Sharing research with agricultural professionals
Certified crop consultants have the most day-to-day influence on the decisions crop farmers make today. Sharing University of Minnesota research with farmers depends on the close, two-way relationships between farmers and consultants. Dorian Gatchell in Yellow Medicine County, pictured here in a sugar beet field, plays that role with great impact. Decisions farmers make affect not only farm businesses but also soil and water health and conservation.
“Through their jobs, crop consultants influence many farm producers — and millions of acres — across Minnesota,” said Bob Koch, Extension director of the Institute for Ag Professionals. “The practical knowledge they learn through Extension helps them effectively advise producers to optimize crop health and yield.”
Gatchell participates in Extension’s Institute for Ag Professionals, annual Soil Management Summit, field days and more. He has also brought knowledge gaps to the attention of researchers.
Dorian is an inquisitive, hard-working, knowledgeable farmer, crop consultant and veteran who extends University research to southwest Minnesota,” said Jodi DeJong-Hughes, Extension water resources educator.
Highlights
- RSDP impact: With support from a CERTs Seed Grant, Neighbors United Resource Center Food Shelf in Granite Falls will make energy efficiency upgrades in order to better serve the community, decrease the carbon footprint of the building, and create a more inviting, inclusive and accessible environment.
- To bring awareness to the prices farmers are paid for the food they grow, 4-H youth partnered with Yellow Medicine County corn and soybean growers for a “Farmer’s Share Breakfast” for 50 cents per guest.
- U of M Farm Family of the Year: The Schlecht family
- Master Naturalist volunteers participated in National Public Lands Day in Granite Falls. This annual event of the National Environmental Education Foundation promotes enjoyment and volunteer conservation of public lands.
- Extension provides financial capability education for participants in the judicial district’s treatment courts, including adult and juvenile drug courts, and courts for mental health, veterans, family dependency and DWI/DUI.
- When invasive Palmer amaranth was first identified in Minnesota in Yellow Medicine County in 2016, Extension — in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture — responded with extensive monitoring, eradication and prevention education efforts that continue today.
Yellow Medicine County office
Extension has 14 regional offices supporting all 87 counties in Minnesota.
Yellow Medicine County partners with Extension to deliver practical education and research you can use at home, at work and in your community. More about Extension in our county.
About the Minnesota 87 project
Spend time in any Minnesota county, and you will almost certainly encounter University of Minnesota Extension. Our faculty and staff, volunteers, participants, alumni and partners are woven into the fabric of rural, urban and suburban Minnesota life. This project showcases Extension in action through photos, stories and a sampling of the many ways Extension has touched the lives of people in every county.