A number of structure and policy changes are proposed for the Ohio Cooperative Extension Service to orient it toward the state's current needs. Demographic and economic trends in the state have been in the direction of urban and suburban growth and industrial and commercial employment, with only a small percentage of the population now engaged in…

The loss of small farms in the South was dramatic from 1987 to 1997, with family farming becoming an increasingly rare phenomenon. Small farms are important to the local economic base. They purchase inputs locally, keep the tax base low, and reduce the need for public services. Diversity among farm managers is increasing in the South, with greater…

Since 1994, urban-absentee landowners have dominated rural landownership in Texas. This landownership change has created potential environmental problems associated with natural resource management. Few of the new landowners have any formal training in the basics of the soil-plant-animal interface. The solution may be to develop a vehicle that…

Since 1890, historically black land-grant colleges and universities have delivered quality teaching, research, and extension service primarily to black people in Southern and border states. The Second Morrill Act of 1890 required that all land-grant funds be equitably divided in states that maintained separate schools for races. Tuskeegee…

A Senate committee hearing received testimony on the Equity in Educational Land Grant Status Act, which would extend land-grant status and concomitant federal aid to 29 Indian tribal colleges and postsecondary institutions. Senators and representatives of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, Navajo Community…

People act in environmentally sound ways for many reasons, but the best motivation is wanting to act in the public good and knowing how to do it. Education and socialization internalize socially responsible behavior. Land grant university education and extension are based on internalizing the right thing to do and learning the right way to do it.…

Since the advent of the 1980s, the economic viability of many farm operations has been severely jeopardized. Although attention has been directed primarily to the Midwest, in many respects farm stress has been greater in the South than in any other region. What is clear, however, is that the crisis is not strictly an agricultural one. Rather, a…

Growing concern that the Cooperative Extension Service was failing to adequately reach small farmers with education materials through regular extension channels led to the implementation of Missouri's Small Farm Family Program. In this program, education assistants, many of whom are small farmers themselves, link the educational resources of the…

Discusses the history and development of distance education. Topics include land grant colleges and agricultural extension efforts; the use of radio and television for learning; use of the Web; lifelong learning needs fueled by a changing job market; infrastructure and user support; the role of faculty; and student responsibility. (LRW)

Data were gathered from Community Resource Development (CRD) field staff and from knowledgeable citizens, to obtain multiple indicators of the impact of CRD projects on economic and noneconomic changes and to assess the degree to which special client/audiences had shared in positive and negative consequences resulting in part from the CRD program.…

Because of the decline of farm population and family farms, the increase in energy-intensivity, and concentration process in agriculture, a rising tide of criticism has focused on the land grant system and its role in encouraging scientific applications supporting these trends. A study was conducted to develop a strategy that would change…

The key role of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is to help local people make rural America a better place to live and work. The Rural Development (RD) Committee structure, conceived in 1969, consists of national, state, regional, and local committees which aid the USDA. During fiscal year 1974, USDA and the State Extension Services…

This volume includes material by providers and users of technical agricultural assistance on ways to improve the quality of life for clientele served by land-grant colleges and Tuskegee University. The conference theme involved issues emerging for rural Southern farms as they enter the 21st century. In examining alternatives for the future, the…

The topic of this lecture is building a base of support for research and development in agriculture. First discussed is some of the history of agriculture education in America, including (1) the Morrill Act, which gave public lands to states for agricultural colleges; (2) the Hatch Act, the purpose of which was to promote investigation,…

Providing the chief example of a successful adult education movement in the United States, the Cooperative Extension Service has demonstrated the capacity to adjust its programs to meet changing rural and urban needs. The roughly 3000 local offices provide people with ready access to a staff who are backed up by the land-grant university based…