- The Cooperative Extension Service was formalized in 1914, with the Smith-Lever Act establishing a partnership between American agricultural colleges and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- Cooperative Extension offices are found in almost all of the more than 3,000 counties throughout the nation.
- Approximately 7 million young people across America are members of Cooperative Extension's 4-H program
- Faith Hill, Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, Pat Nixon, Garfield creator Jim Davis, Al Gore, Dolly Parton, Johnny Carson, and Johnny Cash were all 4-H members.
- The value of agricultural research and extension to U.S. economic development and to the well-being of the American people has been recognized since the founding of this country. George Washington was the first to make a formal proposal for establishing a federal agency devoted to agriculture.
- Back in the 1880s, agricultural researchers at land-grant colleges complained about the great numbers of individual letters they were answering about their research. Then, in 1914 Congress addressed the need to distribute research results with the passage of the Smith-Lever Act creating the Cooperative Extension Service and its system of informal education.
- Extension has always used innovative methods for distributing research-based information. The University of Georgia had a “College on Wheels” that carried faculty and exhibits across the state from 1908 through 1917.
- The goals for Cooperative Extension have evolved from agriculture and natural resources to programs focused on family and consumer sciences, youth development, overall improvement of a state’s economy, and efficient use of community and personal resources.
- Farming is the second most dangerous occupation in the United States. Cooperative Extension is addressing community and environmental health concerns related to agriculture, including food safety, health care access and delivery, and air and water quality through the new field of agromedicine.
- Cooperative Extension is helping producers grow and sell more specialty crops ranging from exotic potatoes to specialty melons and medicinal herbs. Growers who produce these high-value crops are able to diversify and develop new income sources.
- The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is a unique program for adults and youth that uses peer education to help those with limited resources gain knowledge and skills to improve their family’s diet and overall nutrition.
- Agrosecurity is a new field of study that deals with natural, accidental, or intentional threats to food and agricultural systems. The spread of invasive species can be a threat to agrosecurity.
- The Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) helps reduce the impact of disasters through its network of Extension educators who share resources on disaster relief.
- Specialized 4-H camps in several states are popular with homeschoolers, who see the benefits of 4-H’s experiential and self-directed learning models.
- Value-added agriculture is the processing, packaging, and/or marketing of agricultural commodities and farm resources in a way that allows a greater portion of the revenue derived from the product to be earned by the producer.
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