farm Safety Day Camp. These projects reached total audiences of more than 1,500 youth and adults.

Disaster Education in Tennessee: Activities included further development of the Tennessee EDEN website and presentations for group meetings. Represented Tennessee in the national Extension ‘Communication is Crisis Workshop’ to develop crisis management plans for state Cooperative Extension Services, and will be assisting in development of Tennessee’s plan. Hosted and served as chair of the 2006 EDEN Annual Meeting Committee for the meeting in Nashville Oct 31 – Nov 3, 2006.

Biosecurity in Tennessee: Assist the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency in conducting tabletop exercises to test the State’s plan (ESF16) for responding to animal emergencies. Assisted in these exercises as facilitator for the Extension table and developing GIS maps and data for the exercises in some cases, and in others I was an observer or evaluator.

Tennessee AgrAbility Project: My role as the Tennessee AgrAbility Project principle investigator includes coordinating the project activities with the four partners subcontracted to the project – Tennessee State University Cooperative Extension Program, Easter Seals in Tennessee, East Tennessee Technology Access Center (ETTAC), and Special Technology Access Resource (STAR) Center – and providing training and technical assistance with clients’ specific needs. AgrAbility addresses the needs of farmers, farm workers and family members with disabilities through three major program efforts: (1) direct, on-farm education and assistance, (2) enhancing professional competencies and (3) public awareness and education. The primary goal of the AgrAbility Project is to provide direct, on-farm services to assist farmers in identifying, developing and implementing methods for coping with disabilities. Project staff review accessibility and safety, and suggest ways to enhance productivity and prevent secondary injuries. The AgrAbility Project also assists farm families in securing funding and other aid to obtain needed assistive technologies and modifications. Project staff also trains to professionals regarding AgrAbility to increase their understanding of methods used to increase accessibility of homes, offices, businesses and farm buildings and equipment. Major AgrAbility Project activities during 2005 included planning AgrAbility Project and Farm Safety exhibits for various field days and meetings, including the Sunbelt Expo, and development of the Year 2 Continuing Increment Award proposal.

GIS and Site Specific Agriculture in Tennessee: Dr. Mike Buschermohle has assumed responsibilities for the UT Extension precision agriculture programming, while I have been focusing efforts on development of the GIS system for the agricultural emergency management project funded by Tennessee Department of Agriculture. This project will support the research and Extension GIS needs through online mapping and as a GIS data repository for the Institute of Agriculture. I have also been asked by the UT Agricultural Experiment Station to assist with GIS needs for the Little River Farm environmental assessment projects.


2. Impacts. List up to three significant impacts of your program. Impact statements should be one to three sentences and should be written in a way that would be meaningful to the public.

Farm Safety: More than 2,200 persons received information and training by participating in various Farm Safety programs, plus thousands more received information through displays and mass media. In addition, the Farm Safety website page requests were logged during the year. Collaborative youth farm safety education through the Progressive Farmer Farm Safety Day Camps has been popular in recent years. These programs target youth primarily in the 8 – 13 year old range. Five camps were held in Tennessee during 2005, reaching approximately 600 youth, plus their parents or guardians. Topics include basic tractor safety, fire safety, safety with outdoor power equipment, safety around large animals, and hearing and eye protection. Impact of the Farm Safety program is difficult to due to the unavailability of reliable statistics on farm workers health and safety. However, based on National Safety Council cost estimates for work-related injuries and deaths, savings resulting from prevented each work-related death and injury are approximately 980,000 and 28,000 dollars each, respectively.

Disaster Education in Tennessee: The Tennessee Extension hosted the 2006 EDEN Annual Meeting Oct 31-Nov 3, 2006 in Nashville, TN. Tennessee Extension also assisted and participated and I assisted Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) in tabletop exercises of Emergency Support Function 16 (ESF16), “Animal Care and Housing During Emergencies and Disasters.” About 15 county Extension agents and I participated in an agricultural disaster credentialing workshop sponsored by Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

AgrAbility Project: The AgrAbility Project assisted 12 new farmer clients through on-site visits and workplace assessments during the first two quarters of Year 1 of the project (April 2006 – Sept 2006). Several training workshops during the period for rural and agricultural professionals had audiences totaling 300 during the same period.



B. PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS (EXTENSION, RESEARCH AND TEACHING). As applicable, list title, names of participants (PIs, Leaders, Co-PIs, Co-leaders, Collaborators etc.), project number, sponsor, your role ( leader/co-leader/collaborator) and your percent effort on the project as stated in the project description or document.

Tennessee AgrAbility Project. T.G. Prather, principle investigator; Easter Seals in Tennessee (contractor). Project No. 2005-41590-01366. USDA CSREES. Principle investigator of the project and liaison with Tennessee State University, Easter Seals, East Tennessee Technology Access Center, and Special Technology Access Resource Center staff. Time commitment is 0.17 FTE.

C. INSTRUCTION, TEACHING AND EXTENSION EDUCATION. Detail credit and non-credit instruction and teaching activities.

1. College credit instruction. List courses in which you were an instructor or guest lecturer during the current calendar year. Include special topics, independent study and internship courses. Provide course number and title, your involvement, semester(s), credit hours and number of students. Please append a summary of teaching evaluations (student and/or peer) if this information is available.

Course number and title Involvement Semester Credit
hours
Number of
students
         

2. Formal continuing education (certification programs, seminar series, in-service training, field days, faculty and/or staff training, journal club, etc.). Provide descriptive title of activity, your involvement, number of participants or students involved, number and duration of each session.

Descrip. title, including dates Involvement Number of students
or participants
Number of
sessions
Duration of each
session (hours)
Equipment Safety and Chemical Handling Inservice Training, hosted by TSU Cooperative Extension. Presented Personal Protective Equipment selection, assisted with dry fertilizer application calibration exercises. 03/22/06.Team2021
UTAES Technicians Training. Knoxville, TN. 03/21/06Team2011

3. Extension presentations and workshops. Indicate title, type, and scope of presentation; number of times presented; attendance estimates. Include evidence of effectiveness (e.g. evaluation summaries) where applicable.

Title/Type of presentation Scope Number of times presented Total attendees
Exhibits for Tennessee AgrAbility Project at Tobacco Field Day. 02/09/06. Springfield, TN. Multi-county1100 
Presentation and discussions with Cherokee National Forest staff on applications of Internet mapping for recreation in the South Unit of Cherokee National Forest. 01/10/2006. Tellico Plains, TN. Multi-county1
Exhibits for Tennessee AgrAbility Project at Mid South Farm & Gin Show. Collaborative display with Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee AgrAbility Projects. 03/03-04/06. Memphis, TN. Regional1200 
Training students to use GPS and mobile GIS for navigation in intensive soil sampling project at UT Little River Farm. 04/11/06. Maryville, TN. County1
Tractor safety presentations for elementary school students attending Monroe County Farm-City Day. 05/03/06. Vonore, TN. County12400 
Farm safety exhibit as part of the ‘Farm Safety Store’ safety tent at the 2006 Milan No Till Field Day. 07/27/06. Milan, TN. Regional11000 
Farm visit to evaluate disabled farmer’s needs for tractor controls modifications. 08/29/06. Friendship, TN. County1
Farm safety presentation for Big Springs Community Club. 09/11/06. Greenback, TN. County112 
Farm safety presentation for Big Springs Community Club. 09/11/06. Greenback, TN. County112 
Well pump testing and field measurements for irrigation planning at Maryville Christian School. Accompanied by Brian Leib. 09/18/06. Maryville, TN.County1

4. Public addresses to lay audiences (TV/radio presentations, service groups, etc.). Indicate title, type, scope of presentation; number of times presented; attendance estimates. Include evidence of effectiveness (e.g. evaluation summaries) where applicable.

Title/Type of presentation Scope Number of times presented Total attendees
       

5. Presentations at professional meetings, without published abstracts. List presenter, co-authors (if any), title, date and name of meeting (list scientific oral or poster presentations having published abstracts or proceedings at D5).

Prather, T.G. 2006. Safety and Standards Considerations When Modifying Machinery Controls. ASABE Paper No. 065002. ASABE, St. Joseph, MI. Presented at ASABE International Meeting, Portland, OR. 07/10/06.

Prather, T.G. 2006. Online Safety and Ergonomics Course for Nontraditional Students in the M.S. Agricultural Operations Management Program. ASABE Paper No. 065008. ASABE, St. Joseph, MI. Presented at ASABE International Meeting, Portland, OR. 07/10/06.

6. Student mentoring. Fill in the boxes to indicate number of students in each category.

Level of students No. of students advised No. of active graduate committees on which you served as:
Major professor Committee member
Undergraduate      
Masters      
Doctoral      

7. Student or commodity club activities (e.g. club advisor, team competitions, honor or professional societies, etc.). List the club or group; your role with the club or group; and the activities, honors or awards received by this group under your mentorship.

8. Other instructional and teaching activities.


D. PUBLICATIONS. List only publications that were published during the annual reporting period (for #8, submitted during reporting period). Format citations as typical and appropriate for outlet. If a co-author(s) is a student or was working under your direct supervision, place an asterisk after that person's name.

1. Refereed articles or refereed reviews appearing in peer-reviewed professional journals.

2. Book chapters or books.

3. Bulletins, reports, circulars, pamphlets, factsheets.

4. Popular press, trade, UTIA magazine or newsletter articles.

5. Abstracts from scientific or discipline meetings, papers from conference proceedings, etc.

Prather, T. G., and Dennis Welton.  2006.  Safety and Standards Considerations When Modifying Machinery Controls.  ASABE Paper No. 065002. ASABE, St. Joseph, MI.

6. Theses/Dissertations completed by students that you directed.

7. Other publications.

8. Articles submitted during the reporting period that are in review, in press or rejected. Please do not list articles in preparation.


E. FUNDING. Format each entry as a citation, include as applicable: investigators (with percent effort shown on grant or contract document), title, source/agency.

1. Grant and contract proposals submitted but not awarded during this reporting period. Indicate date of submission and status (still pending, rejected).

2. Grants and contracts awarded during this reporting period. List inclusive period of support (start and end dates) and total amount of award.

3. Grants and contracts awarded in past years that continued into this reporting period. List inclusive period of support (start and end dates) and total amount of award.

Prather, T. G. (50%), J. S. Sowders (50%).  Development of a Tenn. Agric. Emergency Mgt TAgEMS.  TDA.  3/1/04-2/28/06.  $235,430.

Prather, T. G. (100%).  Tennessee AgrAbility Project.  USDA SCREES.  4/1/05-3/31/06.  $150,000.

Prather, T. G. (50%), Family & Consumer Sciences (50%).  Tennessee AgrAbility Project - Dining with Diabetes.  USDA CSREES.  1/1/06-7/31/06.  $40,000.

4. Gifts. List recipients, donor, items or amount donated and dollar equivalent received during the reporting period.

5. Grant reports submitted. List authors, title, to whom submitted, date submitted.

White, J.T. and Prather, T.G. Tennessee AgrAbility Project Year 2 report. CSREES. Dec, 2006.

6. Other (e.g. sales, royalties).


F. OTHER CREATIVE ACTIVITIES.

1. Tech. advances (intell. prop., patent, copyright, products, processes, genetic lines/varieties).

2. Computer software (e.g. instructional or research software, CD ROMs).

3. Educational tools.

4. Internet activities.

Prather, T. G.  2006.  Tennessee EDEN website. 

Prather, T. G.  2006.  Tennessee AgrAbility Project website. 

Prather, T. G.  2006.  UT Extension Agricultural Safety website. 

5. Other creative products and activities.


G. SERVICE. List client outreach activities (both public and private sectors) and professional service.
    
1. Client service.
 a. Commodity or discipline group service activities. List committees, offices held or other roles.

b. Clinical and diagnostic services. List type of service provided and client(s).

c. Service to individual producers, businesses, or corporations as a specialist, consultant or expert advisor (whether paid or unpaid). List your one-on-one service activities with this group of clients.

Assisted farmers and other tractor owners with dynamometer testing of tractors for the purpose of determining performance and making needed adjustments at two events in 2006.

Assistance for Tennessee AgrAbility Project clientele. Includes assistance with on-site needs assessments, and assistance in planning and implementation of assistive technologies (examples include farm machinery equipment access aids, such as improved steps, and controls modifications such as clutch hand levers).

d. Other (e.g. Ag Day activities, Varsity Visit, judging, presentations at clubs and K-12 schools).

Vocational Agriculture CDE (Skills Day): Masonry contest coordinator.

Ag Campus Open House: Assist in coordination of antiques tractor and engine exhibits.

Ag Day: Assist in coordination of antiques tractor and engine exhibits.


2. Professional service (for professional colleagues).
a. Within the university.
I. Committee work. Briefly describe your involvement during the reporting period.
i. University.

UT GIS Support Committee, representing UTIA.

UT Homeland Security Interest Group, representing Extension.

ii. UTIA.

UT Extension Biosecurity Priority Team. Co-chair.

UTIA Biosecurity Coordinating Committee. Extension representative.

UTIA Safety Committee.

UT Little River Dairy - Assisting in GIS aspects of environmental monitoring.

iii. Department.

Campus Chest department coordinator – Coordinate the collection of faculty and staff contributions for the annual UT Campus Chest charitable campaign.

Review for Use of Human and Other Animal Subjects in Research Committee for the department.

II. Other (e.g. technical assistance to colleagues, peer reviews,
mentoring of junior faculty, hosting visiting scientists).


Assisted departmental staff with some aspects of learning ArcView GIS and ArcPad data collection software.

b. Outside the university (e.g. committee work/offices in professional or public organizations or societies, editorship, editorial boards, review of manuscripts (indicate outlet) and project proposals (indicate agency), meetings organized, member of grant review panel or study section, moderator, etc.).

Tennessee Section, ASAE – Chair, 2006-2007; Chair-Elect, 2005-2006.

Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) – Host and chair of 2006 EDEN Annual Meeting Committee for the national meeting to be held in Nashville, TN on Oct 31 – Nov 3, 2006. Member of EDEN Executive Committee due to committee chair roles, and participate in monthly conference calls and mid-year Executive Committee planning meeting.

Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) and Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) – Assist in planning and conducting tabletop exercises for of Emergency Support Function 16 (ESF16), “Animal Care and Housing During Emergencies and Disasters.”

Foothills Antique Tractor and Engine Club – Newsletter editor and author of monthly safety and technical articles.

Smoky Mountain Antique Engine and Tractor Association – Host club meetings at UT Ag Campus and assist with organizing and hosting exhibits for UTIA Open House and Ag Day.


H. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (meetings, workshops, classes, trips, etc.). List the event or activity, sponsor, duration of event and your role.

AgrAbility Project 2006 National Training Workshop, Jackson, MS. Nov 13-16, 2006.

UT Extension Staff Development Conference, Knoxville, TN. Nov 11, 2006.

Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) 2006 Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN. Oct 31 – Nov 3, 2006.

Ag Terror Train the Trainer Workshop for Foreign Animal Disease Animal Emergency Response, Memphis, TN. Aug 30, 2006. Sponsored by Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

Communications in Crisis Workshop, sponsored by USDA-CSREES, Extension Disaster Education Network, K-State Research and Extension, and National Center of Food Protection and Defense. Kansas City, MO. July 17-18, 2006.

ASABE 2006 International Meeting, Portland, OR. July 10-12, 2006.

TN Section ASAE Annual Meeting, Knoxville, TN – June 13, 2006.

GIS Metadata Workshop, Knoxville, TN. Hosted by UT Geography Department. Sponsored by Tennessee Geographic Information Council. March 23-24, 2006.

TN Federal GIS Users Group Meetings, Cookeville, TN – quarterly meetings to share information regarding various agencies’ GIS activities in Tennessee.


I. PERSONNEL SUPERVISION. List the postdoctoral fellows, research associates, research assistants, technicians, extension associates, extension assistants, graduate assistants, undergraduate students, clerical personnel or others that you supervised during the year.

ClassificationFTE's per semester
SpringSummerFall
Postdoctoral fellows      
Research associates, assistants, technicians      
Extension associates, assistants      
Graduate students, assistants      
Undergraduate students      
Clerical personnel      
Other      


J. HONORS AND AWARDS. List honors and awards received during reporting period, including the name of the organization presenting the award.