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A unique education agency, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service reaches into every Texas
county, "Extending Knowledge, Providing Solutions."
Along with other members of The Texas A&M University System, our challenge is to find
real-world solutions for Texans through teaching, research, service, and Extension education.
What is Extension education? It's an American innovation to help people prosper and build stronger communities.
In 1914, the federal Smith-Lever Act established Extension education so the nation's land-grant universities
could extend education to the people. Thus began the national Cooperative Extension Service,
a state-by-state network of educators who extend the benefits of research-based knowledge
beyond the laboratory, beyond the test fields and beyond the classroom, into everyday living.
Historically, Extension educators have addressed the issues of the day — starting during
the era of an agrarian society. Today we face five grand challenges of the twenty-first century:
Feeding Our World, Protecting Our Environment, Improving Our Health,
Enriching Our Youth, and Growing Our Economy.
By advancing agriculture, AgriLife Extension helps to feed the rapidly growing population
in Texas and beyond. Working with Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Extension specialists and
county agents demonstrate and teach proven practices and technology to help farmers and
ranchers improve crop and livestock systems, reduce risks, and enhance the sustainability
of agricultural lands.
We expand best practices in horticulture through our gardening and landscape programs — by
teaching Earth-Kind methods, training Texas Master Gardeners, introducing improved plant
varieties, and supporting local growers and markets.
To safeguard our state's natural resources, AgriLife Extension conducts conservation and
stewardship programs that reduce drought impacts, reclaim and preserve water quality, minimize
wildfire risks, and maximize water supplies. We help restore damaged lands and protect
wildlife habitats. And we promote integrated practices for pest management in both rural
and urban environments.
Through nutrition and health education, AgriLife Extension helps Texans fight obesity and manage
chronic diseases, improve meal planning and food budgeting, and increase food safety at
home. We also train certified food handlers to help protect Texas consumers.
To strengthen families, our programs in Family and Consumer Sciences educate parents and
caregivers, train day-care providers, demonstrate home and child safety, teach money management,
and promote fitness for all ages and lifestyles.
For generations, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service has conducted youth development programs,
including Texas 4-H. Across the state, we offer hands-on learning projects and school
enrichment curricula. We give young people opportunities to learn responsibility and
leadership and develop a spirit of service. And we help them prepare for college and the
workforce — crucial steps in today's economy.
Whether preventing or mitigating problems, improving profitability, reducing costs, or
enhancing quality of life, all Extension programs make an economic impact. For more targeted
economic development, we help Texas communities grow by supporting entrepreneurship, developing
leaders, and providing job-related continuing education.
AgriLife Extension achieves this outreach through a statewide network of professional
educators, 250 county offices, and 100,000 trained volunteers. This delivery system provides
valuable infrastructure for joint programs with hundreds of other organizations and government
agencies.
By engaging with researchers, funding partners, collaborators, and volunteers, we make the
most of our capacity to deliver lifelong learning opportunities to the people of Texas. Whether
we are teaching programs face-to-face, giving demonstrations, conducting field days, creating
Web-based resources, or answering questions one-on-one, we use our expertise, experience,
and land-grant university resources to serve you.
In the twenty-first century, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service will continue to
extend knowledge and provide solutions — for all Texans. Although we face the challenges
of the future as a global society, AgriLife Extension knows that you, your family, and
your community make up that society — and we will keep reaching out, to you, for a lifetime.