Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service

This article is about a division of the United States Department of Agriculture. For agriculture extensions in general, see Agricultural extension.

CSREES logo

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), part of the executive branch of the federal government. The 1994 Department Reorganization Act, passed by Congress, created CSREES by combining the former Cooperative State Research Service and the Extension Service into a single agency. Colien Hefferan currently serves as the agency's Administrator.

In 2009, CSREES was reorganized into the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

Mission

CSREES' mission is to "advance agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities" by supporting research, education, and extension programs at land-grant universities and other organizations it partners with. CSREES doesn't conduct its own research; it provides funding and leadership to land-grant universities and competitively granted awards to researchers in partner organizations. CSREES' areas of involvement span across 60 programs in the biological, physical, and social sciences related to agricultural research, economic analysis, statistics, extension, and higher education.

Funding

CSREES administers federal appropriations through three funding tools: competitive grants, formula grants, and congressionally directed funding.

Competitive Grants

Competitive grants are awarded to applicants upon the recommendation of a peer-review panel. CSREES' competitive programs include the National Research Initiative, the Small Business Innovation Research Program, the Biotechnology Risk Assessment Program, and Outreach for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers.

Formula Grants

CSREES supports research and extension activities at land-grant institutions through federal funds that are appropriated to states on the basis of statutory, population-based formulas. CSREES' formula grants are directed to state experiment stations, the Cooperative Extension System, and Cooperative Forestry Programs. In most cases, the states are required to match the federal formula dollars with nonfederal contributions. The four CSREES research funding programs for land-grant universities are (1) Hatch, (2) Multistate Research (a subset of Hatch), (3) McIntire-Stennis, and (4) Animal Health.

Congressional Directed Funding

Congress directs CSREES to fund and administer certain programs each year through special appropriations accounts. In general, the Executive Branch does not support the inclusion of these programs in the president's annual budget submission to Congress. Examples of projects include: the Expert Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Decision Support System; Global Change, UV-B Monitoring; IPM and Biological Control; Minor Crop Pest Management, IR-4; and Minor Use Animal Drugs.

Research

CSREES is the USDA's extramural research agency, funding individuals; institutions; and public, private, and non-profit organizations. Its research programs address issues affecting 13 national emphasis areas:

• Agriculture and Food Biosecurity
• Agricultural Systems
• Animals & Animal Products
• Biotechnology & Genomics
• Economics & Commerce
• Education
• Families, Youth & Communities
• Food, Nutrition & Health
• International
• Natural Resources & Environment
• Pest Management
• Plants & Plant Products
• Technology & Engineering

Supported research falls into three categories:

• Basic research: discovers the underlying processes and systems that make a plant, animal, ecosystem, community, or marketplace work.
• Applied research: expands on basic research to uncover practical ways this knowledge can benefit individuals and society.
• Integrated research: research is expected to generate new knowledge and/or apply existing knowledge quickly through dissemination of information on specific issues.

Education

Education programs support all CSREES emphasis areas and promote teaching excellence, enhance academic quality, and help develop the scientific and professional workforce. CSREES continues a federal-state teaching partnership started in 1977 by strengthening agricultural and science literacy in K-12 education, improving higher education curricula, and increasing the diversity and quality of future graduates to enter the workforce.

In 1981, Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) was established to promote agricultural literacy in classrooms across the country. Today, AITC provides lesson plans, professional development opportunities, and teacher recognition programs for teachers, as well as maintains a national resource directory and other sources of public information on K-12 agricultural education issues.

Cooperative Extension System

The Cooperative Extension System is a non-formal educational program implemented in the United States designed to help people use research-based knowledge to improve their lives. The service is provided by the state's designated land-grant universities. In most states the educational offerings are in the areas of agriculture and food, home and family, the environment, community economic development, and youth and 4-H. The National 4-H Headquarters is located within the Families, 4-H, and Nutrition unit of CSREES.

The Smith-Lever Act, which was passed in 1914, established the partnership between agricultural colleges and the USDA to support agricultural extension work. The act also stated that USDA provide each state with funds based on a population-related formula. Today, CSREES distributes these so-called formula grants annually in cooperation with state and county governments and land-grant universities.

Traditionally, each county of all 50 states had a local extension office. This number has declined as some county offices have consolidated into regional extension centers. Today, there are approximately 2,900 extension offices nationwide.

Since 2005, the Extension system has collaborated in developing eXtension.org (pronounced “e-extension”). eXtension is an Internet-based learning platform where Extension professionals and citizens nationwide and beyond have 24/7 access to unbiased, research-based, peer-reviewed information from land-grant universities on a wide range of topics. Information is organized into articles, professional development resources, news, frequently asked questions and blog posts that provide a knowledge-to-action service that has become an integral part of the Cooperative Extension System. In 2015, the nonprofit, member-based eXtension Foundation was created to advance innovation and technology-enhanced professional development going forward.

This table summarizes the cooperative extension programs in each state. (Under the 1890 amendment to the Morrill Act, if a state's land-grant university was not open to all races, a separate land-grant university had to be established for each race. Hence, some states have more than one land-grant university.)

Cooperative Extension

State	University	Extension Website
Alabama	Alabama A&M University Auburn University Tuskegee University	Alabama Cooperative Extension System[1]
Alaska	University of Alaska	University of Alaska Cooperative Extension [2]
Arizona	University of Arizona	Arizona Cooperative Extension [3]
Arkansas	University of Arkansas University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff	University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service [4]
California	University of California	University of California Cooperative Extension [5]
Colorado	Colorado State University	Colorado State Cooperative Extension[6]
Connecticut	University of Connecticut	Connecticut Cooperative Extension System[7]
Delaware	University of Delaware Delaware State University	Delaware Cooperative Extension[8] DSU Cooperative Extension[9]
District of Columbia	University of the District of Columbia	University of the District of Columbia Cooperative Extension Service[10]
Florida	University of Florida Florida A&M University	University of Florida IFAS Extension[11]
Georgia	University of Georgia Fort Valley State University	University of Georgia Cooperative Extension[12]
Hawaii	University of Hawaii	University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Service[13]
Idaho	University of Idaho	University of Idaho Extension[14]
Illinois	University of Illinois	University of Illinois Extension[15]
Indiana	Purdue University	Purdue University Extension[16]
Iowa	Iowa State University	Iowa State University Extension[17]
Kansas	Kansas State University	Kansas State University Research & Extension[18]
Kentucky	University of Kentucky	University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service[19]
Louisiana	Louisiana State University Southern University and A&M College	Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service[20]
Maine	University of Maine	University of Maine Extension[21]
Maryland	University of Maryland University of Maryland Eastern Shore	Maryland Cooperative Extension[22]
Massachusetts	University of Massachusetts Amherst	University of Massachusetts Extension[23]
Michigan	Michigan State University	Michigan State University Extension[24]
Minnesota	University of Minnesota	Minnesota Extension Service[25]
Mississippi	Mississippi State University Alcorn State University	Mississippi State University Extension[26]
Missouri	University of Missouri Lincoln University	University of Missouri Extension[27]
Montana	Montana State University	Montana State University Extension Service[28]
Nebraska	University of Nebraska	University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension[29]
Nevada	University of Nevada	University of Nevada Cooperative Extension[30]
New Hampshire	University of New Hampshire	University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension[31]
New Jersey	Rutgers University	Rutgers Cooperative Extension[32]
New Mexico	New Mexico State University	New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service[33]
New York	Cornell University	Cornell Cooperative Extension[34]
North Carolina	North Carolina State University North Carolina A&T State University	North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service[35] North Carolina A&T State University Cooperative Extension Program[36]
North Dakota	North Dakota State University	North Dakota State University Extension Service[37]
Ohio	Ohio State University	The Ohio State University Extension[38]
Oklahoma	Oklahoma State University	Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service[39]
Oregon	Oregon State University	Oregon State University Extension Service[40]
Pennsylvania	Penn State	Penn State Cooperative Extension[41]
Rhode Island	University of Rhode Island	University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension[42]
South Carolina	Clemson University South Carolina State University	Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service[43]
South Dakota	South Dakota State University	South Dakota State University Cooperative Extension Service[44]
Tennessee	University of Tennessee Tennessee State University	University of Tennessee Extension[45] Tennessee State University Cooperative Extension Program[46]
Texas	Texas A&M University Prairie View A&M University	Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service[47]
Utah	Utah State University	Utah State University Extension[48]
Vermont	University of Vermont	University of Vermont Extension System[49]
Virginia	Virginia Tech Virginia State University	Virginia Cooperative Extension[50]
Washington	Washington State University	Washington State University Extension[51]
West Virginia	West Virginia University	West Virginia University Extension Service[52]
Wisconsin	University of Wisconsin-Extension	University of Wisconsin Extension[53]
Wyoming	University of Wyoming	University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service[54]

See also

• Agricultural extension
• Community food projects
• List of land-grant universities

External links

• CSREES Website
• eXtension Website
• National 4-H Headquarters Website
• Proposed and finalized federal regulations from the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service