4-H and Extension go way back. In fact, they go back to the very roots of both demonstration work and the rural youth development movement. In the early 1900s, when researchers and educators from the nation’s land-grant universities brought ... READ MORE
Category: Smith-Lever
One of Extension’s little-known accomplishments is its role in bringing electricity to the rural areas of Florida. In the mid-1930s, only about 12 percent of rural America had access to centralized electricity--in Florida, only 8 percent of ... READ MORE
Category: Smith-Lever, UF/IFAS ExtensionPer some requests we've had from Extension folks wanting to use the "100 Years of Extension" video in their PowerPoint presentations, we have exported the video to a Windows Media Video (wmv) file and made it available. Instructions on how ... READ MORE
Category: Smith-Lever, UF/IFAS Video
When growers in central and south Florida turned in on the night of January 18, 1997, most of them expected that the next day would be much like the last. Weather reports on the local news were predicting overnight lows in the mid to upper 30s—cold, ... READ MORE
Category: Smith-Lever, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Communications, UF/IFAS Extension
In 1915, Florida’s agricultural economy was in serious trouble. Its principal cash-crop, cotton, was being devastated by the boll weevil, an invasive beetle that crossed over from Mexico in the early 1900s. Farmers were desperate to make up ... READ MORE
Category: Smith-Lever, UF/IFAS Communications
When you reach for that can of cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie filling this Thanksgiving, take a moment to thank Extension. Home canning is one of Extension's first success stories in Florida, leading to both 4-H Youth Development and UF/IFAS' ... READ MORE
Category: EVENTS, Smith-Lever, UF/IFAS Extension
In the early days of Extension, agents lived on the road, made frequent house calls, and had to be experts in a wide range of fields. Here is an account from Ruth Elkins, a Polk County Home Demonstration Agent active 1939-1972: “In the ... READ MORE
Category: EVENTS, Smith-Lever
Over the next year, you’re going to see a trio of well-dressed, monochromatic gentlemen crop up in the oddest places. To raise awareness about the 100th Anniversary of Extension in Florida, life-sized cutouts of the principal founders of ... READ MORE
Category: EVENTS, Smith-Lever