Since 1916 The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service has been trying to improve the quality of life for the people of Polk County. Whether it is money-saving consumer educational programs or improved cultural practices for farmers and gardeners, the outcome is the same, to help people help themselves.

County Extension Agents work on educational programs and projects that address the needs of the citizens to whom they serve. Extension faculty in the countries rely on numerous volunteers who help identify problems, resources needed and help organize many of the activities.

Cooperative Extension is an integral part of the land-grant university system which offers a threefold program of resident instruction, research and outreach. Extension's outreach can be found in all 100 counties and the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina. We are county agents, professors, scientists and volunteers working together to help make agriculture profitable and to assist communities across the state to remain viable.

• Sustaining agriculture and forestry
• Protecting the environment
• Assisting Communities With Economic Issues
• Developing Responsible youth
• Developing Strong, Healthy and Safe Families.

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, at NC State University

School of Agriculture at North Carolina A&T State University

For more information on how the Polk County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service may be of help, telephone us at 828-894-8218 or stop by the center located in the courthouse annex at 4 Courthouse Square, in Columbus.

Around the turn of the century it became apparent that the research results and cultural practices being developed at the nation's land-grant universities and experiment stations were not being utilized. Therefore a means for disseminating any facts developed by these institutions that would aid the farmers in making their operations efficient and profitable had to be found.

There was an ever-increasing demand for knowledge in rural America, which gave rise to what is regarded as one of the most significant pieces of legislation the Congress has ever adopted, the Smith-Lever Act. This legislation, signed by President Wilson on May 8, 1914, authorized Cooperative Extension work between the land-grant colleges and the United States Department of Agriculture.

The idea of Extension was to “take the university to the people” or “extend” the research findings to the citizens not resident at these institutions. In the beginning, Extension work was to consist of giving instruction and practical demonstrations in agriculture, home economics, and related subjects. As transportation methods and communications improved, new methods of teaching were employed. These techniques include on-farm demonstrations, office visits, bulletins, tours, news articles, and short courses.

Today the American agricultural industry is so complex that agricultural education programs can no longer be equated with farm production alone. Accordingly, the Extension Service has expanded to cover a wide range of problem areas, including consumer economics, diet and health, expanded 4-H and youth programs.

The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service is a unique organization in that it is a cooperative effort between Federal, State, and County governments. Funding is provided by each level of government with some outside support from community organizations and foundations. In addition, Extension faculty at the state's two land-grant universities provide a wealth of resources and technical information for county Extension educators to utilize local educational programs.

The Land-Grant colleges are U.S. institutions of higher education established under the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1862 or financed to some extent by this and related federal laws. This legislation granted to each state 30,000 acres of federal land for each of its members of the House and Senate. The land was to be sold to provide an “endowment” for at least one college where practical education in subjects related to agriculture and engineering were to be emphasized. These new institutions were not created to the well-to-do, but for the “industrial” or “working” classes.

In the new colleges it was difficult to establish courses of study that would meet both the demands of young people and of the particular state. One obstacle was the fact that the agricultural institutions had very little to teach because very little agricultural knowledge had been tested scientifically. At first many land-grant colleges relied upon teaching the practical details of farm operation mainly by having the students work on college farms. While this practice met some needs in a limited way, teachers and officials of the land-grant institutions recognized something more had to be done. If they were to teach the application of science to agriculture, they must have facts on which to base their courses of study. Soon the establishment of a nationwide system of agricultural experiment stations followed.

Today the land-grant institutions offer a threefold program of resident instruction, research, and Extension education service. In North Carolina there are two land-grant institutions. North Carolina A&T University is located in Greensboro, NC and N.C. State University campus is in Raleigh, NC. The educational programs of North Carolina's and the nation's other land-grant universities have been significantly responsible for enabling the United States to have the world's highest agricultural productivity. These same institutions have also made substantial contributions in textiles, engineering, and other fields of applied science.