Cooperative Extension System Offices
The Cooperative Extension System is a nationwide agricultural education network.
Each U.S. state and territory has a state office at its land-grant university in addition to a network of local or regional offices.
These Cooperative Extension offices are staffed by certified experts who can provide useful, practical, and research-based information; to anyone who has questions or seeks advice about agriculture. This advice is either free, or at a very reasonable charge!
|
| Other Cooperative's | ||
| Guam | Federated States of Micronesia | Northern Marianas |
| Virgin Islands |
Washington, D.C. |
|
If you contact your local cooperative extension office with a gardening question, you probably will be talking with a Master Gardener Volunteer although there is usually an agriculture and horticulture agent available. Master Gardener volunteers are interviewed for the program and once accepted, they are trained by Cooperative Extension and University Staff as well as local horticulture professionals in many facets of horticulture including: taxonomy, plant pathology, entomology, cultural growing requirements, integrated pest management, wildlife control & more.
Once a Master Gardener trainee completes their classroom training they are required to volunteer a designated amount of hours back to the Cooperative Extension program by answering questions on the phone and at fairs and festivals, speaking to groups, participating in display gardens and other projects as needed in their service area.
Some of the services provided at your local Cooperative Extension Office, often for free or a nominal charge, are:
- Soil testing.
- Fact Sheets on cultural requirements, diseases and pests.
- Information on Frost Dates.
- Plant Recommendations by Area.
- Wildlife Deterrent Information.
NOTE: The State Extension Offices, very often change their web site addresses. If one of our links does not work any longer; Please let us know!
