[CED/CD/EAT] Fwd: [wedaprinonly] Fwd: Sourcing the Talking Point: Shrinking footprint of local Cooperative Extension

Wed Jul 26 13:57:55 MST 2017

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From: "Houglum, Lyla" <lyla.houglum at oregonstate.edu<mailto:lyla.houglum at oregonstate.edu>>
Date: July 26, 2017 at 10:08:18 AM MST
To: WEDA Principals Only <wedaprinonly at lyris.cahnrs.wsu.edu<mailto:wedaprinonly at lyris.cahnrs.wsu.edu>>
Subject: [wedaprinonly] Fwd: Sourcing the Talking Point: Shrinking footprint of local Cooperative Extension
Reply-To: "Houglum, Lyla" <lyla.houglum at oregonstate.edu<mailto:lyla.houglum at oregonstate.edu>>

FYI...from Bill Hoffman about Sonny's comment regarding a loss of Extension "boots on the ground".
Lyla

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Subject: Sourcing the Talking Point: Shrinking footprint of local Cooperative Extension

Greetings NIFA Senior Leadership and others,

You have probably heard Sonny mention that, over the past years, "local boots on the ground" Cooperative Extension has lost about a third of its footprint. The other day I asked Sonny about a source for that line. He pointed me in the right direction and I found it.

Choices, the magazine of food, farms and resource use, is the principal outreach vehicle of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, AAEA. It provides peer-reviewed articles exploring the economic implications of current food, farm, resource or rural community issues directed toward a broad audience. Sun Ling Wang, an Economist with the USDA's Economic Research Service, published a paper in Choices titled "Cooperative Extension System: Trends and Economic Impacts on U.S. Agriculture" in 2014. It can be viewed here:  http://www.choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/submitted-articles/cooperative-extension-system-trends-and-economic-impacts-on-us-agriculture<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.choicesmagazine.org_choices-2Dmagazine_submitted-2Darticles_cooperative-2Dextension-2Dsystem-2Dtrends-2Dand-2Deconomic-2Dimpacts-2Don-2Dus-2Dagriculture&d=DwMF-g&c=C3yme8gMkxg_ihJNXS06ZyWk4EJm8LdrrvxQb-Je7sw&r=WnCYnnBQCRU0rlcXLdVNdxEuND_BnSHz7qhIasRtO8xp_2fuu9xQkEBf3TZiirdQ&m=tcVRRs_J8_hxLlT2amYKJYmYfEG2RKUbOSPO3w3ywBU&s=VRMTLhBFEhVAk5Hq-rr0UoLe6dMbHT0nuxxkHvPrPkU&e=>.

The article indicates that the number of county based extension faculty FTEs reduced 30% between 1980 and 2010. This includes multi-county directors, multi-county program leaders, multi-county agents, county directors, county coordinators/leaders, county program leaders, and county extension agents. According to the data used by the author, this represents a reduction of 3467 FTE over that 30 year period. Given our knowledge of the system over the past 7 years, the poetic license Sonny uses by rounding up to 1/3 is not only reasonable (as well as more poetic) but is probably more accurate than saying 30%, seven years after the conclusion of the aforementioned published data.

It is important to note that during that same 30 year period the number of Extension Specialists increased by 7%, representing a net gain of 258 university department heads, university department leaders, state specialists, associate state specialists, and district/area specialists. That puts Cooperative Extension's total FTE reduction at 22% between 1980 and 2010. However, Sonny seems to always use the "local boots on the ground" qualifier, so I believe he is using the best figure possible.

Regards,

Bill Hoffman
NIFA Chief of Staff<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__nifa.usda.gov_staff-2Dcontact_william-2Dhoffman&d=DwMF-g&c=C3yme8gMkxg_ihJNXS06ZyWk4EJm8LdrrvxQb-Je7sw&r=WnCYnnBQCRU0rlcXLdVNdxEuND_BnSHz7qhIasRtO8xp_2fuu9xQkEBf3TZiirdQ&m=tcVRRs_J8_hxLlT2amYKJYmYfEG2RKUbOSPO3w3ywBU&s=Twy_ihefvdS_5-llqlocBhR-bMAnOmII0TYZXlYBjqA&e=>
202-445-5576

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