I recently had the opportunity to listen to a presentation given by our regional department head Larry Brence, regarding the role of Extension in the electronic age. Without going too deep into the history of Extension and missions and visions, I thought I may give just a brief synopsis of what your Extension office is here for and that may help to shed some light on why this topic was important.

In a nutshell, Extension was developed as a way to take information and research that was being conducted at the Land Grant Universities across the nation, interpret it, break it down, and present it in a way that local producers would be able to use on their own operations.

When Extension was first organized, I am sure this presented many different opportunities and challenges than it does today. The challenges that agent’s were first forced to overcome were not only obtaining the latest information, but also finding a way to get that to their producer’s while it was still relevant. With the advancements in technology, today’s Extension agents have to make sure that we get information before our producers and that the information our producers are getting from others is research-based and scientifically accurate.

One way that I am hoping to accomplish this task is through a blog that I have developed with input from other agents and specialists in the area. I would encourage all of our producers in eastern Montana and western North Dakota to visit it, and visit often.

The blog, located at http://mtagcrops.blogspot.com can be viewed by anyone. My intentions for this blog, with help from other agricultural agents in the area, are to be able to keep producers current on weather and crop conditions, local meetings and trainings, and just to provide tidbits of information as they come along. I would encourage you to visit the site and let me know what you think.

If you have questions about this or any programs offered by the Extension office, feel free to contact me at 433-1206 or by e-mail at tfine@montana.edu.