Purdue Extension ANR educators work with every kind of agriculture in our counties. Some of my colleagues in northern Indiana work with spearmint producers or production nurseries. Some of my colleagues to the south and west work with melon producers daily.
Where the soils and topography are more suitable for livestock, we work with livestock producers. Almost everyone works with producers of grain crops: corn, soybeans, and wheat.
Urban farms are on the increase, so my colleagues in the more urban counties work with producers raising food, fiber and flowers on vacant lots and urban roofs.
But it doesn’t stop with production agriculture. “Every kind of agriculture” includes home and community horticulture as well as natural resources. Consider community gardens, farmers markets, local food systems, community planting projects, street trees, native or invasive plants, woodlands, ponds and wildlife.
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ANR stands for agriculture and natural resources, after all, and we have best practices for these interests and more.
Instruction
ANR educators receive questions by phone, text, email, Facebook and in person in the community. For example, a property owner wanted to know best ways to control the invasive multiflora rose near a waterway.
They also are called to identify needs in their counties and to offer progressive, robust instruction around those needs. Some recent examples locally include:
- Large animal rescue awareness for emergency responders
- Grain bin rescue
- Pesticide applicator training
- Pond clinics
- Master gardener training
We are also called to assess the effectiveness of the instruction, and to report impact. Those reports go to our county Extension boards, and to the state level, where reports are aggregated for funders at the state and federal levels. But I’ll save you the detail on all of that reporting. We report because we want funders to know how our work is improving life in Indiana.
Commissions, boards
ANR educators partly fulfill this mission by serving on their local plan commission, county park board and other bodies. As with all of our work, we strive to help communities make good decisions, relying on data, current scientific understanding and best practices.
On a plan commission, we are guided by the comprehensive plan, and are expected to avoid advocating for any individual or interest, even if that interest is agriculture. You will see this ideal around unbiased action below under advising.
Writing
ANR educators are often called to write for publication. Whether it’s a column such as this, or a newsletter for master gardeners or producers, writing provides a useful platform for the research-based information that we strive to get out.
Sometimes we write grant applications, or letters in support of grants for clients. This month has seen $35,000 in grant money coming to Bartholomew County agencies or producers due to just that.
Advising
Going deeper than one-off questions, we often assist residents with questions around land holdings or farm business succession.
Questions might include:
- “What is my land worth?”
- “How can I keep my land in agriculture if my children won’t be farming?”
- “What is a fair land lease amount?”
We are careful to refer clients to their attorneys for legal advice, and have many resources – data and best practices – that can help them in the meantime.
Other advising might cover pesticide drift, where a property owner believes plants, gardens or crops may have damage from a nearby pesticide application. In these cases, we encourage neighbors to communicate with each other, we use diagnostic skills to identify other possible causes for the symptoms and advise residents about the Pesticide Complaint process with the Office of the State Chemist.
It’s important to note that OISC is the official investigator, and not Extension.
We are actively advising this time of the year in consumer horticulture. Residents often want to know what plants fit a certain situation, and where to find them. Or, how to find a product that will help them to manage a certain pest or disease.
Certified arborists to work on their trees? We have a list.
In all cases, we try to give multiple options — rather than one — if a purchase is to be made.
And, I haven’t even gotten started on wayward snakes, termites or bedbug outbreaks! We get to be agricultural generalists in Extension, and every day we learn something new.
Kris Medic is Purdue Extension Bartholomew County’s educator for agriculture, natural resources and community development. She can be reached at 812-379-1665 or [email protected].
