Ciara Meyer still remembers the moment things clicked. She and her husband, Jonathan, were sitting in a first-time homebuyer class led by Extension agents, including Cyndi Longley when, as Meyer puts it, “they finally had a plan.”
Those lessons were nothing short of transformative.
“We were able to improve our finances and bought a home the following year,” said Meyer, a construction plans examiner with the Planning, Zoning & Building Department in Palm Beach County. “When able, I still attend courses Cyndi teaches as a refresher to stay aware and intentional in how I budget.”
Longley, a Family and Consumer Sciences agent with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Palm Beach County Extension, guides participants through the realities of home ownership – from credit and mortgage options to long-term affordability and maintenance.
For many, it’s the first time they’ve had access to clear, practical guidance on one of life’s biggest decisions.
But homebuying education is just one slice of what UF/IFAS Extension offers.
Statewide return on investment
Across all 67 Florida counties, the Florida Cooperative Extension Service delivers programs that touch nearly every part of daily life. Whether residents want to grow their first tomato plant, adopt healthier habits or learn the latest agricultural techniques, Extension is there – quietly giving one of the best returns on investment in the state.
For an average of 3 cents a day per Florida taxpayer, UF/IFAS Extension strengthens families, protects natural resources, supports agriculture and develops youth. UF/IFAS Extension also builds healthier, more resilient communities — complementing and supporting the work of counties, cities and state agencies, without duplicating services.
Extension is funded by four main sources:
- Counties: 41%
- State of Florida: 34%
- Contracts and grants: 21%
- Federal: 3%
“By adapting the research and teaching of our land-grant universities, Extension agents offer low-cost or no-cost education that helps every Floridian,” said Andra Johnson, dean for UF/IFAS Extension and director of the Florida Cooperative Extension Service. “We empower farmers, landscapers, communities, families and individuals to apply science-based knowledge to improve their lives.”
JP Gellerman, who directs UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County, describes Extension as “an ‘all-access pass’ to University of Florida expertise in Pinellas County.”
Gellerman says the mission of Extension has remained simple for over 100 years: “providing accessible, science-based solutions that empower the community to thrive.”
“Between professional training and thousands of volunteer hours dedicated to the county, I estimate a $20 return for every dollar invested by the county, and that’s a conservative estimate,” he said.
Volunteers augment the value of Extension.
For example, Theresa Badurek, the urban horticulture agent and Master Gardener Volunteer (MGV) leader for UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County, touts a new podcast by MGVs Charlotte Vaughn and Alan Shapiro.
“Listeners can tune in and learn while gardening, doing chores, exercising, driving, etc.,” Badurek said. “I am exceptionally proud of the Master Gardeners, Charlotte and Alan, who host the ‘Planting Pinellas’ podcast. They collaborated with me on a vision to bring information from Master Gardeners directly to the public in an entertaining and engaging way. This is the first MGV-hosted podcast in the state of Florida. They produce, record and edit each episode. It’s an excellent example of the spirit of the MGV mission in action.”
The podcast is just one example of the volunteer hours given by MGV participants. In 2024, they volunteered 10,897 hours, and in 2025, that number went up to 13,638.
Gellerman also cites several other programs, including Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ (FFL) and the urban horticultural program, as critical to Pinellas County residents. The urban horticulture program served about 8,000 clients in the last quarter of 2025, alone.
“Through FFL, we teach homeowners and community associations to avoid ‘flushing money down the (storm) drain’ on high water bills and unnecessary fertilizers,” he said. “Providing information on the Nine Principles of FFL helps homeowners select appropriate plants and landscape management practices while protecting our precious water resources.”
Other programs at UF/IFAS Extension Pinellas County include:
- 4-H, which prepares youth for successful adult lives
- Natural resources, an initiative that teaches residents about lakes and rivers, wildlife, urban forests and other environmental topics
- Commercial horticulture, which trains over 700 landscape professionals a year on state-required best management practices, keeping local nurseries growing
Different metro area, same support
Like Pinellas County, Palm Beach County is another metropolitan area—one of the largest in Florida—yet it faces many of the same challenges balancing urbanization with agriculture.
UF/IFAS Extension Palm Beach County offers the same services as its counterparts in Pinellas County, but because it serves many farmers, Palm Beach employs an agricultural Extension agent.
“Agriculture agents help improve farm profitability by recommending higher‑yielding, pest‑resistant crop varieties, cost-effective pest‑management technologies and lower-input best management practices,” said Ron Rice, director of UF/IFAS Extension Palm Beach County. “Similarly, residential and commercial horticulture agents enhance landscape aesthetics, while reducing costs and environmental impacts by recommending water‑efficient, low‑input plant selections.”
Anna Mészáros, the commercial vegetable and tropical fruit agent, said her program “provides vital information supporting the county’s vegetable industry, which spans nearly 450,000 acres of crop land, producing sugarcane, rice, sod and supplying the nation with fresh vegetables during the winter.”
Perry Yance, vegetable farm manager for the Belle Glade location for Duda Farm Fresh Foods Inc., a large farm in Palm Beach County (and the largest celery producer in the United States), said Mészáros has proved invaluable to the company’s vegetable-growing operations.
He cited numerous examples, one of them being her help in controlling a vegetable pest.
“Anna lent her expertise in entomology and helped bridge cooperation with the UF/IFAS Everglades Research and Education Center faculty in helping us control an emerging weevil that was reducing our stands and decreasing yield,” Yance said. “After two to three years of working together on station trials and field observations, we have developed an integrated pest management control program that is working well in controlling that weevil.”
“Anna is very available to our growers and has spent many hours in our fields observing and learning about our issues and needs,” he said. “We benefit greatly from her efforts and from those of all the Extension service staff and are very appreciative for their dedication and hard work.”
In addition to agricultural production training, UF/IFAS Extension Palm Beach County agents teach:
- Landscapers about safety to reduce work-related injuries
- Housing and financial literacy
- 4-H youth how to become leaders
- Residents about environmentally sensible cost-effective ornamental and shrub/tree selections for their home landscapes
- Nutrition education and healthy living principles for all ages
“The 4-H youth development program builds our future workforce by equipping young people to become confident, responsible citizens grounded in healthy living, higher‑education aspirations and civic leadership,” Rice said. “Educational programs that emphasize environmental stewardship and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curricula empower 4-H youth with the life skills needed to contribute meaningfully to their communities, valuable returns on investment for the county.”
Like their counterparts statewide, UF/IFAS Extension Palm Beach County translates university research into practical, local action.
“Extension consistently provides Palm Beach County with high-value services that far exceed their cost,” Rice said. “Agents empower stakeholders to make informed decisions that save money, reduce resources, protect the environment, promote healthier lifestyles and encourage citizenship engagement.”
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ABOUT UF/IFAS
The mission of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) is to develop knowledge relevant to agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge available to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. With more than a dozen research facilities, 67 county Extension offices, and award-winning students and faculty in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, UF/IFAS brings science-based solutions to the state’s agricultural and natural resources industries, and all Florida residents.
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