2002 Annual Report
Extension and Outreach
Making Agriculture More Sustainable
William Wilcke, Professor, Extension
Engineer, University of Minnesota Extension Service Sustainable Agriculture
Professional Development Program Coordinator, and Acting Administrator
for the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
Christy McKibben, Principal Administrative Specialist
Jack Sperbeck, Extension Communications Editor
Numerous Extension Personnel
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE)
Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA)
Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)
Numerous Minnesota Non-Profit Organizations
Objective
The primary objective for this program is to help Extension personnel
learn new sustainability concepts, find new information sources about
sustainable agriculture, and get more involved in sustainable agriculture
programming.
Program Description
Information used in this program comes from the University of Minnesota
and other universities in the North Central Region, state and federal
agencies, non-profit organizations, and projects funded by SARE and MDA.
Program activities are coordinated with MISA, MDA, and non-profit organizations.
Activities in 2002 included working with MISA to publish the monthly
Sustainable Agriculture newsletter, participating in planning for the
Minnesota Organic Conference, publicizing sustainable agriculture field
days, conferences, and workshops, advising principal investigators on
preparation of sustainable ag grant proposals, providing scholarships
for Extension faculty to attend sustainable agriculture events, participating
on the MDA Organic Advisory Task Force, participating in monthly conference
calls of the Minnesota Organic Network, assisting with an organic field
course, staffing displays at sustainable ag educational events, and purchasing
educational materials on sustainable agriculture for Extension personnel.
Recognizing that energy conservation and development of renewable energy
sources are an important part of sustainability, we continued to maintain
a web page on Agricultural and Alternative Energy sources on the BAE website
(www.bae.umn.edu/extens/energy).
Outcomes
An increasing number of Extension personnel are planning and attending sustainable agriculture field days and workshops, involving farmers and non-profit organizations in workshops, writing proposals for sustainable ag funds, and working with farmers on research and demonstration of more sustainable practices.