Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Good morning. We want to spend a few moments this morning talking about Extension, Outreach, and Education from the perspective of the Department of Agriculture. Extension, Outreach, and Education from USDA

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Disclaimers Two disclaimers: What follows is from the perspective of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) For our purposes this morning, “Extension, Outreach, and Education” are equivalent to “non-formal adult education”

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Smith-Lever Act 1914…United States Congress passes legislation to “ to aid in diffusing among the people of the United States useful and practical information.” The means to accomplish this are the land-grant universities.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service LGUs* and Extension land-grant institutions land-grant institutions land-grant institutions 7 Land-grant institutions in Districts, Commonwealths, or Territories (* LGU = Land Grant University)

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service The Cooperative Extension “System” Federal Partner = USDA State Partner = LGU’s Local Partner = Counties (~3,150) Ultimate Partner = American Citizens

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Note on the Partnership CES is the largest, and arguably the best, non-formal adult education system in the world. Major reason for success: State and local governments decide which state and local issues to address.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Some Mechanics USDA  MOU  States States  MOU  Counties Matching Dollars

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Counties and Citizens Counties  Volunteers Volunteers????

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Anecdote Number 1 A few years ago, USDA’s Forest Service was battling a serious disease problem, “Sudden Oak Death ( Phytophthora ramorum ).” They needed hundreds of additional trained “scouts,” but did not have the resources to get them. Solution? Extension Master Gardeners. 150,000 of them.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Anecdote Number 2 4 -H: utilizes more than 3 million adult person days of volunteer assistance each year. This is equivalent to adding another federal agency that employs 11,500 people.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service What Gets Extended? Objective, unbiased, science-based information Formerly, most information came from State Agricultural Experiment Stations at LGUs Currently, information may come from SAES or from many other sources.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service How does information get “extended?” Through the delivery of educational programs in one shape, form, or another CES (the Cooperative Extension System) does not provide technical assistance.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Types of Educational Delivery Courses: traditional and on-line Brochures, fact sheets, and the like: hard-copy and on-line Demonstrations 4-H, Master Gardeners, Master Fishermen, etc., ongoing programs Phone-in Q and A service

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service More Educational Delivery Farm, home, business visits Radio, newspaper, trade journal items, And,

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Educational Delivery Systems THE WEB!

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service eXtension Communities of Practice Beef CattleBeef Cattle, Consumer Horticulture, Corn and Soybean Production, Cotton, DAIReXNETConsumer HorticultureCorn and Soybean ProductionCottonDAIReXNET Diversity Across Higher EducationDiversity Across Higher Education, Entrepreneurs and Their Communities,Entrepreneurs and Their Communities Extension Disaster Education NetworkExtension Disaster Education Network, Family CaregivingFamily Caregiving Financial Security for AllFinancial Security for All, HorseQuest, Imported Fire Ants,HorseQuestImported Fire Ants Just In Time ParentingJust In Time Parenting, Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Centers, Pesticide Environmental Stewardship, Pork Information, Urban Integrated Pest ManagementWildlife Damage Management, Youth Literacy SET, eOrganicLivestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Environmental StewardshipPork InformationUrban Integrated Pest ManagementWildlife Damage ManagementYouth Literacy SETeOrganic

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service EDEN Extension Disaster Education Network To assist Extension professionals in educational programming efforts, this site offers ready-to-use presentations, case studies, applied activities, and handouts for producer workshops and/or community awareness presentations.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Beyond eXtension USIs: Urban Serving Institutions As the clientele of CES changes, so must we. The current active dialogue on urban serving institutions characterizes this state of change. USIs also set the stage for the last ancecdotal information:

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Final Anecdote 4-H: how are 4-H kids possibly related to Urban Serving Institutes? More than half the current 7 million- plus 4-Hers are suburban or urban dwellers. Remember the 3 million person days of adult volunteer assistance?

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Final Anecdote, Part 2 Those 7 million kids plus millions of adults should be suggestive of what Extension would call a community of interest, but what I call a political resource: there are more than 45 million living 4-H alumni in the U.S. That’s a voting bloc!

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Final Words CES is alive and well, changing its shape and approach, but not its philosophy: educate, educate, educate. It constitutes a resource that would be prohibitively expensive to create if it did not already exist. Huge infrastructure, already in place, capable of reacting quickly to emergencies or emerging issues, in a very cost-effective manner.

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service CSREES and USDA… Thank you.