Keeping extension programs current in order to meet the needs of a dynamicdairy industry

Extension is one of three missions of land-grant colleges. Funding and supp ort include local, state, and federal dollars plus industry support, compet itive grants, and user fees. To evaluate changes and emphasis, a survey of 13 selected dairy states was conducted to evaluate changes in dairy full-ti me equivalents (FTE) in the last 10 yr (1989 compared with 1999) at county or unit, regional, and state levels. A reduction of 5 to 34% in FTE occurre d at all three levels. Surveys of dairy support state specialists in other related departments were also collected from the 13 states based on 1999 da ta. Wide ranges in state specialist support in other departments were repor ted. Changes and future program needs were collected from a 13-state survey . Two futuristic dairy information delivery programs are illustrated. The I llinois extramural CD-ROM-based instructional program used existing technol ogies to reach broad clientele bases, allowed students to receive instructi on when time was available and earn college credit. The National Dairy Data base (NDD) is an Internet-based delivered program with 23 domain areas that contained peer reviewed material. Users can access the new NDD by subscrib ing to an Internet address (which will be updated as new material is receiv ed) or by purchasing a CD-ROM.