North Carolina Cooperative Extension
delivering the university based research for economic prosperity
a sound environment and a better quality of life for all North Carolina's citizens.
North Carolina Cooperative Extension - we put the power of knowledge to work.
At the heart of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension lives a deep-rooted belief
that helping people put knowledge to work
will improve the quality of their lives.
This mission is the driving force behind nearly one hundred years of cooperative extension
work in North Carolina.
By delivering research-based knowledge from the state's two land grant universities,
North Carolina State University
and North Carolina A&T State University, extension has helped the state address the challenges
of the times through wars, depression, and prosperity.
In 1914, the Smith-Lever Act formally established the Agricultural Extension Service
known today as Cooperative Extension.
The state's 4-H Youth Development program took root around that time
as youth corn and canning clubs flourished.
During World War I, Extension helped control the boll weevil,
one of the state deadliest threats to cotton production.
With World War II came victory gardens and scrap metal drives. And in the decades following the war,
Extension expanded into urban areas to address new social and environmental issues.
To broaden the resources available to counties, Extension recently launched the gateway county initiative
which engages universities and communities in two-way exchanges
that address high priority local needs.
Today, North Carolina Cooperative Extension comprises a vast network of people and programs
throughout all 100 North Carolina counties and the Cherokee Reservation.
This includes a thirty one member State Advisory Council
and nearly twenty thousand advisory leaders statewide who access local needs and recommend
programming to address those needs.
Driven by a mission that's stronger than ever,
Extension continues to meet the needs of changing times, working hard to strengthen the economy,
protect the environment and improve the quality of life for all North Carolinians.
When hurricanes Fran, Floyd, and Isabel spread destruction across North Carolina,
assistance flowed to the state from around the country,
so when Katrina and Rita devastated the gulf coast in September of 2005,
North Carolina 4-H'ers decided to return the favor.
Helpful Hands, Healing Hearts has been called the largest 4-H project since World War II.
Youth across the state, demonstrated their compassion by raising money and collecting supplies for
for 4-H'ers and their families in Mississippi and Louisiana.
Youth collected hygiene supplies for essential kits
and school supplies and small toys for children's clover kits. In October, nearly eight thousand
of these kits were delivered by tractor trailer to the gulf region.
More than twenty one thousand dollars was also raised and donated
to assist 4-H and Cooperative Extension families who lost so much to the storms.
This is an extraordinary moment in NC State's history because it is the greatest
utilization of and mobilization of our network we've ever had.
I don't want that to get lost in a lot of what we say today because you are a part of something that
is historic - something that I believe will have
not only impact today but for many years to come as we think about
how we help others.
As you know, Cooperative Extension's mission
is to help (and philosophy) is to help
people put knowledge to work.
I must say that this project had not only put knowledge to work
but it also epitomizes the 4-H motto of making the best better.
But that's what America's all about and you are showing folks that North Carolina
really cares, but more importantly, you're saying that 4-H'ers really do care.
And it's all about helping one another.
The truth is that Helpful Hands, Healing Hearts
is a great slogan, but
that's what 4-H has always been about.
From orange fleshed watermelons to extra sweet tomatoes, unique new crops are
sprouting up all over North Carolina
thanks to the North Carolina Specialty Crops Program.
The specialty crops program is a unique partnership between North Carolina State University,
the extension service, and the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services and it's a joint effort
they were doing to develop new crops and develop the marketing systems to go with those new crops.
So how do you items like white fleshed peaches make it onto grocery store shelves?
The specialty crops program solicits proposals from county agents,
researchers and industry on probable new crops then evaluates each crop's chances for success.
Once a new crop is under development, marketing specialists conduct in store sampling
and consult with buyers to determine consumer demand.
When we've gone through all the process of looking at a product and its market potential
and packaging the information and
production practices, I take it out to the growers
and we actually
produce the crop. We start out on a limited scale
and we learn from feedback from doing it out on the farm, we have actually have feedback
from the farm
and we go forward with the marketing.
And that's what we're looking for North Carolina,
the speciality things that make our farmers more money.
Cooperative Extension has a long history of providing education
to help families understand how good nutrition and physical activity
can help adults and children avoid preventable conditions like diabetes
and heart disease.
Several recent Extension initiatives are designed to help young and old alike lead healthier
lifestyles.
Color me Healthy is a nutrition education program that targets four and five year olds
in child care settings.
Cooperative Extension trains child care workers in a curriculum to use colorful posters,
photographs, and music to teach children the benefits of good nutrition and physical activity.
Learning these lessons while they're young may help children carry healthy lifestyles
into adulthood.
Cooperative Extension is a partner in two efforts to improve nutrition and physical activity
among school children as well.
Extension, along with the state division of public health,
and the department of public instruction
develop nutrition and physical activity standards for schools.
The standards give schools target goals to improve what students eat
and how active they are in school.
Extension's nutrition programs also target adults
at the popular grilling and chilling event held in western North Carolina,
adults learn to create healthy dishes from commodities produced locally.
This year's event included demonstrations on grilled beef dishes as well as fresh fruit
and vegetables dishes. It was very good. I enjoyed all of it.
Controlling insect populations where they aren't welcome has long challenged researchers.
In recent years, entomologists at North Carolina's land-grant universities
have focused on ways to curb insect intrusion
with no harm to humans and the environment.
It's called IPM or integrated pest management.
North Carolina Cooperative Extension has launched an IPM information campaign
among state school leaders.
Extension specialists explain how IPM
can help control insect infestation in school properties while limiting the use of pesticides.
IPM is especially important to schools because active children can easily come in contact
with pesticide residue on floors and walls.
A goal of IPM is to uncover the reasons that cause a pest problem
and solve the root problem before taking further action.
In 2004, Dr. Godfrey Nalyanya,
an extension associate for urban IPM, presented a series of workshops on integrated pest management.
He convinced several school districts to adopt the IPM approach. He says that more attention to
school safety
and fewer chemicals
are attractive to teachers, students, and parents. North Carolina's Department of Public
Instruction agrees.
Ben Matthews, director of school support says
anything we can do to reduce the use of chemicals
it's good for the state.
If NC State researchers and extension specialists have their way,
you add southern flounder to the list of barnyard animals.
Researchers at the university's fish barn facility in Raleigh
are perfecting indoor flounder production,
adding another product to the state's growing aquaculture industry.
Cooperative Extension has been instrumental in building the state's production
from a handful of trout ponds and a few acres of catfish ponds
to the fifty four million dollar business it is today.
North Carolina now supports more than two thousand acres of catfish ponds
and seven hundred sixty acres of hybrid striped bass ponds.
The state is the second leading producer of trout in the nation.
Add that to nine commercial indoor fish barns,
with three more on the way,
and you see the growth potential ahead.
Researchers and extension professionals are busy working to improve the productivity of
aquaculture operations.
Agents, like Mike Finsko,
are helping growers exploring new aquaculture species like fresh water prawns,
large shrimp raised in outdoor ponds.
They're also helping to seek funding for more a new enterprises
as well as building better markets for the state's seafood producers.
North Carolina Cooperative Extension
through our network of campus specialists,
county field faculty, volunteers and advisers, we help families businesses and communities
achieve prosperity today
and meet the challenges of tomorrow.
North Carolina Cooperative Extension -
Knowledge is Power.