Prepare people to break the cycle of poverty, encourage healthful lifestyles, and prepare youth for responsible adulthood.Identify emerging research questions, find answers and encourage application of science and technology to improve agricultural, economic, and social conditions.
By educating farmers on business operations and on modern agricultural science and technologies, extension contributes to the success of countless farms, ranches, and rural business. Through extension, land-grant institutions reach out to offer their resources to address public needs. The hallmarks of the extension program - openness, accessibility, and service - illuminate how cooperative extension brings evidence-based science and modern technologies to farmers, consumers, and families. As the CES federal partner, NIFA plays a key role in the mission by distributing annual congressionally appropriated formula grants to supplement state and county funds. NIFA supports both universities and local offices of the Cooperative Extension System (CES) to provide research-based information to its range of audiences. Through extension, land-grant colleges and universities bring vital, practical information to agricultural producers, small business owners, consumers, families, and young people. It emphasizes taking knowledge gained through research and education and bringing it directly to the people to create positive changes.Īll universities engage in research and teaching, but the nation's more than 100 land-grant colleges and universities have a third, critical mission - extension. Extension provides non-formal education and learning activities to people throughout the country - to farmers and other residents of rural communities as well as to people living in urban areas.