Georgia Magazine - January 2015 - 21A

Lifelong learning
UGA Extension in a nutshell
F
or more than 100 years, Cooperative
Extension's core mission
has been to extend universitybased
research and education to
every county and community across
the nation, with farmers its fi rst target
audience. The farm demonstration
work and success of Seamen A.
Knapp, the fi rst agent and director
of Cooperative Extension for the
U.S. Department of Agriculture,
paved the way for Extension across
the nation in the early 1900s.
In Georgia, UGA Extension agriculture
and natural resources agents
continue to work with farmers, as
well as others, to promote awareness
and appreciation of the state's
environmental assets and to protect
these resources by providing expertise
in topics like invasive species,
pollution prevention, and soil and
water conservation.
Also, UGA Extension trains
backyard gardeners through the
Georgia Master Gardener
Extension Volunteer Program.
Through partnerships
with the Georgia
Department of Agriculture
and the Association of
County Commissioners of
Georgia, UGA Extension
reaches businesses, government
and communities
throughout the state.
UGA Extension offers:
* Lifelong learning to
Georgians through unbiased,
research-based
education targeting
agriculture, the environment,
communities, youth and
families.
* Help for Georgians to become
healthier, more productive, fi nancially
independent and environmentally
responsible.
* Agents who stay in touch with
issues relevant to people in local
1946
Young men attend a 4-H Tractor Maintenance Short Course.
communities through county
Extension offi ces.
* County, state and federal funding
and the support of specialists in
UGA's College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences and the
College of Family and Consumer
Sciences.
'In the past 100 years,
UGA Extension helped
eradicate the boll weevil,
introduce new food safety
measures and promote land
conservation. Today, we face a
new list of pests, problems and
challenges. We are confi dent
our Extension experts and
educators will meet them
head-on.'
-Beverly Sparks, retired associate
dean of UGA Extension
4-H: Introducing youth to the
Cooperative Extension System
Georgia 4-H traces its roots
back to 1904, when corn clubs were
established. These clubs focused on
corn-growing contests for young
boys, guided by school supervisors.
While their fathers were slow to implement
the latest practices recommended
by agricultural specialists,
sons of farmers incorporated new
information into their corn growing
and realized increased yields. When
the farmers recognized favorable
results from the new trends they,
too, started to look to Cooperative
Extension System agents for advice.
The corn clubs became a na21A
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tionwide movement and, in 1924,
became offi cially known as 4-H
Clubs. Since then, thanks to leadership
through UGA Extension, 4-H
has become one of the largest and
most recognized youth development
organizations in the state.
Today, Georgia 4-H provides
youth development programs for
more than 180,000 young people,
with a focus on agricultural and environmental
issues, leadership, citizenship,
communication and decisionmaking
skills, food and nutrition,
health and energy conservation.
These are taught through hands-on
GEORGIA MAGAZINE
BY JACKIE KENNEDY
Bonus
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COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION
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Georgia Magazine - January 2015

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