Restructuring Agricultural Economics Extension to Meet Changing Needs

Abstract

The evidence is increasing that cooperative extension, if not the agriculture component of the land grant university system itself, may be unraveling. The director of the Office of Management and Budget has recommended that federal funding for extension be eliminated. Three fellows of the AAEA suggest that if the land grant system were reformulated today, there would be no extension component. A past president of the AAEA argues that the whole land grant university system has lost its sense of mission (Schuh). To many, these positions defy logic, ignore the contribution that extension has made to