Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) was an extension agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), part of the executive branch of the federal government. The 1994 Department Reorganization Act, passed by Congress, created CSREES by combining the former Cooperative State Research Service and the Extension Service into a single agency.[1]

CSREES logo

In 2009, CSREES was reorganized into the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).[2] Sonny Ramaswamy serves as NIFA's director.[3]

Mission

CSREES' mission is to "advance agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities" by supporting research, education, and extension programs at land-grant universities and other organizations it partners with. CSREES doesn't conduct its own research; it provides funding and leadership to land-grant universities and competitively granted awards to researchers in partner organizations. CSREES' areas of involvement span across 60 programs in the biological, physical, and social sciences related to agricultural research, economic analysis, statistics, extension, and higher education.[4]

Funding

CSREES administers federal appropriations through three funding tools: competitive grants, formula grants, and congressionally directed funding.[5]

Competitive Grants

Competitive grants are awarded to applicants upon the recommendation of a peer-review panel. CSREES' competitive programs include the National Research Initiative, the Small Business Innovation Research Program, the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Program, and Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers.

Formula Grants

CSREES supports research and extension activities at land-grant institutions through federal funds that are appropriated to states on the basis of statutory, population-based formulas. CSREES' formula grants are directed to state experiment stations, the Cooperative Extension System, and Cooperative Forestry Programs. In most cases, the states are required to match the federal formula dollars with nonfederal contributions. The four CSREES research funding programs for land-grant universities are (1) Hatch, (2) Multistate Research (a subset of Hatch), (3) McIntire-Stennis, and (4) Animal Health.[6]

Congressional Directed Funding

Congress directs CSREES to fund and administer certain programs each year through special appropriations accounts. In general, the Executive Branch does not support the inclusion of these programs in the president's annual budget submission to Congress. Examples of projects include: the Expert Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Decision Support System; Global Change, UV-B Monitoring; IPM and Biological Control; Minor Crop Pest Management, IR-4; and Minor Use Animal Drugs.

Research

CSREES is the USDA's extramural research agency, funding individuals; institutions; and public, private, and non-profit organizations. Its research programs address issues affecting 13 national emphasis areas:[7]

  • Agriculture and Food Biosecurity
  • Agricultural Systems
  • Animals & Animal Products
  • Biotechnology & Genomics
  • Economics & Commerce
  • Education
  • Families, Youth & Communities
  • Food, Nutrition & Health
  • International
  • Natural Resources & Environment
  • Pest Management
  • Plants & Plant Products
  • Technology & Engineering

Supported research falls into three categories:

  • Basic research: discovers the underlying processes and systems that make a plant, animal, ecosystem, community, or marketplace work.
  • Applied research: expands on basic research to uncover practical ways this knowledge can benefit individuals and society.
  • Integrated research: research is expected to generate new knowledge and/or apply existing knowledge quickly through dissemination of information on specific issues.

Education

Education programs support all CSREES emphasis areas and promote teaching excellence, enhance academic quality, and help develop the scientific and professional workforce. CSREES continues a federal-state teaching partnership started in 1977 by strengthening agricultural and science literacy in K-12 education, improving higher education curricula, and increasing the diversity and quality of future graduates to enter the workforce.[8]

In 1981, Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) was established to promote agricultural literacy in classrooms across the country. Today, AITC provides lesson plans, professional development opportunities, and teacher recognition programs for teachers, as well as maintains a national resource directory and other sources of public information on K-12 agricultural education issues.[9]

Cooperative Extension System

The Cooperative Extension System is a non-formal educational program implemented in the United States designed to help people use research-based knowledge to improve their lives. The service is provided by the state's designated land-grant universities. In most states, the educational offerings are in the areas of agriculture and food, home and family, environment, community economic development, and youth and 4-H. The National 4-H Headquarters is located within the Families, 4-H, and Nutrition unit of CSREES.

The Smith-Lever Act, which was passed in 1914, established the partnership between agricultural colleges and the USDA to support agricultural extension work. The act also stated that USDA provide each state with funds based on a population-related formula. Today, CSREES distributes these so-called formula grants annually in cooperation with state and county governments and land-grant universities.

Advertisement for home demonstration event held in Winston County, Mississippi in 1931.

Traditionally, each county of all 50 states had a local extension office. This number has declined as some county offices have consolidated into regional extension centers. Today, there are approximately 2,900 extension offices nationwide.

Since 2005, the Extension system has collaborated in developing eXtension.org (pronounced "e-extension"). eXtension is an Internet-based learning platform where Extension professionals and citizens nationwide and beyond have 24/7 access to unbiased, research-based, peer-reviewed information from land-grant universities on a wide range of topics. Information is organized into articles, professional development resources, news, frequently asked questions, and blog posts that provide a knowledge-to-action service that has become an integral part of the Cooperative Extension System. In 2015, the nonprofit, member-based eXtension Foundation was created to advance innovation and technology-enhanced professional development going forward.[10][11]

This table summarizes the cooperative extension programs in each state. (Under the 1890 amendment to the Morrill Act, if a state's land-grant university was not open to all races, a separate land-grant university had to be established for each race. Hence, some states have more than one land-grant university.)

Cooperative Extensions[12]
StateUniversityExtension website
AlabamaAlabama A&M University
Auburn University
Tuskegee University[13]
Alabama Cooperative Extension System
AlaskaUniversity of AlaskaUniversity of Alaska Cooperative Extension
ArizonaUniversity of ArizonaArizona Cooperative Extension
ArkansasUniversity of Arkansas
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service
CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaUniversity of California Cooperative Extension
ColoradoColorado State UniversityColorado State Cooperative Extension
ConnecticutUniversity of ConnecticutCooperative Extension System
DelawareUniversity of Delaware
Delaware State University
Delaware Cooperative Extension
DSU Cooperative Extension
District of ColumbiaUniversity of the District of ColumbiaUniversity of the District of Columbia Cooperative Extension Service
FloridaUniversity of Florida
Florida A&M University
University of Florida IFAS Extension
GeorgiaUniversity of Georgia
Fort Valley State University
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension
GuamUniversity of GuamUniversity of Guam Cooperative Extension
HawaiiUniversity of HawaiiUniversity of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Service
IdahoUniversity of IdahoUniversity of Idaho Extension
IllinoisUniversity of IllinoisUniversity of Illinois Extension
IndianaPurdue UniversityPurdue University Extension
IowaIowa State UniversityIowa State University Extension
KansasKansas State UniversityKansas State University Research & Extension
KentuckyUniversity of Kentucky

Kentucky State University

University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service
LouisianaLouisiana State University
Southern University and A&M College
Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service
MaineUniversity of MaineUniversity of Maine Extension
MarylandUniversity of Maryland[14]
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Maryland Cooperative Extension
MassachusettsUniversity of Massachusetts AmherstUniversity of Massachusetts Extension
MichiganMichigan State UniversityMichigan State University Extension
MinnesotaUniversity of MinnesotaUniversity of Minnesota Extension
MississippiMississippi State University
Alcorn State University
Mississippi State University Extension
MissouriUniversity of Missouri
Lincoln University
University of Missouri Extension
MontanaMontana State UniversityMontana State University Extension Service
NebraskaUniversity of NebraskaUniversity of Nebraska Cooperative Extension
NevadaUniversity of NevadaUniversity of Nevada Cooperative Extension
New HampshireUniversity of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
New JerseyRutgers UniversityRutgers Cooperative Extension
New MexicoNew Mexico State UniversityNew Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service
New YorkCornell UniversityCornell Cooperative Extension
North CarolinaNorth Carolina State University
North Carolina A&T State University
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
North Carolina A&T State University Cooperative Extension Program
North DakotaNorth Dakota State UniversityNorth Dakota State University Extension Service
OhioOhio State UniversityThe Ohio State University Extension
OklahomaOklahoma State UniversityOklahoma Cooperative Extension Service
OregonOregon State UniversityOregon State University Extension Service
PennsylvaniaPenn StatePenn State Cooperative Extension
Rhode IslandUniversity of Rhode IslandUniversity of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension
South CarolinaClemson University
South Carolina State University
Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service
South DakotaSouth Dakota State UniversitySouth Dakota State University Extension
TennesseeUniversity of Tennessee
Tennessee State University
University of Tennessee Extension
Tennessee State University Cooperative Extension Program
TexasTexas A&M University
Prairie View A&M University
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
UtahUtah State UniversityUtah State University Extension
VermontUniversity of VermontUniversity of Vermont Extension System
VirginiaVirginia Tech
Virginia State University
Virginia Cooperative Extension
WashingtonWashington State UniversityWashington State University Extension
West VirginiaWest Virginia University

West Virginia State University

West Virginia University Extension Service

West Virginia State University Extension Service

WisconsinUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison[15]UW–Madison Division of Extension
WyomingUniversity of WyomingUniversity of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service

See also

References

  1. About CSREES Archived 2008-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "NIFA Guidelines" (PDF). usda.gov.
  3. "Office of the Director | National Institute of Food and Agriculture". nifa.usda.gov. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  4. CSREES Overview Archived 2008-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Federal Assistance". usda.gov.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20070701080016/http://www.cuaes.cornell.edu/CUAESWeb/funding.htm Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  7. "Research". usda.gov.
  8. Overview Archived May 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Education Overview". CSREES website. Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  10. "Extension". usda.gov.
  11. "New eXtension". The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  12. "Partners and Extension Map". National Institute of Food and Agriculture. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  13. Although Tuskeegee University has been a private university, it began to receive Cooperative Extension funding in 1972.
  14. "Collection: Cooperative Extension Service (CES) records | Archival Collections". archives.lib.umd.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  15. UW System Restructuring Previous to 2018 restructuring, the University of Wisconsin–Extension was a separate entity within the UW System. Its divisions were split between UW–Madison and UW System administration.
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