Our Impact
Making A Difference in Our County
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is working hard for its constituents. The following are examples of Extension’s impact in the county over the past year.
Appling Co. 4-H
Georgia 4-H provides experiences for young people to learn by doing. Appling County 4-H works to give these students experiences by teaching the program Farm to Fork. Students learn and retain information best when they can relate what they experience in the classroom to their personal lives. We taught the students exactly where their food comes from by allowing them to create a pizza drawing. We showed the students each commodity that makes up their pizza. Then we showed them the commodities that are grown right here in Georgia and some of the farmers who grow them. Farmers are the first people responsible for producing healthy, nutritious, delicious food. They know how to plant, cultivate, irrigate, harvest, and store the food we eat daily. Georgia 4-H and Cooperative Extension at the University of Georgia have used the research of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences to improve the agricultural production practices of Georgia farmers. As a result of this research-based education, our nation’s farmers are producing food and fiber for much of the world. Farm to Fork helps share practical knowledge and experience with eager young minds. The farmers and the students work together to grow healthy attitudes about where their food comes from and how it gets from the field to the table.
Appling Co. FACS
The overall health of Appling County citizens ranks below the state average. In Georgia, 65.7% of adults are overweight. In Appling County, 35% of adults are obese, compared to 30% in Georgia. Obesity and being overweight contribute to the development of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and osteoarthritis. CVD is the number one killer in Georgia. In efforts to improve the health of citizens, the Appling County FACS agent collaborated with the Coalition for a Healthy Appling County to implement a gleaning program. Farmers donate leftovers from their harvest and volunteers gather the crop. Gleaning provides fresh produce to limited-income individuals and families, promotes physical activity in those who glean, and fosters community among the volunteers and a sense of belonging to a group. Since 2018, volunteers have gleaned and donated 58,240 pounds of fresh produce to limited-income citizens of Appling and surrounding counties. Produce is donated to the food bank, the senior center, and other charity groups. This project is impacting Appling County citizens in many ways, whether through receiving the produce or through volunteering their time to give back to their community.
Appling Co. Agriculture
Southwest Georgia plays host to many pecan field days, but more than 33,000 acres of pecans are grown in southeast Georgia. Growers in the southeast region needed local pecan training and field days that weren’t four hours away. Appling County Extension has hosted the Southeast Georgia Pecan Field Day for the past ten years. Topics addressed include fertilization, diseases, the pecan market, thinning, hedging, transplanting, using soil moisture sensors, and herbicide selection. Each year new topics that interest growers are discussed. Between 100-300 growers from 31 counties attend the field day yearly. One grower commented on the importance of having a field day in east Georgia: “It gives them (growers) a place to go that’s close to their farm; it’s basically the same insects, and the same seasons we all have to fight down here together. I think we can learn to better produce pecans when everybody comes together and talks about it in our section of the state.”