Role of Extension in Agriculture Nicholas Kenny Texas AgriLife Extension Service – Amarillo 7 July 2010 – USDA - Bushland Improving Lives. Improving Texas.

What is an “Extension Service”? The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia® Copyright © 2007 An Extension Service, or Cooperative Extension Service, is a publically supported, informal adult education and development organization. Established in 1914 by the Smith-Lever Act. It constitutes one of the largest adult education programs in the world and consists of three levels of organization—federal, state, and county. Its overall objective is to plan, execute, and evaluate learning experiences that will help people acquire the understanding and skills essential for solving farm, home, and community problems. This objective is met through educational programs that make use of research findings emanating primarily from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the state land-grant colleges and universities, The Extension Service also sponsors Four-H Clubs, organizations for boys and girls from 9 to 19 years of age.

Extension’s Role in Agriculture Extension Ag. Producer ExtensionResearch

“Hard” Extension Funding Federal Funding State Funding

“Soft” Extension Funding - Grants Federal Grants State Grants Commodity Groups Industry

Extension Structure State Region County

Agricultural Focus Areas Irrigation Economics / Risk Management Agronomy Pathology Entomology Animal Feeding Operations Range Management Environmental Energy

Extension Methods

Region Wide Demonstrations Photo Credit: Texas AgriLIFE Extension Office: Randall County 12 / 200 Corn Soil Moisture Sensors Irrigaid Gold Soil Surfactant Smart Crop (IRT)

County and Regional Meetings Multiple Hour  Full Day Meeting High Level Presenters – Specialists, Industry, Producers Audience – Farmers, Industry, Gov’t, Public, Children Hands on Results Demonstration Field Tours Trade Show

County and Regional Meetings Wheat Heart Wheat Field Day – Perryton, Texas North Plains Cotton Meeting – Etter, Texas Sub-Surface Drip Irrigation Field Day – Halfway, Texas Dairy Producers Meeting – Hereford, Texas Master Gardener’s Short-course – Canyon, Texas Sherman County Ag. Day – Stratford, Texas

Informational Web Sites

Personnel Web Sites

Fact Sheets / Publications

Videos - Tutorials

Hands-on Evaluations / Consultation

One-on-One Interaction Phone Calls Site Visits Office Visits

Extension’s Role in Agriculture Extension Ag. Producer ExtensionResearch

Nich Kenny Program Specialist – Irrigation Engineering Amarillo Research and Extension Center 6500 Amarillo Blvd. West Amarillo, TX