The University of Missouri Texas County Extension recently released its 2013 annual report.
Highlighted in the 16-page document are summaries of the local Extension office’s funding last year (including income and expenditures), as well as details about programs, courses and workshops offered. Offerings in 2013 were related to a variety of subjects, including agriculture and natural resources (like pesticide applicator training and soil testing), nutrition and health (like food preservation, how to eat with diabetes and educating low-income families about eating habits and hygiene), community-oriented programs (like the community garden) and youth-oriented programs and activities (like business development, livestock education and 4-H youth development and shooting sports).
University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe (an MU graduate who grew up in Columbia and has been MU system president for about two years) said Extension programs advantageously impact all 114 counties in the state on a daily basis. Wolfe said the system (which includes the campuses in Columbia, Kansas City, St. Louis and Rolla) is a huge presence in rural Missouri, particularly through Extension offices which offer services including hay and soil testing, veterinary lab services, training programs, Missouri 4-H and small business startup assistance (through the Small Business and Technology Development Center).
Participants numbered well into the thousands in programs and activities the Texas County Extension office was involved in last year. The office is directed by Cammie Younger, an MU Extension nutrition specialist.
“We really do quite a bit in rural Missouri, which, unfortunately, a lot of people don’t connect to the University of Missouri,” Wolfe said.
The university also operates 19 agricultural experiment stations across the state, covering 14,000 acres.
“(That way) we can continue to make sure we have a safe and bountiful food supply, not just in Missouri but on a global scale,” Wolfe said.
MU’s School of Veterinary Medicine is the only veterinary school in the state and is world-renowned, Wolfe said. the MU’s veterinary school and school of medicine maintain interconnectivity in terms of research and solutions.
“What you learn in the care of animals can be translated to humans,” Wolfe said.
For more about the university system, visit www.umsystem.edu. For more about the MU Extension system and what it offers, log onto www.extension.missouri.edu.
To view the complete Texas County Extension annual report, log onto www.houstonherald.com and find this story on the “news” page. The local MU Extension office is on U.S. 63 (in the Loretto House). Its phone number is 417-967-4545.