Our Impact
Making A Difference in Our County
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension continues working hard for its constituents. Where we translate the science of everyday living for families, farmers and communities to foster a healthy and prosperous Georgia. The following are examples of Extension’s impact in the county over the past year.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Extension agriculture programming includes in-field projects and formal education in collaboration with UGA agriculture specialists for local agriculture producers who use this information to base their production managemant decisions. Our economic output was $238,976,106 in 2023.
In 2023, Cook County had a total farm gate value of more than $147,507,997. Cook County is home to traditional crops like corn, cotton, peanuts and soybeans, in addition to fruits and vegetables. Peppers, cabbage, collards, kale, squash, blueberries, blackberries, persimmons, and muscadines are produced in Cook County. Our Cook County Extension office is a Cook County Farmer's go -to-source for accessing the latest, unbiased, research-based information related to agricultural production.
Research-based information is generated locally on Cook County farms through UGA research trails investigating pecan ambrosia beetle trapping, crop fungicide effectiveness and cotton variety performance. In 2023 Cook Extension facilitated watermelon fursarium trials to investigate fungicide and grafted plant effectiveness in control of the disease in watermelons; 1 cotton and 1 watermelon variety trial to investigate variety performance locally; and 2, peanut fungicide trails to evaluate fungicides for white mold efficacy. Data generated from Cook County agricultural trials are disseminated locally in addition to being used by UGA Agriculture Specialists to present at county agricultural production meetings. Cook County field trail data has been presented locally in addition to the Annual Peanut Farm Show, American Peanut Research and Education Society (APRES) (Oakalhoma City, OK), and Beltwide Cotton Conference annual meetings among other meetings during the year.
Cook County Extension disseminates information locally through field site consultations, office visits, phone contact, social media, Remind App, email and blog site posts. UGA Cooperative Extension in Cook County provides lifelong learning to the people of Cook County through unbiased, research-based education about agriculture, the environment, communities youth and families. This county delivery system has been an effective tool for UGA Extesion for more than 100 years.
4-H Youth Development
The Cook County 4-H Program, led by 4-H Agent Katrina Laurel-Searcy, provides fun and educational activities including outdoor experiential learning and in-school program delivery. This allows 4-H members to acquire knowledge, develop life skills and form attitudes that will enable them to become self-directing, productive and contributing members of society. A total of 984 youth enrolled in the club in 2023.
Cook County 4-H provides agricultural science programs to educate rural youth on agriculture, crop production, food sustainability, fiber, natural resources, fisheries and the environment. This is accomplished via the Georgia 4-H agricultural science curriculum and collaborations with other agriculture related entities. Cook 4-H showcased excellence at District Project Achievement, a pivotal event fostering public speaking and research skills. With one of the highest participation rates in the district, clinching 17 individual and 4 county awards, with one advancing to State Congress, it is no surprise that all competitors received full sponsorships (over $1,700.00), exempliftying strong community support towards youth development.
Additionally, Cook 4-H offers Cotton Boll and Consumer Judging Team, 4-H BB Team, Cooking Club, 4-H Yoga, & Forestry Judging Team global citizenship awareness programs, nutrition education, Project Achievement, residential camping experience through 4-H summer camps and leadership opportunities through county council and leadership positions at the district level. In 2023, Cook 4-H had one member represent our local club as elected officer of the Southwest District Senior Board of Directors.
