Helpful hints for growing homesteads.

The extension service has the answers to most of your agricultural questions and needs. There are local extension offices and agents nationwide in the U.S. Every State in the U.S. has an extension website. All of the websites have contact information for your local agent. Many of the websites have much more content to answer questions and provide a major resource for us do it yourself farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and backyarders. The extension service began early in the 1900’s to share ideas among farmers to improve. Over the years the extension service has become associated with Land Grant Schools to get the most current and best information and ideas to create better farms. As people began to move from the farms into the cities the extension service adapted to do more than agriculture programs. They now cover agriculture, finance, youth development, natural resources, food and health, leadership, and host more. I have gone to every states extension service site and found that all the sites are not created equal. All of the sites have contact information to get a hold of your local office, but beyond that some of the sites have amazing helpful content and services. Most of the extension service sites have information that is specific to the State and area they serve. However much of the information can be used for everyone. I live in the West, but I find that Maines extension service site has a ton of information that is applicable to me. I will list every States site and links below. Please read through and click on the links there to find all kinds of great information. Here is my list of top 20 favorite Extension Service Sites that are awesome. There are the top Doctorate professors, students, and Universities that publish information for everyone to use to create better farms, homesteads, gardens, and communities. The information is vast and rich. *Alabama *Arkansas *Colorado *Delaware *Georgia *Idaho *Illinois *Iowa *Kansas *Louisiana *Maine *Nebraska *North Carolina *Ohio *South Carolina *Tennessee *Texas *Vermont *Virginia *Washington Rolled Straw Bales in the Field The 50 Sate Links The following paragraphs have links to all 50 states extension service sites. They are a wealth of great information. Due to the changing nature of Universities some of the links may need to be updated, but I have checked and rechecked to make them as current as possible at the writing of this article. *Alabama The Alabama Extension service has a ton of great free information that gets added to regularly. The topics available are easily navigated from the home page and include: 4-H Farming Fish and Water Food Safety Forestry and Wildlife Home and Family Lawn and Garden Urban Extension This site is a wealth of interesting informative articles that can be applied to the backyard beginner to the seasoned farmer. A few of the articles that caught my attention are solutions to the problem with growing alfalfa in the South East, Urban solutions to making a profit in smaller gardens, and a fish day for families to discover all about the fish available in Alabama. I found myself spending some time gaining knowledge about all kinds of stuff. I live in the West, but I found that much of the information was applicable to me and my situation growing crops and raising livestock. I strongly recommend the Alabama extension service website for great free information. Alaska The Alaska Cooperative Extension service is full of really interesting information. Most of their information is in PDF format. It is readily downloadable and has very location-based information. Due to the short growing season many Alaskans have incorporated greenhouses into their garden and crop production. They have good information on greenhouse use. In Alaska there is a lot of hunting a fishing for food. The extension service website has good information on preserving the fish and game harvest available in Alaska. In fact, food preservation is heavily explored on their site. Due to the need to preserve the harvest and wild food for the long winter season they have great information on home preservation from canning to drying and fermenting. The site has the following sections: 4-H FFA Agriculture Workforce Development Family Food and Health Insects and Invasives Lawn and Garden Natural Resources While not as polished as other websites I found the information on the Alaska Cooperative Extension Service website to be great. Some articles could use some more information, but they are eager to answer questions and offer help. They offer some really interesting classes from Seaweed farming, to reindeer husbandry, to becoming a master gardener. The Alaska Extension Service is also the place you can apply for grants for people with Disabilities, called the AgriAbility program. Arizona This extension service is associated with the University of Arizona. Their website needs a bit more work to have the topics more easily navigated. You can find links to their content through the Explore link on the home page. One thing that I found that would be really helpful if you live in the Arizona area is how to contact your local extension office. Arizona is very divers in geography from high desert, Snow covered mountains, to hot arid desert and highly populated cities. There is an extensive network of local offices and can address the needs that the local area is having. *Arkansas This site is absolutely awesome! There is so very much information that is easily navigable. Agriculture is a huge part if this Arkansas economy, so they do a really great job with their extension service. There are articles on big agriculture and farming as well as a lot of information for the small acre and backyard gardens. One article that caught my interest is this one on container gardening. Two retired guys decided to figure out the best way to consistently grow vegetables in containers. After 30 years of trial and error they explain how to grow container gardens successfully. The site is categorized in the following links: Farm and Ranch Yard and Garden Business and Communities Environment and Nature Health and living 4-H and Youth As with all extension service sites there is a lot of geographic specific information, but much of the information is applicable to anyone. California The California extension service is associated with the University of California. They have an extensive network of agents to service the entire state well. You can click on the county you are interested in and the contact information of the service representative is displayed. The website is pretty challenging to navigate. There is some valuable information with the following focuses: 4-H and Families Agriculture and Pest Management Environment and Natural Resources Food and Health Innovation and Economic Development Yard and Garden One thing that is interesting that the California extension service is offering is a Master Food Preserver course. *Colorado This is a fairly good website. It is a little challenging to navigate but has some great information as you seek you way around. The content is categorized in the following topic pages: Agriculture Animal Health Drought Energy Home, Family and Finances Insects Natural Resources Nutrition, Food Safety, and Health Small Acreage Management Water Yard and Garden 4-H and Youth Development A couple of good things for the small acreage and backyard farmer are: A newsletter that comes out every season. They have a Winter, Spring, Summer, and fall edition. You can subscribe here. You can search back issues for a host of topics. When you look through the back issues you will find a wealth of information from ag business plans, to forestry, to raising sheep, to good land management. I found the newsletter to be particularly well done and informative with practical information I can apply to my projects in Utah. Another really great thing is a new App and website that has all the information you need to preserve almost any fruit or vegetable. They have instructions and information on how to freeze, can, dry, pickle, jam and jelly, and ferment fruits and vegetables all within a few clicks. This preservation App is easily navigated and has simple direct instructions. It also has an interesting feature where you put in your elevation. Your elevation really matters in food preservation. Water boils at different temperatures depending on your elevation. The boiling and blanching times will vary as well. You need the correct time to kill harmful bacteria. The App is called Preserve Smart and can be found here. Connecticut As with the other extension services there is some good information available. There are some great pdf format articles on the home page. They seem to focus on the business aspect of agriculture. There is good information on business plans for farmers and gardeners. They also answer questions on regulations, insurance, risk management, and agricultural loans and grants. The Connecticut Extension Service has links to two free Apps that are really interesting. The Rain Garden App. Here’s the link to it. This is an App that will help planning a rain garden with video tutorials, articles, diagrams, and photos. It will help you in plant choice, maintenance, and care of a rain garden.The Kid Eats App. Developed by New Mexico State University in their Innovative Research and Extension program. Here’s the link to the Kid Eats App. This one is really fun! They have all kinds of educational videos on to teach kids how to cook healthy recipes. It’s recommended to kids from grade 3-6. It’s such a great idea to help teach kids to eat healthy. The information is broken down into the following areas: Agriculture Environment Family and Community Food Garden Health 4-H and Youth *Delaware This is an absolutely impressive extension service. The Delaware Extension service has done a lot of outreach to address issues and they have the results, or impact of their projects. Their projects are very timely important and are having great results. Their website is a great resource for all things garden and farm. They focus mainly on smaller gardens and acreage. They have a ton of information from the basics of beginning gardening to bio energy to improving STEM education through 4-H. I very impressed with this extension service and how helpful they are. Not all of their content is self-created. They utilize other extension services and utilize their strengths to give answers to questions for the people they serve. This is actually a great thing, because their site is fairly easy to navigate through and you can find help quickly without being bogged down. The content is categorized in the following pages: 4-H Youth Development Agriculture and Natural Resources Lawn and Garden Family and Consumer Sciences *Florida Florida has a huge amount of agriculture. Agriculture is responsible for a large portion of the economy in fact it is the second largest industry in Florida. Agriculture has over $160 billion in output. With this in mind their Extension Service, associated with the University of Florida, is really up to the task. Plenty of information and support is available through the extension service. There is information and expertise available for large farms and ranches, home owners, and small acreage farms. In fact, 90% of all farms are categorized as small farms in Florida. The categories supported are: Agriculture Natural Resources 4-H Youth Development Lawn and Garden Family Resources Online learning Opportunities Overall the Florida Extension service site it full of great information. Much of the information is applicable for anyone who is farming from backyard gardens to small acreage to large scale agriculture pursuits. Farm Fresh Brown Eggs *Georgia The extension service site for Georgia is associated with the University of Georgia. They have an informative site that is easily navigated. They have it broken down into sections and subsections after that. Once you get into the sub sections some or better covered than others, but even the less informed articles give some information and a starting point. Some of the sub sections have a wealth of knowledge. Most of the better sections have to do with the major crops grown in Georgia. The Topic Areas are: 4-H and youth Development Animal Production Environment and Natural Resources Money Family and Home Filed Crop, Forage, and Turfgrass production Food and Health Fruit, Vegetable and Ornamentals Production Lawn Garden and Landscapes http://extension.uga.edu/topic-areas.html#g Weeds, Diseases and Pests After clicking through these topics, I find that not all the topics area covered equally. Some of the links are dead, and some of them don’t really have much information. They do all refer you to contact an agent. I would assume that the agents could handle the localized issues, but for good information beyond local contact this site is lacking a little. They do offer some intriguing programs and Workshops, but many of the links to them are dead. . Hawaii The Hawaii extension Service is associated with the University of Hawaii at Manoa. This extension service site has a lot of links similar to other links. I found the site to be very specific to Hawaii and its unique geographic location. The information is easily accessed on the program page. It appears that many volunteers are used with workshops and further education on agriculture and gardening. The site has some gems of knowledge especially for those living in Hawaii. *Idaho One of the most valuable resource from the extension service in Idaho, besides the agents themselves, are the publications available for download. They are available in PDF format. There are a lot of well researched publications available. The majority of the information is applicable to more than a localized Idaho area. The publications are available here. There are even a lot of these publications available in Spanish. Agriculture is a huge part of Idaho’s economy, so the information is vast. They have information available from the large farm and ranch owner to the small backyard gardener. They are tackling complex issues such as water usage, which is key in the west; as well as climate change and how to change agricultural practices to handle the changes going on. The super valuable part of this extension service is how the faculty and students of the University are adding to the site. You can hear podcasts and see videos that professors and graduate students have made. The content is very current and applicable. The information about the different programs on the site are located on the Program and Project page. *Illinois This website is huge! This extension service has a lot of information on big agribusiness. Most extension services offer continuing education without college credit, not the case with the Illinois extension service. They offer college credit with many of their courses. The Illinois Extension Service has broken down their programs and information into two main categories and three smaller categories. The two big categories are: Agricultural and Natural Resources and Family and Consumer Sciences. Many of the articles are for big agriculture, but a lot of the information is relevant to the small farmer, gardener, and homesteader. Illinois Manure Share. This is caught my eye! This is where farmers with excess manure are connected with gardeners and growers that want manure. It’s such a simple concept, but so very beneficial. I thought it was a brilliant service to offer. Horticulture This is one of my favorite links. It over 60 links to sites and articles about growing plants, trees, flowers, etc. Many of the links are tailored to children and the 4H program. Energy and the Environment. This particular link has information about ethanol, compost, bioprocessing, and ways to protect your home and environment. Local Foods and Farms. The topics under this link are: Small Farms Winter Webinar Series, Fruit Trees, Insect Identification, and Putting Small Acres to Work. The best information I found available under the additional topics under the “Putting Small Acres to Work” link. The additional topic links are at the bottom of the page. The additional topics are: BeekeepingEn EspanolFarm to SchooFarmers’ MarketsFood SafetyFruit ProductionGrants and LoansHigh TunelsJob OpportunitiesLivestockLocal FoodMarketing and EconomicsNatural ResourcesOrganicsSmall Farm Technical BulletinsTri-State Publication ArchivesU of I Research CentersVegetable ProductionWebinars The Subheadings under the Family and Consumer Sciences are: Consumer Economics Lots of information on money and finances Family Life -Interesting information from cleaning stains to raising babies. Nutrition and Wellness -Great information on preserving food, nutrition, and diabetic recipes Illinois Nutrition Education Programs The three smaller categories are: 4-H and Youth Community and Economic Development Special Initiatives, which includes -Extension outreach -En Espanol Overall this site is excellent. There are some dead links, but it has a lot of valuable information that is pertinent to anyone who is doing any kind of agricultural projects. Indiana The extension service for Indiana is associated with Perdue University. The topics are easily navigated from the menu bar on the home page. The topics include agriculture, community, environment, family, food, garden, youth. The extension service makes most of their posts to their Facebook pages. The Facebook pages are: Diversification Marketing They also have a Resources link on the opening page. I found this page to be helpful. You need to dig a little, but you can find good information if you are a larger farmer or rancher. Many of their links lead out to other sites with good information. There are however a few dead links, so don’t be surprised if you need to go elsewhere to get the information you need. Jams and jellies available at a Farmers Market *Iowa The Iowa Extension service is associated with Iowa State University. There are some good links to information on farm insurance, marketing, disaster relief, and a lot of social media links. The navigation through the site is through 5 main pages navigated from the top menu bar “Learn More about…”. From these pages you find a ton of information. The 5 pages are: Economic Development Food and Environment Health and Well-being Kids and Teens Disaster Recovery There are a lot of publications available for free, or a nominal fee. Many courses are available as well. One link that caught my eye I a great link for beginning farmers here. They also have an answer line. Where you can get information and resources. There are over 40 years of excellent experience available here. With hotlines, email, and social media to use. The answer line is a cooperative effort by a few different extension services and can be contacted toll free. *Kansas This Extension Service is associated with Kansas State University. On the opening page they have a lot of good current news articles. The site is broken into 7 pages beyond the home page: *Agriculture Which has a ton of subjects navigated on the left side of the page, including: Crops livestock horticulture wildlife forestry water environment farm management Community This page is devoted to helping communities prosper and thrive. Two specific articles I found helpful are on Grant writing, and entrepreneurship. The headings on the left side are: Leadership Civic Engagement Business Natural Disasters Northwest Kansas Resource Research https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/community/research/ Specialists Families Which has topics that help strengthen families and in so doing strengthen communities. This page has the following links: Relationships Child Development Youth and Teens Adult Development and Aging Family Consumer Science Food The links that I find to be of good information here is the Food preservation and Gardening links. The topics under this page are: Food Safety Nutrition Food Business Food Preservation Meat Science Food Science Gardening Food Pests Master Food Volunteer Health The health page has the following links: Nutrition Wellness Health Care *Lawn and Garden For the homesteader and backyard gardener as swell as those growing plants for profit, here is a powerhouse page with a wealth in information and videos. Kansas Extension service has done well with this part of their site. The topics on this page are: Home Lawn and Gardening Master Gardener Commercial Fruits and Vegetables Commercial Turf and Ornamental Forestry 4-H The 4-H program is heavily supported in Kansas. There are several opportunities for young people to learn hands on about agriculture, family life, and business in the Kansas 4-H program. The links on the 4-H page are: 4-H Event Registration 4-H Calendar Enroll and Reenroll in 4-H Kansas 4-H tip sheet Kentucky The extension service for Kentucky is associated with the University of Kentucky. This site has some good information. It isn’t my first pick to go to for information, but they do have an extensive network of extension service agents available to help. They have 4 major areas of programs. They are found at the bottom of the Home page: 1-Farms Gardens and Environment 2-Nutrition, Family and Homes 3-4-H Youth Development 4-Community and Economic Development *Louisiana The Extension Service for Louisiana is supported by Louisiana State University. Agriculture is a large part of Louisiana’s economy. The extension service site reflects that. There are a lot of resources and information on large scale farming and ranching. Apps, videos and articles can be found on a large variety of agricultural topics. There are also some helpful articles, videos, and podcasts for a smaller grower and backyard gardener. They have done a great job and have the site broken down into topics accessed from the home page. One of my favorite of this site is the Lawn and Garden link. Here are the linking pages: 4-H Youth Development Environment and Natural Resources Community *Lawn and Garden Food and Health Crops Livestock Family and Home Money and Business *Maine The University of Maine hosts the Maine extension service site. This site is easily navigated through buttons on the home page which take you to a page all about that topic. One of my favorite pages is the agriculture page. The agriculture page has extensive information from big farming to small beginner agriculture. These buttons will transfer you to a location on a list of links. The information is very helpful and applicable. I find the site to be jammed full of information and helpful content, links, and videos. The different pages are: Agriculture Business and Community Food and Health Garden and Yard Home, Family, Youth, 4-H Natural Resources Insect Pests, Ticks and plant Diseases *Maryland The University of Maryland hosts the Maryland Extension service site. This is one of the most easily navigated extension sites. The information and content are constantly being added to and updated. They are really trying to make the information accessible and pertinent to big growers and producers to small scale projects. This site is a great one for all kinds of information, content, links, videos, and is constantly being updated. One of my favorites even if I live in the west, a lot of the content is applicable to my needs. The different pages include: 4-H and Youth Agriculture Environment and Natural Resources Food and Nutrition Health and Wellness Home Gardening Money Water and Chesapeake Bay Massachusetts The extension website for Massachusetts is hosted by the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The website has good information but is a little more difficult to navigate through the site. There are a lot of links to fact sheets and research. They have some exciting things they are doing with their outreach and research. You navigate the site through a menu bar near the top of the home page. The two pages I found to be of greatest use for me are: Extension outreach Resources *Michigan Michigan State University runs the Michigan extension service site. This is an excellent site easily navigated in a blog style. It is broken down into similar topics or programs as other extension service sites and has valuable information and content. There are newsletters that you can sign up to keep up on all their current information, conferences, and research. My two favorite links that seem most applicable to me are the Agriculture page, and the food and health page. The different pages are: 4-H Agriculture Business Community Family Food and Health Lawn and Garden Natural resources Minnesota The University of Minnesota hosts the Minnesota. This is another excellent site. They are constantly updating information on research, programs, and information. There is a lot of things going on statewide. The site is a little clunky to navigate, but it well work the effort to look through. You will find a lot of information on most of the subjects that homesteaders, farmers, and small agriculture. One thing that Minnesotans know is winter. There are some interesting things that they have come up with to deal with the winter and agriculture. The page links are: Animals and Livestock Commercial Fruit and Vegetable growers Community Development Crop Production Families and Youth Food, Health and Nutrition Home and Financial Management https://extension.umn.edu/home-and-financial-management Insects Managing a Farm Natural Resources Yard and garden *Mississippi This extension service site is associated with Mississippi State University. It is one of my favorite sites. This one is easily navigated with a lot of relevant content. The site has daily and weekly updates. Great information available through podcasts, videos, and articles. A lot of the content is geographic in nature, but most of the information is applicable to all agriculture, large or small. The pages are broken up this way: 4-H About Extension Agriculture Community Family Food and Health Insects Lawn and Garden Natural Resources Missouri The University of Missouri hosts the Missouri extension service site. This site has access to over thousands of different articles, videos, podcasts, and news. The best way to navigate this site is by using the search option. You can get amazing information if you know what you want information about. It is interesting to just click around, but you may find that you will use up a lot of time searching and getting interested in all that is available. A lot of online courses are available to take at your own pace. There are a lot of newsletters available to sign up for as well when you create an account on their site. Montana Montana State University runs the Montana extension service site. This site isn’t as robust as other extension service sites. It is easily navigated and has good information. The emphasis pages are: Youth Ag and Natural Resources Community Family and Home Yard and Garden *Nebraska Nebraska’s extension service site is run by University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This site has a great search option. I would suggest using it if you have some specific topics you are interested in. There is an extensive resource of agriculture information here. The educational programs are: Beef Systems The learning Child Community Environment Community Vitality Initiative Cropping and Water Systems Food, Nutrition, and Health 4-H Youth Development Disaster Recovery resources There is a lot of free apps, blogs, and newsletters available under the emphasis. One of my favorite parts of the Nebraska Extension Service Site is the extension TV. This has a ton of video information available. Nevada The University of Nevada manages the Nevada Extension Service Site. This site has some good information, and is best accessed through the publication search option. The major programs that Nevada’s extension service are on the following pages: Agriculture Children, Youth, and Family Community Development Health and Nutrition Horticulture Natural Resources New Hampshire The New Hampshire extension service site is run through the University of New Hampshire. This extension site is set up like a blog site with several articles under topic pages. It is full of engaging articles and has good, relevant, and often enjoyable to read content. The topic pages are: 4-H Youth development Agriculture and Horticulture Community and Economic Development Home Yard and Garden Natural Resources Nutrition and Healthy Living STEM Education Citizen Science Youth and Family Resiliency The most recent articles are on their blog. New Jersey Rutgers University hosts the extension service site for New Jersey. They have a great opportunity for continuing education. The courses are available here. Some of their programs bring valuable certificates. There is a good menu bar at the top of the site for navigation. They also have the content broken down into topics similar to other extension service sites. It has great information to help farmers, gardeners, and homesteaders. The topics are: Agriculture Environment and Natural Resources Fisheries and Aquaculture Food Nutrition and Health Home, Lawn, and Garden Youth and Community Development New Mexico New Mexico State University runs the New Mexico extension service site. The university has a college specifically for agricultural, consumer, and environmental sciences. Their slogan is expert advice for everyday questions. The site uses text links more than photos and videos. The information is great, but not as visually stimulating as other sites. The topics are: Economic development Energy and Water Farm and Ranch Health and Well Being Natural Resources Yard and Garden 4-H Youth Development Multimedia, Video and Apps New York Cornell University host the New York extension service site. This a good extension service site. I found the small farms link off of the Agriculture program link to be informative. If you do some digging, you will find some great information. There are also a lot of news articles on the home page. The program areas are here: Agriculture and Food Systems Community and Economic Vitality Environment and Natural Resources, Sustainable Energy, and Climate Change Nutrition, Food Safety and Security, and Obesity Prevention 4-H Youth Development and Children, Youth, and Families *North Carolina The extension service site for North Carolina is run by North Carolina State University. Absolutely and excellent site. This site has a ton of great informative content. There are articles, links, and videos. There is a thriving State and community supported agriculture environment in North Carolina. This site is one of my favorites for ideas, information, advice, content, and links to other resources beyond North Carolina. There are a lot of topics available that are applicable beyond the borders of North Carolina. I live in the West and find this extension service site to be very helpful. If you have questions or ideas, I would recommend this site as a resource to look at before you begin a project, or one of the first sites to look at for answers to questions. The search links are: Events Extension Administration 4-H Youth Development Agriculture and Food Community Forest Resources Health and Nutrition Home and Family Lawn and Garden Soil Water and Air Publications and Fact Sheets Departments and Partners North Dakota North Dakota State University runs the North Dakota extension service site. This is a solid site with a lot of great information. It isn’t as visual as other sites and doesn’t have as much multimedia, but has great news articles and content added consistently with a lot of searchable publications. The topics they break their information into are: 4-H Youth Development Children Family and Finance Crops Disasters Farm Economics Lawns gardens and Trees Leadership, Volunteers, and Communities Livestock Management Natural Resources Nutrition and Food Safety Pesticides Soil *Ohio The extension service site for Ohio is hosted by Ohio State University. This extension service site is great. It has a lot of great informative content. They are also very progressive with social media, videos, and outreach. One thing in particular is interesting, is that they are having a film festival. It is called Germinate and is an international festival. The goal is to show that rural communities and those that farm, ranch, and grow food are more than what popular media stereotypes as backward and dumb. With the use of YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and Apple iTunes, etc. there is a lot of opportunity to show what rural agriculture is really like. I think that is just a fun and interesting way to educate people on their food supply and how it is produced. The site is broken up into 4 main areas: 4-H Youth Development Community Development Agriculture and Natural Resources Family and Consumer Sciences Oklahoma Oklahoma State University hosts the Oklahoma extension service site. This site is organized by text links. I find it to be not as user friendly to navigate. I also find that some of the links are dead. Not the best extension service site for sure. I am sure there is good information available here, just not easily found. The site is broken into program areas navigated from a menu on the home page. The program areas are: 4-H and youth Ag Business, Finance and Marketing Community and Rural Development Crops Family and Consumer Sciences Gardening, Insects, and Pest management Livestock Natural Resources, Environment, and Ecology Weather Extension Fact Sheets Oregon Oregon State University runs the Oregon State extension site. The site is ok. It is broken into some interesting topics. A lot of the information is old but still relevant. The topics are: Animals and Livestock Business and Economics Community Vitality Crop Production Families and Health Food Forests, Woodlands, and Rangelands Garden, Lawn, and Landscape Outdoors and Environments Pests, Weeds, and Diseases Water Pennsylvania Penn State University runs the Pennsylvania extension service site. The Pennsylvania extension service offers a lot of workshops that you can sign up for on their site. There is some good information on their website, but it has a way to go to be really helpful. The sire has the information divided up and navigated from a drop down menu from the top of the page. The topics available are: Animals and Livestock Forage and Food Crops Trees, Lawn, and Landscape Pests and Diseases Forests and Wildlife Food Safety and Quality Water Energy Business and Operations Community Development Youth, Family, and Health Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island hosts the Rhode Island extension service site. It is a good site with a lot of workshops and local information. There are also some good articles and links to other extension services for information. Water Resources Energy Literacy Land Stewardship Food Systems and Agriculture Healthy Lifestyles 4-H *South Carolina Clemson University hosts the South Carolina extension service site. Agriculture is the number one business for the state of South Carolina, and the extension service site represents that. The extension service site has a lot of information for farmers, gardeners, and the backyard enthusiast. They have produced several articles and videos with good applicable information. This site does take a little bit to get used to where topics and workshops are located, but there is a lot of great information. Much of the site is set up as a blog . There is a search tool, and that would be a good tool to use to find what information you need quickly. There is an advantage to just looking around the site. You will find new and interesting ideas and concepts to help with your farm, ranch, garden, and backyard. My favorite section is the Horticulture section. I found a lot of new ideas to apply to my gardening efforts. This section has some great articles and videos to help anyone who wants it. The different categories are found on the home page. The pages are: 4-H and Youth Development Agribusiness Agriculture Education Agronomy Food Systems and Safety Forestry and Wildlife Horticulture Livestock and Forages Rural Health and Nutrition Water South Dakota The extension service site for South Dakota is run by South Dakota State university. Agriculture is the number one industry in South Dakota and the extension service site is a good one. There are some good tools and information available about agriculture. This is a smaller site as extension service sites go, but they have great content and information. They also have some cooperative efforts with other extension services that will help you get the information that you need. They have made some great informative videos available on YouTube for free. The major pages on this site are: Agriculture 4-H Garden and Yard Food Family Community Hand Milking a Dairy Goat *Tennessee The Tennessee extension service site is found at the university of Tennessee. The Tennessee extension service site is a great one. Much of the content is geographically relevant. There are however several articles, tools, and content that is applicable to most people. Much of the information is easily found by searching through their site. They are embracing social media and have many social media links. As with many extension sites it has a YouTube channel with a lot of great videos. The site can be navigated through the following pages: 4-H Youth Development Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Community Economic Development Family and Community Science Publications *Texas Texas A&M runs the Texas extension service site. This site is huge. There is a lot of information to here. Agriculture is a large part of the Texas economy and there are a lot of tools, courses, and information available. With the site being so large there are a few ways to navigate through it. It is visually interesting and enjoyable to see all that the Texas extension service has to offer, from job training to raising beef to using drones to monitor cotton fields to earth kind landscaping. The site is broken down into 4 program areas: Volunteer Programs Agriculture and Natural Resources Community and Economic Development Family Community and Health Utah Utah State University hosts the Utah extension service site. This is a good site with lots of links with good information. They are adding to the site consistently and have the newer articles on the home page which reads like a blog site. A lot of the information can be obtained through the browse feature on the right side. Much of their course information is available through online access for a limited access fee. The site is also broken down into 4 main program areas: Agriculture and Natural Resources Gardening Home, Family, and Food Utah 4-H and Youth *Vermont The extension service site for Vermont is hosted by the University of Vermont. It has the Nations longest running daily farm television program called Across the Fence. This site is a clean easily navigated site with a lot of good content. Much of the content is focused on the region, so may not be applicable worldwide. However, there is plenty of content that is applicable to most people. One page in particular is of interest to me is the New Farmer Project. The site is organized in the following pages: 4-H and Youth Agriculture Business and Community Development Environment and Natural resources Family and Wellness Food and Nutrition Horticulture *Virginia Virginia Tech and Virginia State University run the extension service site for Virginia. The Search feature at the top of the home page is great and immediate. You have access to their database and find great content. Years of research and current new information is available for free. You can also navigate the site through its 7 main program areas: Agriculture Community and Leadership Family Food and Health Lawn and Garden Natural Resources 4-H and Youth *Washington Washington State University hosts the Washington extension service site. The site is actually part of the Washington State University site and is linked to from the top menu bar. The site offers a large amount of content through the Search option, Learning Library link , and the Programs link. The Learning Library is presented more like a blog with articles. The programs link has links directly to specific sites, blogs, and videos that are excellent in content. West Virginia The extension service site for West Virginia is run by West Virginia University. This site has some good relevant information and is found accessible on the home page. There are some articles called Timely Topics, and below that are the links to the main extension service programs. The 6 main programs are: Agriculture Community Business and Safety Food and Health Lawn, Gardening, and Pests Natural Resources Youth and Families Wisconsin The University of Wisconsin-Madison runs the Wisconsin extension service site. This is a good site. It is pretty simple in its approach. They have the content broken down into 6 basic sections: Agriculture Community Development Families and Finance Health Natural Resources Youth Wyoming The University of Wyoming runs the extension service site for Wyoming. The extension service site for Wyoming is part of the University of Wyoming’s website. This site does have some good content and interesting publications. The site breaks much of the information into 8 programs: 4-H and Youth Development Agriculture and Natural Resources Community Development Financial Literacy Horticulture Master Gardener Nutrition and Food Safety Wyoming School Integrated Pest Management Guam There is an extension service site for Guam. The site is run from the University of Guam. The site is a bit sparse and the information is pretty old, but it has some interesting content. A major challenge that Guam has is invasive species that are taking over. There is a large problem where native species of all kinds are becoming extinct and are a lot of journal articles about this. The site has some interesting outreach programs for people to encourage health, agriculture, and community development. The United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture extension site is very robust. This site has a lot of information including the governmental regulations, bills, and laws associated with extension services. The site is navigated through 6 different links: Topics Programs Grants Newsroom Impacts Resources I found the search option to be a valuable tool, otherwise I spend too much time finding interesting stuff all over the place. The USDA is reaching out globally as well. There are efforts for collaborative research internationally, especially with agriculture. The interconnectedness of the world has become a major consideration with global food and crop production. All the sites have the contact information you need to ask questions and get information and help locally. You can get things like your soil tested and find out great information to help from local extension service agents and offices. I would really give the other stated besides your own a look. You will find amazing content and information from scientists and professors from some of the best Universities in the United States, and much of it for free.