New Extension Unveiled

Dr. Barry Dunn and the new Extension logo                                                              Ag Sec. Walt Bones


10/20/11
by Perry Miller　
 

A leaner, regionalized Extension Service that will rely more on technology is
unveiled at a press conference this morning in Brookings. The changes were
forced on SDSU Extension by state and federal budget cuts.

Dr. Barry Dunn, Dean of the College of Agriculture at SDSU, says Extension
will be stronger than ever, although very different. He says the service will not
be the same but Dunn believes it will be enhanced. Dunn says the new field
specialists will have more expertise than ever before.

Dunn announced the hiring of 44 new field specialists who will work out of 
8 regional centers. Seventy-percentof them are former Extension personnel,
30-percent are new. All either have a masters degree or will earn one within
five years.

South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Walt Bones says SDSU really took into
account the needs of production agriculture and he's behind the plan.

Dunn says technology, notably the new internet "iGrow" system, will play a
bigger role than ever before. He says Extension has been slow to embrace
technology and that will change.

Obviously, state and federal budgeting will continue to impact Extension and
Dunn says they're working hard with the congressional delegation.

Dunn says this is the largest restructuring of extension since its creation in 1914.