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Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension at Mizzou

ANR Extension Economic Impacts

Projected economic activity resulting from 2008 Missouri Value Added Center projects was $14.67 million.
MU Extension assisted twenty-six watersheds citizen groups develop watershed management plans. Three of these groups secured $1.4 million in funding to implement their plan.
Master Gardeners contributed 127,663 volunteer hours with an estimated impact on their communities of nearly $2.6 million.
The addition of 6,000 pasture-based dairy cows this past year has generating over $10,000,000 in direct sales and over $31.2 million in total economic output.
In 2009, landowners participating in the Missouri Woodland Steward Program prepared more than 270 forest stewardship plans representing 50,130 acres with an estimated economic impact of $41 million.

The College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources' (CAFNR) agriculture and natural resources extension program focuses on economic development, crop and livestock production and marketing systems, and increased income from forages, while balancing the consequences for Missouri's natural resources and environment.

Five Focal Areas

CAFNR's agriculture and natural resources (ANR) extension programs are organized around five major interdisciplinary themes. Each area includes state and regional specialists as team members.

From Science to Substance

ANR Programs transfer research results from AES Farms and Centers to communities around Missouri. Citizens throughout the entire state benefit from new knowledge and discoveries.

Program Highlights

Agricultural Business Management Programs

Missouri Value-Added Agriculture: An entrepreneurial-focused approach to evaluating the potential marketability of a value-added idea.

Environmental Quality Programs

Watershed Management and Planning: Evaluation, planning and implementation of locally designed watershed management programs, thus sustaining the economic and social well-being of communities. Wise watershed management results in improved water quality.

Services include assistance with community organizing and coalition building, development of strategies relating to watershed management and assessment of outcomes.

Integrated Crop Management/Horticulture Programs

Master Gardener: Provides in-depth horticulture training to individuals throughout Missouri who then volunteer their time applying what they have learned to help others in their communities to learn about gardening and environmental education.

Through activities such as Extension hotlines or answer services, workshops, speaker's bureaus, garden show booths and demonstration projects, Master Gardeners provide gardening information to thousands of Missourians each year.

To become trained as a Master Gardener, an individual must attend a 30-hour classroom Core Course training. Then the Master Gardener trainee is required to give 30 hours of volunteer service back to their community in approved University of Missouri Extension activities.

Livestock Production Systems Programs

Pasture-Based Dairy Systems: Promotes concepts in economically viable and sustainable forage-based dairy production.

Participants acquire skills in financial management, high-quality pasture foraging and animal husbandry.

Pasture-based Dairies in Missouri
University of Missouri Extension is actively involved in guiding the evolution of pasture-based dairying in Missouri.
Grazing Wedge
Tool for managing feed on a pasture-based dairy farm.
In the News: My partner, the cow: Missouri's sagging dairy industry was revitalized with research that put cows to work in their own feeding and waste disposal

Natural Resources Programs

Missouri Woodland Steward: Helps private land owners identify woodland habitats and introduces basic forest and wildlife management concepts and practices.

Participants learn how to write clear goals and objectives; access information on property ownership, aerial photographs, topographic maps and soil productivity; how to conduct perimeter and interior walks of property; and basic tree and grass identification.

More Programs

See complete listing of ANR Programs

Featured Stories

Telemetry can boost yields from center-pivot irrigation

Less feed, more filling: MU researchers are determining why some cows need less food to achieve weight goals

Sweet Fuel: Sweet sorghum is great for moonshine and might be a promising Missouri-made biofuel

A big return for a research buck: A study shows the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station beats other states and outpaces the stock market in ROI

Seeing Green: New technology at MU's Delta Research Center has the potential to keep money in farmers' pockets and help protect the environment