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Daviess County Cooperative Extension outlines programs, volunteer base and local agricultural support
Summary
Clint Hardy, Daviess County extension agent for agriculture, briefed the fiscal court on extension programs including agriculture demonstrations, Master Gardener volunteers, KADF-administered projects, SNAP-education funding, staffing, and an open house planned in May; he reported substantial volunteer hours and long-running local programs.
Clint Hardy, extension agent for agriculture at the Daviess County Cooperative Extension Office, updated the fiscal court on extension services and local programming during the May 8 meeting.
Hardy described the office as a joint outreach of the University of Kentucky (UK) and Kentucky State University (KSU) land-grant systems and said the county office includes five agents and 11 total staff. He outlined major program areas—agriculture and natural resources, horticulture, family and consumer sciences, 4‑H youth development, and a federally funded nutrition-education program tied to SNAP—and highlighted long-running local efforts such as grain-variety yield demonstrations and feeder-cattle marketing promotion. Hardy said extension staff help facilitate Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund grants locally and that, since 2002, “well over $4,000,000 have been distributed” under that program to support farm diversification and investment; Daviess County typically receives about $150,000 annually from that fund.
Hardy detailed volunteer capacity: nearly 1,661 volunteers contributed over 13,000 hours of programming and outreach contact work in the most recent fiscal year, and extension volunteers support activities such as the Extension Master Gardener program, school enrichment, and 4‑H summer camps. Hardy named staff and roles, including agents focusing on horticulture (Annette Heistauffer), family consumer sciences (Katie Alexander), and two 4‑H agents (Stacy Potts and Shereeah Cling). Hardy also introduced a newly hired nutrition education program assistant, Quincy Swanigan.
Hardy invited the court and public to an extension open house in May (open house is scheduled in May from 5 to 7 p.m.; date not specified in the meeting record) and provided the office phone for contact: (270) 685-8480. He described the office location on the community college campus and encouraged engagement with programs ranging from Master Gardener demonstrations to SNAP-education activities that the extension delivers.
Why it matters: The Cooperative Extension acts as a conduit for university research, federal nutrition funding, and state agricultural-development dollars to county residents, providing technical assistance to farmers, volunteers for community horticulture and youth programs, and federally funded nutrition education that targets low-income households.
No action was required by the fiscal court; the presentation was informational.
