Connecting Community Needs: Land, Food and Environment

Home
Introduction
Community Development & Vitality
Land, Food & Environment
Youth Development & Family Living
Summary
Annual Report

Extension uses research-based knowledge to help Minnesotans benefit from the land while maintaining the land's health and productivity for future generations.

Program priorities in land, food, and environment focus on promoting bountiful horticulture; improving agricultural business management and marketing; ensuring food safety; educating citizens on biotechnology; guiding natural resources economic development; bridging people, land, and water; and improving environmental education.

Promoting bountiful horticulture

Horticulture offers numerous benefits, from the food we eat to the parks in which we play. Extension provides advice on food production, turf management, recreational gardening, and design of urban landscapes. Specific programs include Master Gardener, Yard & Garden Line, and Master Tree Care Advisor.

Improving agricultural business management and marketing

Agriculture is changing in areas such as precision agriculture, biotechnology, business structures, environmental stewardship, labor management, agroforestry, and off-farm income. The University's strong research focus in this area allows Extension to help citizens deal with these and other changes. Extension programs include Winning the Game, Master Marketer, and Center for Farm Financial Management programs.

Minnesota's diverse soils, terrain, and climate yield agricultural commodities, forest products, biodiversity, and recreational amenities.

Ensuring food safety

Food safety is an integral consideration in every step of food production. Extension contributes to food safety through education in areas such as biotechnology, genetics, identity preservation, food chains, irradiation, labeling, and marketing.

As Minnesota's food industry responds to ethnic diversification and other trends, Extension will help ensure that food is safe, and that the industry has research-based information needed to stay competitive, profitable, and compliant with government regulations.

Educating citizens on biotechnology

Biotechnology allows us to improve crops and foods more quickly and accurately than ever. It also has the potential to dramatically impact agriculture, rural communities, and individuals.

To make sound policy and personal decisions, citizens must understand the implications and applications of biotechnology. Extension is currently part of a five-state project providing information about the science, social and economic impacts, ethics, benefits, and risks of biotechnology, as well as a framework for deciding whether to use biotechnology products.

Guiding natural resources economic development

Rural landowners, who are discovering new ways to earn income from their land, are concerned with balancing economic development and ecosystem sustainability.

Extension's extensive expertise in both economic development and stewardship positions us to encourage sustainable natural resource-based businesses. We are helping family-owned and community-based businesses pursue new products and markets, improve management, and apply new technology while protecting the environment.

Bridging people, land, and water

Population shifts and economic development are escalating land use conflicts and depleting opportunities for wise allocation of natural resources. Increasing pressures from shoreline development, inad equate wastewater systems, solid waste, and water-based recreation threaten ground and surface waters. Extension offers education to support wise decisions that protect and manage land and water resources for a variety of products and uses.

Improving environmental education

Environmental education should advocate for resource management that supports the economy and maintains human and eco-system health. Environmental educators must be knowledgeable in the sciences, educational methodology, and leadership. Extension is addressing this issue by identifying best practices for environmental education programs and sharing them statewide with interested educators.

Trends

Horticultural products make up one of the top commodity groups in the nation.

Minnesota's turf industry accounted for $600 million in sales in 1997.

More than one-third of all American households enjoy gardening as a hobby.

Minnesota is home to approxi- mately 79,000 farms, more than 1,000 food processing facilities, and more than 24,000 food retail operations.

Each year, food-borne diseases cause about 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths in the United States.

The world market for genetically engineered plants is expected to grow from $3 billion in 2000 to $8 billion in 2005 and $25 billion in 2010.

The number of private forest landowners (140,000) is growing while the total number of acres owned by this group (6.7 million) is stable. As more people own smaller portions of the forest, our ability to manage this land for long-term productivity and health is threatened.

Roughly $7.7 billion worth of forest products are produced in Minnesota each year, and wildlife-related recreation contributes $1.5 billion. In 1999, nearly 3 million people visited Minnesota for outdoor recreation.

More than 225,000 Minnesota landowners and 5,000 professional resource managers are working together to protect and maintain natural resources.

The forest products industry employs nearly 61,000 Minnesotans.

University Expertise

In 2000 alone, some 2,100 citizen volunteers spent 88,200 hours sharing the University's horticultural expertise through Extension's Master Gardener program.
The University is internationally recognized for its research and outreach in production agriculture.
Workshops given by Extension food safety specialists improve practices and increase knowledge, resulting in reduced food contamination and loss.
Biotechnology research at the University Minnesota and other research centers has produced improved tomatoes; healthier and higher-performing cooking oils; herbicide-tolerant crops; disease-resistant corn, squash, and sweet potatoes; and crops protected against insect damage.
Economic, ethical, and social aspects of agricultural biotechnology are being addressed by a consortium of nine land-grant institutions as well as organizations in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Extension educated more than 3,000 Minnesota loggers, landowners, and resource managers on water quality best management practices and sustainable forest management guidelines in 1999 and 2000.
University faculty in three colleges and Extension educators in 37 counties helped improve the effectiveness of Minnesota's environmental education programming.

Delivering programs and information

The University of Minnesota Extension Service is committed to delivering high-quality, relevant educational programs and information to Minnesota citizens and communities. Our statewide network of researchers, educators, and volunteers addresses critical needs by focusing on issues where research-based education can make a difference.

The University of Minnesota Extension Service:

Addresses critical issues through research and education
Works in urban, suburban, and rural Minnesota communities
Builds the capacity of individuals and communities to address critical issues
Works in partnership with private organizations and local, state, and national governments
Creates and responds to opportunities for learning
Fosters the strength that comes from diversity
Leverages private and public resources

Extension's statewide network focuses on:

Community development and vitality
Land, food, and environment
Youth development and family living

Agriculture \ Community \ Environment \ Family \ Garden \ Living \ Youth
Home \ Search \ Product Catalog \ News \ Workshops \ Online Shopping
About Extension \ Extension Offices

URL: http://www.extension.umn.edu This page changes frequently. Be sure to reload to receive the current version.
Online Privacy Statement. Contact Information.