What is Agricultural Extension?

[Tom]

What is Agricultural Extension?

I asked my customer, a retired Extension Director, this the other day.

In a nutshell, he told me that it all began in 1862 with the Morrill Act.

The Morrill Act was to insure that our, largely agrarian society, had trained farmers to handle the free land being granted by the Federal Government in the Homestead Act.

To insure their education, each state was given 30,000 acres to sell for funds to support a college (referred to as a Land Grant College.  Along with the sciences and military training, it was primarily to teach Agriculture.

In 1887 the Hatch Act created a cooperative bond between the USDA and the Land Grant Colleges so that there would be available research funds for the Farmers. 

In 1914, the Smith-Levy act assured an administration and funding for the management of these funds and research projects.  Therein came the "Extension". 

Prodded on by the Market Crash the "Extension" has expanded over the years to fund 4-H Home economics projects, urban gardening, pest control, non-point pollution, non-agricultural projects, extension forestry in 1977.   Even Nutritional programs and community kitchens have been the results of the "Extension".

So when you speak with your Extension Agent, you are in touch with a long chain of Government backed agricultural research that goes all the way back to the Homestead act, Land Grant Colleges and President Lincoln.

[CHARLIE]

That'll teach you to ask a retired extension director something like that. I hope he served you coffee. :D

[SwampDonkey]

Must be similar to University of Maine's Cooperative extension. They do research in agriculture and other resources.

http://www.mac.umaine.edu/

[MSU_Keith]

Its amazing to think that the Morrill Act of 1862 was signed into law by Lincoln in the middle of the Civil War.  Good thing they had the forethought to envision the country post war.  The Confederate states weren't included in the original act - it wasn't until 1890 that a second version was passed for the south.

Note: Michigan State is the pioneer land grant college founded in 1855 by the state legislature upon which the federal program for land grant colleges was based (and still the best one IMHO).

[Bro. Noble]

The Univ. of MO. had a DanG good extension program till I went to work for them in 1967.  I was a couty agent and later an area Livestock and Farm Management Specialist. 

In addition to agriculture, the Home Ec. and 4-H programs were very important to rural areas.  When I was a youngster living in a remote area,  Mom's 'extension club',  4-H,  church,  and a weekly trip to town was the extent of our social life.

[SwampDonkey]

We used to have a Forestry extension until the former government came to power and canceled it. They used to put on courses in the winter months for the public on how to manage woodlots, wildlife, roads and so on. Some marketing boards have also stepped in to help put on courses. Now we have INFOR that was suppose to fill the gap and preserve and update the courses. They have been doing a fair job at it, but in my mind they have not quite filled the shoes of the Forest Extension. In late years though, it seems about impossible to get a good crowd to attend exhibitions, tours and courses around here. Some day it's going to all disappear and then it will be missed.  : :(

[Phorester]

Extension is still strong in VA.  We have active Extension agents in every county.  Usually each county will have at least a 4H agent and a specialist in some agricultural field.  Some counties have more.  One County I cover in my job has a family extension agent.  She teaches parenting classes, baby sitter classes, dietary classes, etc.  Locally we are a big apple producing area, and there has been a VA Tech Fruit Research Lab here specializing in all sorts of orchard related research since the 1940s.

About every forest management class taught in the State is backed up by the Extension office.  The Forestry Dept. at VA Tech, our Land Grant University, started Woodlot mgmt. courses in the late 1990s.  4-night courses on woodlot mgmt., wildlife mgmt., timber marketing.  I'm big on these.  We've had 5 in my area, starting the next one this January. They also have an online course now, run each spring.

For about 30 years they have had Forestry Bus Tours somewhere in the State each fall.  We usualy have one here about every 3 years.

The DOF Foresters and the Extension agents work hand-in-hand on all these.  Extension provides the support mechanism; a place for folks to register, collects the fees, does all the mailings.  We do the promotion and the teaching.

[Mr Mom]

     I have called mine here a few times with questions and all i got was we will call you back,but never heard back even after i called back.





     Thanks Alot Mr Mom

[Phorester]

That's not good, MR. MOM.  Like every other job, there's good ones and bad ones.  We've been fortunate in my area to have a couple of good ones that stayed for over 25 years each.  But I've heard horror stories similiar to yours and worse about both their predecessors.