2024 in Review: Extension Agents Report Their Impacts

Part 3 in a series

The reports of accomplishment that Extension agents and specialists file each year tell a story of individuals, businesses, and communities that have been uplifted by the research-based education they provide, each day and throughout Florida. Here are just a few of their stories.

Protective covers keep citrus greening vectors out, let sunshine in

Citrus greening disease, also known as HLB, has had a devastating effect on Florida’s citrus industry since it was first detected in Miami in 2005. The bacterial disease is transmitted by a tiny bug called the Asian citrus psyllid. After decades of study, researchers have found that one of the most effective ways to reduce the spread of HLB is to prevent the psyllids from landing on citrus trees. But how do you keep pests out while letting in sunlight and irrigation?

Dr. Mongi Zekri is multi-county Extension agent specializing in citrus. He is part of a UF/IFAS team that has been evaluating the use of Individual Protective Covers (IPCs) on young citrus trees. These mesh covers are installed immediately after the new trees are planted and are usually kept on for 24-30 months. With no psyllids getting through the covers, trees avoid citrus greening (HLB) infection for the time the covers are on the trees. Without infection, trees enter the fruit-producing stage healthy.

Young citrus trees protected under IPCs.

The covers not only help prevent psyllids from infecting citrus trees with HLB, but they also help trees grow faster and larger. The covers cut the costs of chemical treatments to control psyllids, leafminers, weevils, aphids and other pests. Citrus canker infection and spread are also reduced. Since Zekri’s team’s study demonstrated that IPCs are one of the best tools to establish HLB free young trees, the mesh bags are now covering and protecting over 1 million citrus trees on about 17,000 acres. For citrus growers, this adds up to a cost saving of $10-$12 million.

You can read more about Dr. Zekri’s work in the Flatwoods Citrus newsletter. https://mailchi.mp/7ec14d722458/citrus

Saving irrigation water, drop by drop

Bradford County growers have always irrigated their crops by keeping their eyes on the weather–if it’s rainy, skip irrigation; if it isn’t raining, it’s time to irrigate.

Luke Harlow is Bradford County’s horticulture and pest management Extension agent. Talking with one Bradford County strawberry producer who used this weather-eye philosophy, he estimated that he would water 4 hours every other day during the growing season. With the strawberry season running roughly from November through May, this would equal roughly about 90 watering events for a total of 360 hours or 21,600 minutes of runtime, if no rain occurred. It all added up to about 302,400 gallons of water in a season.

Luke suggested to the grower that he might consider reducing his water output by using a soil moisture sensor. These portable devices are easy to use,  and provide more accurate data on how much water is in the soil, so that growers can irrigate more efficiently.

So Luke got on the phone with his UF/IFAS northeast district water regional specialized agent, who was able to help procure a loaner moisture meter for the grower, so he could test it out.

After a short time with the moisture meter, he told Luke that he now realized he’d been overwatering his whole life! For the 2024 growing season, based on the data collected from the soil moisture meter, instead of irrigating every other day, he only had to water once every 2 weeks, due to the amount of water already in the soil. Now he could irrigate his crops with only 10,080 gallons per season. After talking with Luke and using the soil moisture sensor, he saved 292,320 gallons of water during his 2024 growing season.

You can read more about Luke’s Extension work in the Bradford County Extension News: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=973500784821414&set=pcb.973501774821315

 

Family resource management helps those struggling with debt

The inflated prices of everyday expenses, such as groceries, utilities, insurance, and health care, are causing more people to rely on credit cards, according to a recent study. Experian, one of the credit bureaus, found that the average credit card balance in Florida in 2023 was $7,112, an 11 percent increase from 2022.  And debt doesn’t just affect one’s finances, but also mental health, from anger, depression and anxiety.

Several Extension Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) agents are part of a statewide service offering free financial counseling over Zoom for those needing help with budgeting, paying off debt, improving their credit, and other financial topics. Interested participants simply fill out an intake survey on Qualtrics and someone from the state office assigns the participant to an agent based on the county.  Participants can meet as many times as they need.

Shari Bresin, an FCS Extension agent in Pasco County, worked with a young woman who was working her first post-college job and has been struggling with managing her finances.  Her parents unfortunately were not good role models with money, and she found herself in the same financial situation as them and didn’t know who to turn to for help.  She signed up for a financial counseling session upon hearing of the free service, and asked for a few follow up sessions to stay on track.

From the spring of 2023 to spring of 2024, she explained her credit score increase 98 points by staying mindful of the credit card best practices she learned about from the sessions.  Working with Shari also helped her find ways to save $200 each month to put towards her emergency fund, breaking the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck.  This came in handy recently when her dog needed to go to the vet due to an illness; she had an emergency fund large enough to cover the vet bill, avoiding credit card debt and allowing her to maintain her credit score she worked so hard to achieve over the year.

Shari’s blog at https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/global/author/sbresin/ has more information about financial management, family nutrition, and more.

 

Extension improves quality of life in Florida’s fiscally constrained rural counties

Florida’s rural counties are at a disadvantage when it comes to tax revenues. Without dense populations, bustling commercial sectors and high-income jobs, rural counties have fewer tax dollars in their budgets to spend towards improving the quality of life for their residents. This creates a cycle of fiscal poverty and lack of opportunity that keeps leaving rural communities behind.

The Florida Legislature appropriates money to support fiscally constrained counties where 1 mill levies would raise no more than $5 million annually, provided certain requirements are met. Holmes County, a small rural county in Florida’s Panhandle, with a population of 20,000 and a median household income of $28,000, meets that definition.

However, by working closely with county elected officials, department heads, and community leaders, UF/IFAS Extension Holmes County has been able to increase the knowledge of their free or low-cost educational programming through traditional and innovative marketing.

Through their programming, Holmes County Extension Director Kalyn Waters and her team, including financial management agent Judy Corbus and 4-H agent Chris Lauen, have promoted the overall health of county residents, increased youth’s quality of life and sense of belonging, and improved profitability of agricultural entities.

The impact of Extension’s stakeholder and leadership education allowed prioritized legislative appropriation to be fully supported and funded at $4.2 million in 2024.  This effort has resulted in the funding for a new 14,000 square foot agricultural facility, which has a major impact in Holmes County, a rural county where funding is not available for infrastructure or capital improvements.

UF/IFAS Extension Holmes County continues to have a positive impact on the residents of the county through the programming it provides, and stakeholder support has increased due to Kalyn’s efforts to promote and market the program.

You can learn more about Extension programs in Holmes County on the Panhandle Outdoor Connection Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hcoutdoorexpo

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Posted: January 28, 2025


Category: AGRICULTURE, Crops, Money Matters, UF/IFAS Extension,
Tags: Citrus Greening, Communitiy Development, Irrigation, Kalyn Waters, Luke Harlow, Mongi Zekri, Resource Management, Rural Communities, Shari Bresin