Navigating changes in national priorities, using AI in research and Cooperative Extension, food and health are three of the topics that will be addressed at this year’s agInnovation and Cooperative Extension Joint Meeting in St. Louis, September 15 to 18. Additionally, this year’s Excellence in Extension Awards will be presented at this meeting rather than the APLU annual meeting in November. Please make sure to book your hotel room and register by August 25.
National Digital Extension Education Team (NDEET) Update
The Extension Foundation hosted 27 leaders from 17 states in Denver for the National Digital Extension Education Team (NDEET) Strategic Planning Convening. Leaders set priorities in Economic Development, Artificial Intelligence & Emerging Technology, and Cybersecurity to advance digital opportunity. Plans include mapping AI hubs, building a tech-ready workforce, expanding safe AI use, creating local cybersecurity networks, launching a national cyber curriculum, developing workforce training guides, and releasing a tool to assess local digital gaps. Learn More.
Bill Directs FCC to Incorporate USDA Farm Field Location Data into the National Broadband Map
Last week, Republican Congresswoman Erin Houchin (IN-09) introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 4950 – the Data BRIDGE Act – to improve how the FCC’s broadband map accounts for agricultural lands.
Today, barns and other farming structures located across the rural countryside are included in the FCC’s broadband map, but the surrounding cropland, pastures, and acreage where farming happens are not.
The Data BRIDGE Act directs the FCC to integrate USDA’s existing cultivated land data layer into its broadband map, with no new cost or mandates, ensuring federal broadband funding “reaches the fields that power America’s food supply.”
Here is a link to the proposed bill at Congress.gov. The bill has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It would need to be voted on and passed by both the House and the Senate before making its way to President Donald Trump’s desk. The president could then veto the bill or sign it into law.
The bill currently has seven cosponsors, including four House Democrats and three Republicans. One of the Republicans is Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson.
Extension Focused AFRI Commodity Board Projects
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has invested more than $10.6 million in research projects co-funded by commodity boards that aim to improve crop production efficiency and advance solutions to critically important problems in U.S. agriculture, thereby increasing farmer profitability and sustainability. In FY2024, boards that submitted topics for co-funding support included the American Egg Board, California Prune Board, The Cotton Board, Dairy Management, National Peanut Board, National Pork Board, United Sorghum Checkoff Program and United Soybean Board.
Notable among these projects:
- TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE EXTENSION PORK PROGRAM: Increasing Consumer’s Understanding of Pork Production and Its Role as Nutritious Protein Source
- ARKANSAS: The Role of Dietary Protein in Healthy Dietary Patterns Across the Lifespan