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 Pulaski County over the past year.
AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Pulaski County Extension collaborated with UGA Irrigation and Ag Technologies specialists to utilize soil moisture sensor technology to more efficiently schedule irrigation events with farmer cooperators. By utilizing a soil moisture sensor, the Agent and the cooperating grower were able to apply irrigation only when it was needed, thereby reducing overirrigation and overall water usage. If widespread usage of soil moisture sensors were used to schedule irrigation on the estimated 13,800 acres of irrigated cotton in Pulaski County, cotton producers could see an average total savings of $172,500 on irrigation costs, and a reduction in water usage of 749 million gallons of water. Additionally, 588 soil samples, 65 water tests, and 7 feed tests were analyzed.
4-H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
Pulaski County assists youth and families in affording opportunities that will help youth thrive. Through the Georgia 4-H summer camping program, youth are given the opportunity to engage in lessons, learn areas of interest, make lifelong friendships, accept new challenges, and learn life skills. Pulaski 4-H affords opportunities for youth to attend the summer camping program with significant fund development efforts. Without local donor support, many students in our high-poverty county cannot afford extracurricular activities including 4-H summer camp.
According to the American Camping Association, living in poverty greatly increases the number of obstacles to participation in developmentally enriching experiences like summer camp. As a result of the funds drive, 17 full scholarships were awarded and 30 youths only paid $150 to attend camp. With an extended outreach program via USPS mail, email, and social media, Pulaski 4-H was able to raise $10,000 to attend camp, buy needed supplies, purchase camp t-shirts for all participants, and pay for all of the transportation needs for summer camp.
The reality is, because of the strong evidence and value of 4-H in the community, Pulaski County saved 50 families over $10,000! Through their commitment to equitable opportunities for all, Pulaski County 4-H youth are thriving through engagement in the Georgia 4-H program. A mother of one of the 4-H’ers who received a full scholarship said, “My son would have never had this chance to attend 4-H camp without the scholarship. He had so much fun, learned new things, and made new friends, and I am forever grateful that he was able to have this experience!”