Basis of Allotment and Matching Required, Fiscal Year 1982

Table IV

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION AGENTS, BY ORGANIZATION CLASSES
(Staff-Year Equivalents)

a/ Estimate based on preliminary data available at the beginning of the fiscal year.

77-802 0-81--34

AGRICULTURAL PROGRAMS

Current Activities: The major goals of agricultural extension programs are to: (1) Assist agricultural producers, processors, suppliers, wholesalers and retailers, and others engaged in agriculture, and related endeavors to meet the food, fiber, and shelter needs of the nation, develop and maintain the U.S. comparative advantage in world trade and receive a fair share of the economic and social benefits. (2) Conserve and develop natural resources with special emphasis on soil, water, and energy. (3) Protect the quality of the enviroment from pollution by agricultural wastes and chemicals used in food and fiber production. (4) Enhance the ability of farmers and farm families to use available resources to improve their quality of life. (5) Help farmers and others involved in agriculture to understand and adjust to current federal, State, and local government programs and regulations, and to increase public understanding of the importance of a strong and viable agriculture.

Agricultural producers are the primary client group. Extension is particularly effective as a source of production information to commercial farmers, but evidence indicates that the program also is often used by other groups.

Growing demands from small farmers, home gardeners, and other non-farm people and demand for assistance with marketing and other problems constitute current challenges to the program.

The agricultural programs staff work with and through farm organizations such as the Grange, Farm Bureau, Farmers Union, National Farmers Organization, American Agricultural Movement, and various commodity organizations.

Selected Examples of Recent Progress:

Livestock and Veterinary Sciences: The Extension animal science program aims at improving production efficiency and insuring adequate food and fiber through development and transfer of new knowledge and technology that will reduce production costs and provide high quality animal and aquaculture products at the lowest passible consumer costs. Thus, Extension animal scientists provide programs to assist farmers to understand the economic and social advantages of adopting and incorporating new and improved ideas and technology and assist them to identify, select, and apply the best information, knowledge, skills, techniques, and experiences available for most efficient animal production.

Performance testing by U.S.-beef producers, implemented by the Cooperative Extension Services resulted in a minimum of .05 pounds additional daily gain for slaughter steers and heifers in 1979. Projected nationwide, this amounts to 500 million pounds of additional live weight gain without additional feed

resources.

A bibliography of "Horse Visuals and Publications" was published to answer frequent inquiries for information on horses. Similar publications are in production for beef cattle, sheep and swine. "Guidelines for Uniform Swire Improvement Program" had a jor revision, and another "Guideline...", on beef, is being produced.

Sulfa Residue: A program to prevent sulfa residue violations in swine in
1979 undertaken jointly by Extension and the Food Safety and Quality Service,
USDA, has resulted in a national decrease in violations from 15 percent to
4 percent. Some States formerly had violations as high as 27 percent. This
drop in violations prevented the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from
withdrawing sulfa for use in swine production. The proper and effective use
of sulfa in swine production can conservatively be estimated to add a
billion pounds to the national pork supply without additional inputs.

Multi-State: A "Pork Industry Handbook". coordinated by Indiana CES, was produced cooperatively by industry and Extension specialists from many States.

Regional: Three regional "Beef Handbooks" were developed in 1980, one for the Great Plains (coordinated by Oklahoma), one for the South (coordinated by Tennessee), and one for the Northeast (coordinated by New York).

North Carolina: Extension-organized graded feeder calf sales in North Carolina provided an additional $1.3 million to North Carolina Feeder calf producers in 1979.

Tennessee: The Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service in a demonstration of Integrated Reproduction Management (IRM) showed an improvement of 9 percent in calf crops over a 5-year period. Projecting this increase to only onethird of the Nation's beef cows, an increase of one million calves would result from implementation of IRM without significantly changing required inputs. Similar results have been obtained in Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio and West Virginia.

Idaho: Working with three ranches near Pegram, Idaho, an Extension beef management program helped cut death losses in young calves from a high of 22 percent in 1976 to less than 3 percent in 1979. Management changes and calving techniques applied included improved calving facilities, sanitation and nutrition, treatment of sick calves, closer observation during calving and herd vaccination.

Iowa: An effort by Iowa Extension is saving Iowa poultry producers $1 million a year through a Mycoplasma meleagridis (MM) eradication pilot program for turkeys. The program, developed during 1979-80, is aimed at eliminating MM, a respiratory disease that is transmitted primarily by eggs. It is also responsible for late embryo mortality, skeletal abnormalities in young poults, poor liveability, and condemnations of fryer-roasters due to air su lesions. In cooperation with the lowa turkey hatchery operators and turkey breeder hen operators, the MM eradication program was inaugurated in one hatchery. Poults go from this hatchery to five breeder flocks where they produce more MM-free eggs for other breeder and commercial flocks. Extension monitors all flocks. Knowledge gained from this pilot program will be valuable in making Iowa one of the first MM-free States.

Catfish Farming: This high-investment, high-risk enterprise requires a high
degree of management. In 1979, SEA-Extension funded a special project
designed to provide new fish farmers with in-depth training in many phases of
catfish farming. Some 186 Mississippi farmers, representing 16,356 new
acres of catfish production, were trained in catfish farming. This new
production will produce an estimated 48 million more pounds of catfish
annually. Mississippi is the leader in catfish farming with more than
25,000 acres in production. Extension personnel at Prairie View A&M (Texas)
established 166 catfish production demonstrations in 27 Texas counties during
1977-80. Approximately 350,000 small private ponds in Texas are owned
by low income farmers, the primary audience for this program.

Plant and Pest Management Sciences: This program aims at improving production efficiency, with emphasis on increasing food and fiber production while assuring minimal adverse impact on the environment. These programs are designed to assist farmers and ranchers to increase agricultural productivity through efficient production of field and horticultural crops, forage, and pastures. Commercial agricultural producers are the primary clientele, although not at the expense of small, part-time farmers, urban gardeners and organic producers.