If you’re just starting to farm, homestead, or backyard garden, you’ve stumbled on information from a cooperative extension. Type any question regarding chickens, fruit trees, or carrot diseases into a search engine, and you’ll see a report from an extension.
Each state has at least one CES, and each one has an abundance of well-researched, region-specific information to give the home grower or professional advice and guidance.
But what exactly is the Cooperative Extension System (CES)? Why does it exist? How reliable is the information? And how exactly can we make consistent use of the information CES has gathered? Let’s explore this invaluable research.
What is the Cooperative Extension System?
The Cooperative Extension System is a nationwide educational system that grew out of a partnership between the USDA, the university system, and local agricultural organizations.
When it started, the CES grew out of a desire to expand education in a way that supports the actual needs of agricultural communities.
Essentially, the CES supports agricultural education and research at the university level. Then, it works to bring that research and new scientific approaches to agriculture to local farmers and gardeners.
What Organizations Make Up the CES?
This setup starts at the national level with the USDA and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. At the state level, the CES includes Land Grant Universities like The University of Maine, Oregon State University, Michigan State University, and other state schools.
In those Universities, both academic departments and experiment stations are used to develop ideas and research new ideas. Then, that information is funneled to locally run cooperative extension offices in various regional or county offices.
Regional and county offices offer tangible, in-person support to local farmers, gardeners, and homesteaders. The university system and the local offices both publish information online, but the in-person offices can offer more direct, personal, and targeted support.
The Cooperative Extension System is a network of agriculturally focused organizations that explores scientific improvements to agriculture and brings that information to local farmers and gardeners.
Local growers can either embrace the research offered by the CES or not. Because local chapters are often made up of community members, the CES might be considered less of a government intrusion and more of a support system than other options.
Why Does the CES Exist?
In the late 19th century, Dr. Seaman A. Knapp founded the CES to ensure that everyone had access to their state university and their vital information.
He followed after President Lincoln’s Land Grant Act to continue encouraging a more democratic approach to higher education through both The Land Grant Act and The Hatch Act.
A Brief History
The Land Grant Act provided federal funds for each state to establish one college with a heavy emphasis on agriculture. The focus here was on building agricultural colleges that promoted teaching, research, and extension back into the community.
The Hatch Act built on the Land Grant Act by providing more federal funding to support research on experimental farms in conjunction with agricultural colleges. Today, each state university founded on the Land Grant Act conducts state-specific research on agricultural issues relating to its locale.
For example, Kentucky’s university research often focuses on horses because horses an important agricultural focus of the state. In North Carolina, much of the research supports tobacco farming. In the early 20th century, home economics also joined the CES focus.
Services
These offices cover an incredibly diverse range of subjects. If it involves food, your extension office probably has a hand in it.
They work to restore shellfish populations, help the dairy industry learn new techniques, support 4-H, and research what pathogen is killing local orchards and how to stop it.
For home gardeners, your extension is an invaluable resource for information on soil quality, the best plants for your area, avian influenza outbreaks, the best time to spray for pests, how to encourage beneficial insects, and facilitating Master Gardener training.
They also offer soil testing and pathogen or pest identification. Many offices hold markets, lectures, or other events.
Instead of offering broad information, they have a local focus and can tell you what’s best for your area.
Nothing’s Perfect
All this up-to-date information can be both helpful and harmful. Early on in the Home Economics movement, many traditional recipes were replaced by cheap, government-sponsored ingredients bolstered by a lot of sugar.
It’s taken over a century for nutritionists to reclaim some of the ground lost to these innovative – but ultimately unhealthy – changes in American cooking.
New England dairy farmers also remember a time with the local CES encouraged them to fertilize their hay fields with toxic waste from local mills. At the time, no one knew the waste contained long-lasting toxins, leaving the land unsafe for agricultural use.
Many of the farmers who trusted this modern research lost their farms. Others who chose not to use this “science-backed” technique lost friends and were mocked for failing to “trust the science.”
CES has changed a lot over the years. They are constantly researching and trying to improve. Of course, they also follow trends, reflecting the changes in American values, ethics, and economy.
While they aren’t always perfect, they do leave implementation up to the individual grower. CES provides research and information, not marching orders. It’s up to you to decide what does and doesn’t work for you and what you’ll implement and won’t.
Because CES was formed to provide new research to people who may not have access to university information on their own, they try hard to make their information as accessible and informative as possible.
Of course, is something doesn’t jibe with your idea of healthy farming, do further research and make your decision based on what you find.
While there have been a few examples of bad information over the years, the Cooperative Extension System has been an overwhelming positive for growers, providing a wealth of information that would be otherwise inaccessible.
And remember, you come to them; they don’t come to you. Your local cooperative extension is there as a resource, but it doesn’t require your participation in any of its programs.
How Do I Access My Local Extension?
There is a Cooperative Extension office in or near most of the United States 3,000 counties. Even the most urban US county likely has a Cooperative Extension office. There is at least one in every state and territory.
If you’re unsure how to contact your office, just look them up online. Type “Cooperative Extension Office” and your county into a search engine. Then, visit the office and start a conversation. You could also give them a call. Or visit their main webpage.
If you have specific questions about pests, diseases, drought, soil testing, or getting a food cupboard started in your county, give your local CES office a call. They’re always happy to help. You can also go to your local office for classes.
Of course, different counties will have offices that focus on different aspects of agricultural education.
Urban Cooperative Extensions
If you’re an urban gardener with a need for information, don’t worry; the CES is for you, too. Cooperative Extension offices in urban areas often focus on promoting urban gardens, creating or stewarding urban green spaces, and increasing access to fresh, healthy food.
Poor, urban areas often become food deserts. Urban grocery stores can fail to offer fresh, affordable produce and healthy, whole-food options to their less affluent customers. Of course, in wealthy urban areas, there is an abundance of fresh, organic produce.
However, underserved urban areas are not as fortunate. Many times, the local CES is the best place for local families to find support in converting abandoned lots into community gardens, growing food on a small scale, and increasing access to fresh, healthy food.
Urban CES often includes small farms, apartment gardens, community and school gardens, and other innovative production methods.
Suburban Cooperative Extensions
Like urban CES, suburban extensions can help small-scale gardeners find answers, support, and information. Suburban gardeners and homesteaders often find themselves in the gray area of information.
Rural homesteaders can fill their acreage with livestock, gardens, woodsheds, and trout ponds. Urban homesteaders learn to garden on balconies or tend community spaces. But suburbanites have HOA rules, long commutes, and little advocacy.
That’s why local chapters of CES are so helpful. If you live in a highly suburbanized county, having a chapter that understands your specific agricultural needs is incredibly helpful. If you want to raise chickens, turn your hell strip into raised beds, or keep bees, they can help.
Suburban CES supports local programs and understands codes and licensing laws. They’ll help you work with your HOA or your neighborhood organization. And if you’re looking for ways to build a community garden in your suburban neighborhood, your local CES can be a great help.
Rural Cooperative Extensions
Rural life is what the Cooperative Extension System was created for. Of course, when the CES began, over 50% of Americans lived rurally. Now, only about 18% of Americans live in rural areas.
The rural population is more likely to be engaged in agriculture. They’re also less likely to have attended college and less likely to have respect for or interest in government support.
As a resident of rural America who defies some of these likelihoods, I know that they’re only stereotypes, not the full understanding of who we are as rural Americans.
But because rural populations don’t always have access to higher education—especially education that improves daily life or agricultural choices—CES focuses primarily on rural communities.
The Cooperative Extension in Rural Communities works hard to promote education and help spread new understandings of scientific advancements in farming.
Of course, not all these advancements have long-term benefits. Some of them will help some farmers and not others. Local extension offices can help local farmers by building relationships with the people in local communities. That way, they’re better able to offer timely, location-specific advice.
