Cooperative Extension needs a reboot
Prime Future 275: the newsletter for innovators in livestock, meat, and dairy
Substack glitched this morning, so my apologies for the delay to those of you receiving this for the first time and for the duplication to those of you receiving this a second time.
If you grew up pledging your head to clearer thinking, your heart to greater loyalty, your hands to larger service, and your health to better living, then you likely have some dorky pictures of kid you wearing green.
You also probably know a thing or two about the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 and how it established the Cooperative Extension Service in the US.
The Cooperative Extension Service once defined how knowledge was shared in rural America. But in the year of our lord 2025, when a producer can take a vexing problem to ChatGPT and get a reasonably good, tailored recommendation with just a bit of smart prompting?
The role of Extension feels worth questioning — not in a ‘should it exist’ way, but more like ‘how should it exist.’
Turns out, this leads to some bigger systemic questions — and yes, you bet your bottom dollar we’re starting back with ol’ Abe Lincoln to get some answers. I mean, he did kickstart this whole thing…