Cooperative Extension employees and primary volunteers have opportunities to improve agricultural literacy among community members, yet little is known about the agricultural literacy proficiency of these community educators. It is generally assumed that Extension workers and volunteers are agriculturally literate; this study sought to provide…

Cooperative Extension strives to provide agricultural producers with non-formal educational opportunities designed to positively impact agriculture (NIFA, 2021). Therefore, a team of Extension professionals at the University of Nebraska -- Lincoln developed and facilitate an ongoing professional development program designed to enhance the…

"Suzanne's Project" is a 28-hour program, which began in the Antalya province of Turkey in 2011 to empower small-scale women farmers to manage their farms as a business by training them in computer literacy, technical production topics, and farm business management. A survey 1.5 years after the workshop ended found that all of the women…

State crop scouting competitions (CSCs) promote agriculture by introducing youths in Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska to various agricultural disciplines while focusing on integrated pest management (IPM). High school students compete as teams to address crop management issues at various stations. Each station is led by university representatives. Two…

As early-career Extension educators challenged by societal, structural, agricultural, and fiscal trends, we designed a multiyear educational program to support the diverse needs of emerging specialty crop producers in northwest Michigan. This article presents outcomes of that program. We explore how Extension professionals can develop impactful…