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.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Brooks County Extension is committed to meeting the needs of Brooks County commodity producers through field troubleshooting and research efforts. Annually, Brooks County Extension conducts approximately numerous research trials or projects to assist producers with agronomic production issues and challenges. The research was conducted in watermelons, pecan, cotton, bermudagrass, peanuts, bell pepper and citrus. Research on these crops included disease control, variety trials, insect management, and irrigation management. Brooks County has a farm gate value of over 195 million dollars. The office was able to host multiple annual production meetings. We communicate to our producers by sending out production updates through the email listserv. In the fall, we were able to check peanuts for maturity for producers in the county. Over 300 samples were checked between August and November.
4-H Youth Development
The mission of Georgia 4-H is to assist youth in acquiring knowledge, developing life skills, and forming attitudes that will enable them to become self-directing, productive, and contributing members of society. This is the driving force of Brooks County 4-H. Youth participate in “hands-on” learning experiences, focused on agricultural and environmental issues, agriculture awareness, leadership, communication skills, foods and nutrition, health, energy conservation, and citizenship. All activities and events are conducted in a positive environment, with guidance from caring mentors and adult volunteers, where youth are given opportunities to step into leadership roles.
In Brooks County, youth have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of learning activities and competitive events. School lessons are held in all fourth and fifth grade classrooms in Brooks County. In October 2023, the Brooks County 4-H Clover Program was created. The program is open to Brooks County students in grades K-6th. Through this program, 4-Hers participate in monthly meetings centered around community service as well as learning about our impact on agriculture. Brooks County 4-Hers also have the opportunity to participate in statewide livestock competitions during the fall and spring. During the summer months, Brooks County 4-Hers have the opportunity to participate in summer camp as well as other fun summer programs hosted by the Brooks County 4-H office.