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NDSU Extension Direct Contacts Top 1 Million

Extension’s direct contacts increased 33 percent in the last five years.

Oriska-area farmer Joel Triebold works hard to keep weeds out of his fields.

He rotates the herbicides he uses from year to year so the weeds don’t develop resistance to the chemicals. He applies pre-emergent herbicides to prevent weeds from getting started. And he goes to the North Dakota State University Extension Service for advice and the most current information on weed control and herbicide resistance.

“I’m very dependent on the field work the Extension Service does,” he says. “It’s good to talk to people who have done the work in the field and compare notes on what they see and don’t see.”

The assistance Triebold receives is just one of many examples of Extension’s efforts to extend knowledge and change North Dakotans’ lives.

In 2017, Extension agents, educators and specialists made 1,087,442 face-to-face or other direct contacts with North Dakotans. That compares with 949,431 in 2016. The 2017 figure represents a 33 percent increase in contacts in the last five years.

“Although these contacts are just one measure of our work, they demonstrate our direct connection - the relationships - with the people we’re here to serve,” NDSU Extension Service Director Chris Boerboom says.

Here is the breakdown in contacts for the major areas of Extension programming:

  • 4-H youth development - 27 percent
  • Crop management - 22 percent
  • Nutrition, food safety and health - 14 percent
  • Livestock management - 10 percent
  • Horticulture and forestry - 8 percent
  • Farm business management - 6 percent
  • Natural resources management - 5 percent
  • Human development and family science - 4 percent
  • Community vitality - 3 percent
  • Family economics - 1 percent

“Each one of these areas is important to farmers, ranchers, families, youth and other citizens who Extension serves in North Dakota,” Boerboom says.


NDSU Agriculture Communication - Feb. 12, 2018

Source:Chris Boerboom, 701-231-8944, chris.boerboom@ndsu.edu
Editor:Ellen Crawford, 701-231-5391, ellen.crawford@ndsu.edu

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