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Coffee Shop
County extension
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<blockquote data-quote="Mark Reynolds" data-source="post: 1819332" data-attributes="member: 43196"><p>You hit the nail on the head with extension agents, and to a lesser extent federal government ag personnel. 'Extension' in of itself covers Sooooo many different aspects of the rural lifestyle (can't think of a better explanation), that it is impossible for an agent to be an expert in everything extension covers. Horticulture makes up a large portion of what extension is about, so does livestock. Both of those components are very diverse unto themselves. There in lies the problem. Extension can't possibly employ an 'expert' in every component of it's existence in every single county. Most counties only have one extension agent. Agents from different counties with different expertise should work together to serve their county. Our previous extension agent was a horticultural expert but worked closely with the neighboring county extension agent who was a livestock focused agent. Everyone with a livestock interest at that time knew they could easily get livestock help from extension. Well, the local extension agent retired and was replaced by an agent focused on agribusiness. This new agent saw (and sees) the county as 'his' territory and thinks other agents should mind their own business and serve only the people in their county. The new agent has effectively ostricized the public and will not let neighboring agents help with anything this newer idiot of an agent knows nothing about, including livestock. The livestock owners within the county no longer get any help from extension despite the fact that the agents that could and were helping them haven't retired, relocated, or changed their focus. It's all the new guy's fault.</p><p></p><p>The NRCS suffers somewhat from the same problem, but they don't cover quite the diversity of interests that extension does, and they are slightly more networked.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mark Reynolds, post: 1819332, member: 43196"] You hit the nail on the head with extension agents, and to a lesser extent federal government ag personnel. 'Extension' in of itself covers Sooooo many different aspects of the rural lifestyle (can't think of a better explanation), that it is impossible for an agent to be an expert in everything extension covers. Horticulture makes up a large portion of what extension is about, so does livestock. Both of those components are very diverse unto themselves. There in lies the problem. Extension can't possibly employ an 'expert' in every component of it's existence in every single county. Most counties only have one extension agent. Agents from different counties with different expertise should work together to serve their county. Our previous extension agent was a horticultural expert but worked closely with the neighboring county extension agent who was a livestock focused agent. Everyone with a livestock interest at that time knew they could easily get livestock help from extension. Well, the local extension agent retired and was replaced by an agent focused on agribusiness. This new agent saw (and sees) the county as 'his' territory and thinks other agents should mind their own business and serve only the people in their county. The new agent has effectively ostricized the public and will not let neighboring agents help with anything this newer idiot of an agent knows nothing about, including livestock. The livestock owners within the county no longer get any help from extension despite the fact that the agents that could and were helping them haven't retired, relocated, or changed their focus. It's all the new guy's fault. The NRCS suffers somewhat from the same problem, but they don't cover quite the diversity of interests that extension does, and they are slightly more networked. [/QUOTE]
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