Q. What has been the trend in Extension resources?
A. Resources employed in Extension work
are recorded as full-time equivalent staff years. Data
on professional Extension full-time
equivalents (FTE's) by State from 1977 to 1997 have
been developed from information on Extension programs
and budgets. Extension FTEs totaled 14,890 in 1997, versus
16,990 in 1977, a 12 percent decline. Year-to-year changes
have been modest, but most extreme between 1982 and 1987.
Trends in Extension FTEs varied across regions and States.
Nearly three-quarters of Extension FTEs are in the North
Central and Southern regions, which also had the greatest
declines in FTEs over the period (16 percent and 15 percent).
In contrast, the West and the Northeast experienced more
modest declines of 2 percent and 6 percent. Seventeen
states had more Extension staffing in 1997 than in 1977.
In 1997, Texas reported the highest professional extension
FTE's (1,004), followed by North Carolina (801), and New
York (695).
Extension FTEs by program area
While the labels for program areas have changed over
time, Extension programs can be broadly classified into
four major areas:
- Agriculture and natural resources (AGNR)
- Community resource development (CRD)
- 4-H and youth programs (4H), and
- Home economics and human nutrition (HEHN).
The AGNR program area includes crop production and management,
livestock production and management, farm business management,
agricultural marketing and supply, and natural resources.
Data on Extension FTEs by State
and program area from 1977 to 1992 were developed
from program information and budgets. The declines in
the total FTEs reported above were not evenly distributed
across the four major program areas. Agriculture/natural
resources and home economics/human nutrition had modest
increases (30 and 253 FTEs), but community resource development
and 4H/youth activities had significant decreases (488
and 1,320 FTEs).
The largest program area, in terms of FTEs, at the beginning
and the end of the period was agriculture and natural
resources. In 1992, 6,959 FTEs were dedicated to the agriculture
and natural resource program area, 45 percent of the total
Extension FTEs.
These data are fully described in Trends
in Extension staffing.
Reference:
Ahearn, Mary, Jet Yee, and John Bottum, "Regional
Trends in Extension Resources," Southern Agricultural
Economics Association Meeting, Feb. 2002, Orlando, FL.
Copies of the paper are available from Mary
Ahearn.
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