News From ECOP Program Action Teams

Last Friday, March 1, 2024, members of the Cooperative Extension Section from as far away as American Samoa discovered who to contact for more information about each of the ECOP Program Action Teams (PATs), including the new Food Systems and Food Waste PAT. Check out the video recording for insights from recent visits to Washington, DC by ECOP Chair Damona Doye, Oklahoma State University, and interesting activities from the Climate Mitigation, Resiliency, and Adaptation PAT. ECOP's First Friday events are for the benefit of new and seasoned land-grant university (1862, 1890, 1994) Extension Director and Administrators and are archived on ECOP's YouTube Channel. Topics of these regular meetings are searchable here on the ECOP Monday Minute. 

2022 Census of Agriculture Released - On February 13, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) announced the results of the 2022 Census of Agriculture, spanning more than 6 million data points about America’s farms and ranches and the people who operate them down to the county level. The full Census of Agriculture report as well as publication dates for additional ag census data products can be found at nass.usda.gov/AgCensus. Ag census data can also be found in NASS’s searchable online database, Quick Stats.

Economic Development Administration Technology Hubs - Last year, the U. S. Economic Development Administration, a bureau of the U. S. Department of Commerce, designated 31 inaugural Tech Hubs, as well as awarded 29 Tech Hubs Strategy Development Grants. The 31 Tech Hubs found here focus on developing and growing innovative industries in regions across the country, including semiconductors, clean energy, critical minerals, biotechnology, precision medicine, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and more. Tech Hubs bring together private industry, state and local governments, institutions of higher education, labor unions, Tribal communities and nonprofit organizations to compete for up to $75 million implementation grants to further develop these fields and make transformative investments in innovation, supply chain resilience, and job creation.



Still Time to Submit Ideas to NSF Through CASA-Bio - Catalyzing Across Sectors to Advance the Bioeconomy (CASA-Bio) was inspired by the Executive Order (EO) on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy. Released by the White House in September of 2022, the EO laid out a grand vision to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing through foundational and use-inspired research and development in five thematic areas (Bioeconomy EO Themes): climate change, food and agriculture, supply chain resilience, human health, and cross cutting areas to advance all these areas. While their four February listening sessions are done, their written feedback forms are still working.



Kenya: March 8 Zoom Meeting Reminder - Remember that this Friday, March 8, 2024 at 3:00 PM ET, APLU and Executive Director Bill Hoffman will host an information sharing Zoom meeting regarding Extension and related activities in Kenya. The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture recently held a trade mission to that country and there is a very positive US agricultural benefit proposition to cooperation in Kenya. Please register here for this meeting. Also, contact Dr. Hoffman at whoffman@aplu.org to request the opportunity to share an institution’s work in Kenya during the session.



About Contacting the USDA Foreign Ag Service - Extension leaders and professionals who are conducting Extension work in countries and regions around the world, are encouraged to contact the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) which serves as a great connection to a particular country’s American embassy. Contacting FAS by email is easy to do using Ag(name of country's capital)@usda.gov. Examples include aglondon@usda.gov, agtokyo@usda.gov, or agbeijing@usda.gov. FAS is interested and supportive of the work of Extension. 

Program Action Teams Take Center Stage

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A significant portion of last week's ECOP meeting in Bloomington, MN was devoted considering the successes of and opportunities facing the national ECOP Program Committee (PC) Action Teams (PATs). Each of the PATs are featured at pats.extension.org. 

ECOP established the APTs to connect Extension professionals, provide program leadership, build partnerships, and explore nation-wide opportunities for the Cooperative Extension System. The PATs received $305,500 of seed funding from ECOP, and with the support from NIFA and Extension Foundation went to work on behalf of the System. 

The activities and successes of each PAT are available in this 12-page report. 

Success is measured by:

• Multi-state cooperation/collaboration on key Cooperative Extension System (System) programming areas
• Increased funding for the System
• Active involvement of NIFA, other Federal Agencies, and many liaisons Experiment Stations, Regional Rural Development Centers, and Private Partners
• Identification/cultivation of current and new partners external to the System
• Alignment of work of System-related groups with similar goals

Broadband Access & Digital Skills Priority Update

Broadband access and digital skills, vital to quality of life in today's world, is a national programmatic priority as explained in ECOP's Advocacy Toolkit adovcacy.extension.org. The ECOP Program Committee is pleased to spotlight the work of its Broadband Access and Digital Skills Program Action Team (PAT) consisting of the National Digital Extension Education Team and Southern Rural Development Center. The PAT welcomes Extension Professionals to join a new Community of Practice on Extension Foundation’s Connect Extension platform. This virtual space of co-learning is dedicated to helping people thrive in a digital world. The PATs list of goals in 2022 includes implementing Community Planning and Digital Skills Teaching Toolkits, growing a repository for existing Extension efforts, establishing common metrics, and researching impacts of broadband use on quality of life. For more information log into/join the platform or contact Rachel Welborn (rachel.welborn@msstate.edu) or Kenny Sherin (kmsherin@ncsu.edu).

Booster for EXCITE Project from CDC - The Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases and the Center’s Deputy Director for Science, has expressed gratitude for the partnership with the U.S. Cooperative Extension System (CES) in this letter on the EXCITE project – which CDC is proud to feature as a spotlight on its Health Equity in Action page. The CDC awarded funds to USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture to partner with CES, because Extension field agents are known to be trusted messengers with the competency to apply knowledge in nearly every county, parish, city, or municipality across the nation, both big and small. 

Welcome Lewis-Burke Associates - Please join ECOP, the rest of the Board on Agriculture Assembly, the Board on Human Sciences, and APLU's Office of Food Agriculture and Natural Resources (FANR) to welcome Lewis-Burke Associates, LLC as our new Washington, DC-based federal relations consulting and lobbying partner for the land-grant university's collective tripartite mission. Lewis-Burke, with a successful 29-year track record in advocacy on behalf of colleges and universities, has a team of experts with extensive experience with House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations as well as the Farm Bill. Lewis-Burke will work in close coordination with FANR to engage with members of Congress, authorizing committees, and staff responsible for funding agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. The firm will also advocate for increased funding levels for agricultural research, teaching, and Extension in USDA and other federal agencies. This week the ECOP Budget and Legislative Committee will have their first introduction to a Lewis-Burke expert.

Cooperative Extension Highlights from 2021 APLU Annual Report - Check out the following mentions of the important work of Extension recently published the 2021 APLU Annual Report.

• Federal Policy Engagement, page 7
• Driving Equitable Student Success, pages 18 & 19
• Building Prosperous, Equitable, and Vibrant Communities Locally and Globally, page 25

Don't Forget the Ag Outlook Forum's Registration is Available - As was previous announced in the ECOP Monday Minute (November 8, 2021), registration is open to attend USDA's 98th Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum, February 24-25, 2022. Learn more at www.labroots.com/ms/virtual-event/usda-aof-2022. 

New Health Framework Serves as Roadmap

Health Program Action Team Update - Cooperative Extension’s National Framework for Health Equity and Well-Being outlines a bold and ambitious plan by which the Cooperative Extension System can advanced its work to improve population health and achieve equity in health status. The Framework includes five high-level recommendations and a robust set of specific recommendations for achieving this goal. National 4-H Council, through the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, along with the Extension Foundation and USDA-NIFA have joined forces to provide funding to support implementation of the recommendations. Leadership for implementation of the recommendations will be provided by the Health Program Action Team of the ECOP Program Committee. The Health Program Action Team is currently being established through a transitional process that will incorporate membership of several existing groups (including the Health Innovation Task Force) into a consolidated leadership group. Messaging information about this work is located here. For more information, contact Roger Rennekamp, Extension Health Director, at rogerrennekamp@extension.org.

Thank You! to the 55 Members of the Section plus 2, 1994 Extension Directors, from 44 states and 1 US territory, who participated in 2021 NEDA last week! - Watch for highlights and Leadership Resources. Have a look during the week at ECOP Chair Wendy Powers's 2021-2022 Action Plan at www.aplu.org/CESgoals and hold 3-4:30 p.m. ET every first Friday beginning November 5 (except August 2022) to virtually meet with Wendy for member-driven updates and/or Learning for Leaders events. 

Leadership Development for the 21st Century (LEAD21) Call for Application Deadline November 30 - The LEAD21 program is intended to meet the future needs for leadership development of faculty, specialists, district and regional directors, program and team leaders, research station and center directors, department heads and chairs, and others in the universities’ colleges of agricultural, environmental, natural resources, veterinary sciences, and human sciences and USDA/NIFA. Individuals from land-grant, NARRU institutions, and USDA are encouraged to participate. The primary purpose of LEAD21 is to develop leaders in land grant institutions and their strategic partners who link research, academics, and extension in order to lead more effectively in an increasingly complex environment, either in their current position or as they aspire to other positions. Learn about the program goals, components, and costs here.




DEI Professional Development Opportunity for Extension Professionals - Michigan State University Extension’s Tollgate Farm and Education Center is hosting a virtual professional development panel discussion series for Extension and educational professionals about learning to better incorporate the perspectives of diverse groups in educational programs. Moderators and panelists from each community provide a chance for educators to deepen their teaching practice in a safe online space for open conversation and community. Interested parties may register here for upcoming sessions, including:

• November 4: Incorporating Indigenous Perspectives and Maple Sugaring Experiences in Place-based Teaching and Learning
• December 2: Incorporating Black Perspectives in Place-Based Teaching and Learning
• February 3: Special Needs Perspectives and PBE In and Beyond the Classroom
• March 3: Engaging with LGTBQ+IA Communities in PBE in Formal and Non-Formal Settings
• April 7: A Latinx Lens: Incorporating Latinx Perspectives through Place-Based Educational Programming
• May 5: Incorporating Asian Principles, Practices, and People in Community- and Place-Based Learning

RFA Vaccine Hesitancy of the Cooperative Extension System: PROPOSAL DEADLINE EXTENDED - The EXCITE team invites all Land-grant Institutions to apply for up to $300,000 funding for Dec. 1, 2021- April 30, 2023, to: 1) assess vaccine hesitancy of Extension field educators, specialists, and administrators, and 2) create and implement a strategy to reduce vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19 and other adult immunizations to increase confidence and willingness to become immunization educators in their community. The goal of this project is to reduce hesitancy around vaccination and increase willingness to serve in educational roles around adult vaccination among Cooperative Extension personnel at all three types of Land-grant institutions (1862, 1890, 1994). View the Vaccine Hesitancy of the Cooperative Extension RFA, and view the application guide. The deadline for the RFA is now November 12, 2021.