Computer Generated Presentation with Script

This PowerPoint presentation evolved to address issues producers were having following several years of significant drought in Arizona. I created the first version of this presentation and presented it at three of my county-level Cooperative Extension workshops that focused on livestock production during drought. I was also invited to present it at the Cowman’s Reproductive Workshop in Alton, UT during the fall of 2018. Following that, I created this updated and more comprehensive version for the 2019 Range Livestock Nutrition Workshops, a yearly series of workshops that take place around the state of Arizona. For 2019, those were held in Willcox, Prescott, and Holbrook (a roundtrip journey of 720 miles over three consecutive days). A total of 157 producers attended across the three locations. Forty-one percent of evaluations were returned, and the average producer rating for this presentation was a 4.3 (1 = not valuable and 5 = valuable). When designing this presentation, I kept slides interesting by using a variety of images (all photos included in this slide set have been taken by me) and minimizing text. I prefer to incorporate short, memorable bullet points and use stories and discussion to further clarify meaning and reinforce important points. The goal of the presentation is for producers to understand the impacts of drought beyond just a lack of forage or water and that they should create a plan before it’s needed to mitigate or respond to drought. By planning ahead (even during wet years) and being pro-active, they can protect their livestock production, preserve rangeland conditions, and reduce financial risk to the operation. The most impactful results are that 100% of producers who attended the 2019 Range Livestock Nutrition workshops indicated the material improved their awareness of the topics covered and provided new knowledge. Ninety-eight percent will adopt one or more practices, 95% thought the material provided new skills, and 85% felt it modified their opinions or attitudes. This slide set will continue to be used at extension events throughout 2020 to encourage producers to prepare for the next inevitable drought.