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.
4-H Youth Development
The important role of agriculture as a foundation for a secure and durable civilization is not always apparent to those outside of agriculture. Specifically, current generations of children and youth often only see agriculture in terms of narrow stereotypes—a farmer, a cow, and/or a tractor. (Luckey, Murphey, Cummins, & Edwards, 2013). A recent survey showed only 21 percent of youth feel they are very knowledgeable about where their foods comes from with 40% saying they know little to nothing about the subject (Agdaily.com, 2020).
Hart County ranks in the top five counties in the state in Farm Gate Value for more than 15 years and has a 2021 Farm Gate value of $390,813,770. Agriculture is very important to the county and stakeholders have expressed concerns over youth awareness of how important agriculture is to not only our county but life in general.
During monthly 4-H meetings, the Hart County 4-H staff supplements science standards taught in the classroom and tries to connect them back to agriculture. Using a lesson plan from Georgia 4-H Mission Make-it 2022, fourth grade students discussed the basics of simple machines like levers and pulleys and how these simple machines play important roles on the farm. Students were then put into working groups and given a bag of basic materials like straws, rubber bands, paper clips, a pieces of cardstock paper, string, popsicle sticks, tape, and a wheel.
The lesson was presented to 270 students through 12 classes. Each class was surveyed on knowledge gained from the presentation.
90% of students were able to identify the value that simple machines, like wheelbarrows, play in farm work.
85% of students were able to name another simple machine and how it could be used on the farm.
100% of the students and teachers reported that they learned something new from the lesson.
While only a few groups were able to build a successful, working wheelbarrow that could move a small bag of dried beans, 90% of the groups that were unsuccessful were able to recognize that they didn’t have the wheel and axle constructed correctly.
Overall, this lesson got rave reviews by the teachers. Most said they appreciated the real world connection the kids had while they were studying simple machines. The kids also seemed really enthusiastic to get to construct something and see if they could make it work.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
In 2023, to address the needs of the agricultural community as well as the homeowner population in Hart County, Extension offered educational programs including Backyard Flocks 101, Wondering About Your Well Water, Egg Candling Certification, Pesticide Credit Day, Great Southeast Pollinator Census, and a Cattle a Forage Market Outlook. In addition, Extension has also supported the community through testing services and providing research-based information. Through water, soil, and feed analysis, Hart County Extension was able to give the community results and recommendations based on researched information to improve their crop and livestock production, landscape success, and water quality. The agriculture and natural resources agent worked on providing the community with researched-based information through radio appearances, social media posts, newspaper articles, a monthly newsletter, local television channel appearances, and presentations to clubs and associations throughout the Hart County Community.