Report to the People

reveals extension’s

top-three status
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The local branch of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service delivered its “Report to the People” Monday.

The report and luncheon at the Agricultural Conference Center in Boone were an opportunity to share the services that reach a broad section of the local community.

“I just learned that North Carolina extension is one of the top three in the country, and Watauga County, surprise, surprise, is one of the top extensions in the state,” said cooperative extension advisory board chairwoman Nancy Reigel.

She said the service works in close partnership with the county and state agencies, delivering tested solutions while “helping people put knowledge to work.”

She stressed the word “systems,” saying the extension service developed annual plans to focus on community needs in a variety of areas, both in agriculture and in community services. Surveys and a local advisory council help keep the extension service connected with the needs of its constituents.

The extension service uses “research-based knowledge” to enhance agriculture, which is one of the major drivers of the local economy. Reigel said 2006 and 2007 data wasn’t available, but previous years showed the importance of agricultural income.

Agricultural income fluctuated at around $20 million annually from 2000 to 2005, with Christmas trees and other nursery and horticultural operations comprising the majority of income. Livestock, mostly beef cattle, accounts for a third of the total, and tobacco continues to decline as a commercial crop, bringing in $600,000 last year. Only about 30 people still grow tobacco in the county.

Reigel said Christmas trees continue to be a significant agricultural force, and beef cattle production is increasing despite stock sell-off because of last year’s drought and resulting hay shortage.

She said pesticide use had decreased 50 percent in this decade due to the cooperative extension’s advisory work on teaching growers integrated pest management and scouting programs to help sustain habitat and land viability.

Reigel said marketing of the choose-and-cut Christmas trees had extended brochures into Virginia and Tennessee, with five new farms opened last year. Reigel said additional farms would ensure the county maintained adequate inventory that would keep consumers returning year after year.

“Farmers certainly are entrepreneurs, and that money stays in Watauga County,” she said. Farming also adds a scenic element that enhances both tourism and quality of life.

Reigel said alternative agriculture programs would sustain farms through management practices that would sustain farms over the long term, with shitaake mushrooms one of the popular new crops. Additional alternative or organic crops were mountain fruits, and shorter-season fruits like raspberries were successful despite a late freeze last winter that damaged many crops.

“The market for organic produce continues to grow,” Reigel said, saying four new farms had achieved organic certification last year. Other programs provide support to help organic growers get their goods to the market.

Family and consumer sciences resources help build healthy families by delivering information on nutrition, exercise, healthy diets, and diabetes prevention.

Youth development is the main focus of the 4-H program through an equestrian club, archery, cooking, poultry, geocaching and a new cattle-judging club.

Reigel said the 273 programs and workshops served 30,000 county residents and said the extension service used different tools to find out what services were needed. Reigel said some programs were based on statewide models, but others had to be specific to Watauga County. “Each agent has a number of groups they go to,” Reigel said, with over 200 people serving on local volunteer committees and associations.

The Cooperative Extension Service also draws on resources and information at N.C. State University and N.C. A & T. The extension’s purpose is to enhance agricultural, forest and food systems; building quality communities; conserving and improving the environment and natural resources; strengthening and sustaining families; and developing responsible youth.