News
 Welcome To NIFA
By Carlos Harris
Marietta Pannell joins NIFA’s Budget Office as a budget analyst. Her focus will be on the research and education portion of the agency’s
budget. Marietta has held various positions within NIFA, the USDA, and private
industry. She has had involvement with
aspects of budget and accounting systems throughout her career. In her
spare time, Marietta is an active member of the National Association of
Professional Women. Marietta is located in room 1346. Stop by and
say hello.
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Put
Your Old Running Shoes to Good Use
By Dawanna James-Holly
The
USDA Running and Walking Club (RWC) is sponsoring a used athletic shoe drive in
honor of Dr. Martin Luther King and the National Day of
Service.
The
worn-out or broken athletic shoes will go to The
Nike Reuse Shoes Program, which recycles them and transforms them into
material used in athletic and playground surfaces and other products.
The club
will accept running and soccer shoes sizes 6-12. The club’s goal
is receive 400 shoes. The shoe drive runs until July 31. You can
drop your used shoes off with Dawanna James-Holly in room 2450.
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The Office of Grants and Financial Management Visits Langston University
Allison
Owens, Cynthia Montgomery, and Dr. Terry Gibson at the American Institute
for Goat Research at Langston University.
 Dionne Toombs is the New Director in the Office of Chief Scientists
Dr. Dionne Toombs assumed the post of Director in the
Office of Chief Scientist on May 15. She is no stranger to REE, having served
as NIFA’s Director for the Division of Nutrition. There, she has provided
national leadership for research, extension, and education programs, both
within her division and the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI)
nutrition programs. Toombs worked closely with Dr. Ann Bartuska, Acting REE
Under Secretary, to develop the Promise Zone Round 3 proposal and selection
process.
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Fun in the Sun
Bill Hoffman and Patricia Myers take photos with Secretary Sonny Purdue at the USDA Family Day, June 24.
 What Wild Bees Need
A new national assessment
estimates that wild bees declined in 23 percent of the contiguous United States
between 2008 and 2013. The team of Project ICP
researchers, led by Insu Koh at the University of Vermont, found that
the decline was generally associated with conversion of natural habitats to row
crops. Areas of intense agriculture (e.g., the Midwest Corn Belt and the
Central Valley of California) have among the lowest levels of predicted wild
bee abundance.
The study,
published in the December issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, shows that 39 percent of the U.S. croplands that depend on
pollinators—from apple orchards to pumpkin patches—face a mismatch between
rising demand for pollination and a falling supply of wild bees. As the acreage
of pollinator-dependent crops expands, the concurrent loss of natural habitat
leads to lower abundance of the wild bees needed to pollinate these crops. To
maintain stability in pollinators, crop pollination, and yields of these crops,
the authors suggest that farmers may need to maintain or enhance habitats for
wild bees on and around their farms or invest more heavily in managed
pollinators.
Read more in this ICP blog.
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 Study to Examine Pest-Management
Effects
An entomologist in Penn State’s College of Agricultural
Sciences has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study
and compare how various pest-management regimes affect the health of soils. John
Tooker, associate professor of entomology, will lead the project, titled “Exploring Soil Health and Pest Management Trade Offs to Maximize Crop
Productivity.” Read full Morning Ag Clips article.
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Throw Back Tuesday – 1997 FFA Career Show – Kansas City,
Missouri
By Judy Rude
Susan Bowman and I,
represented CSREES at the 1997 FFA Convention (Future Farmers of America) and
Career Show. The show attracted thousands to the Kansas City Convention Center. It took kids two days to see the entire Career Show. Exhibitors came from
all over the United States to talk and show the FFA members different
agricultural careers that were obtainable to them. Exhibitors included: federal and state agricultural agencies,
land-grant universities, farm equipment manufacturers, corporate manufacturers,
Ford, Chevy, and Dodge automotive, John Deer and Massey Ferguson tractors, even
law enforcement. Oh, can’t leave out the Oscar Meyer Weiner
truck, and those great hot dogs. Every year the Ford Company filled the bed of a pickup truck with delicious red apples, everyone stopped by for a treat. Each year we
made many friends, contacts, and networked with so many people. It was
well worth all the hard work and effort to set up the exhibit.
Your New Hires
Won’t Succeed Unless You Onboard Them Properly
By Allsion M. Ellis, Sushil S. Nifadkar, and Berrin
Erdogan
It used to be that onboarding was a process of just a few
days, but new research shows that spending as much as a year helping new
employees get up to speed in the workplace is necessary to capitalize on
the skills, knowledge, and excitement they bring to the organization.
What’s more, companies with successful onboarding programs are not just more
likely to retain their new hires but even report measurable profit growth.
Read full Harvard Business Review article.
What’s Your TSP Plan
When the Stock Market Crashes?
By Mike Causey
Do you remember what you did when the stock market
crashed in 2008? The one we now call the Great Recession? Or the time before
that? Or before that? That big one lasted a long time and it did a number on a
lot of investors. Read full Federal News Radio article.
Changing Company
Culture Requires a Movement, Not a Mandate
By Bryan Walker and Sarah A. Soule
Culture is like the wind. It is invisible, yet its effect
can be seen and felt. When it is blowing in your direction, it makes for smooth
sailing. When it is blowing against you, everything is more difficult. For
organizations seeking to become more adaptive and innovative, culture change is
often the most challenging part of the transformation. Read full Harvard
Business Review article.
 Second Lady Karen
Pence, Secretary Perdue Unveil Beehive at Vice President’s Residence
On June 6, Secretary Perdue joined Karen Pence, wife of
Vice President Mike Pence, to announce the installation of
a honey beehive on the grounds of the Vice President's residence in Washington,
D.C.
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 Have a Save and Happy Independence Day
"The Beet" will be taking the day to celebrate. The next issue of "The Beet" will be in your mailbox July 5. Enjoy the holiday.
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