Our Impact
Making A Difference in Our County
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is working hard for its constituents. The following are examples of Extension’s impact in the county over the past year.
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Macon County Cooperative Extension serves a very diverse county, with farmers growing a wide variety of crops each year. Our most recent farm gate value for Macon County is over $390 million dollars, with turfgrass, poultry, livestock, row crops, forages, fruits and nuts being the top commodities produced in 2024. This value places Macon County as the 7th county in the state for overall agriculture production.
Each year, the Macon County Extension offers production meetings, which cover a variety of commodities, fertility, disease and weed management. These meetings provide local growers with the latest innovations and un-biased research from 成人影院's Extension Specialists, helping them make the most profitable and sustainable decisions for the upcoming growing season. In 2024, each production meeting had an average attendance of 25-35 growers and provided an opportunity for recertification credits for the private and commercial pesticide license holders. The Macon County Extension Office also provides many routine tests throughout the year, such as plant tissue, soil, water, poultry litter, and legume analysis.
Madison W. Luke and the ANR program focus on meeting the needs of clientele by keeping them up-to-date on the latest information in order to stay ahead of emerging issues. Newspaper articles, covering a range of agricultural and homeowner topics, are a great way to keep clientele informed on our programs and expertise throughout the year. A staple for success of the Macon County ANR program is being readily available to assist the community's needs through on-site consultations, office meetings and, phone calls - totaling over 3,000 consults in 2024. The ANR program also participated in research by participating in the state wide, on-farm cotton variety trial and the AgWET irrigation sensor trial. Information from those studies contributed to published data that was shared to growers throughout the state during the 2024 production meetings.
4-H Youth Development
4-H is a positive youth development program that strives to serve 4th - 12th-grade youth in Macon County. Programs offered to youth in the county include in-school club meetings, leadership development, communications training, civic engagement, and camping opportunities. During the 2024 school year, 257 youth were enrolled in the Macon County 4-H Program and received programming targeted to their needs and interests. Macon County 4-H provided monthly in-school Club meetings to 78 students in 4th grade, 39 students in 5th grade, 23 students in 6th grade, 53 students in 7th grade, and 56 students in 8th grade. 4-H club also provided programming for those enrolled in homeschool learning, where 3 students met for monthly club meetings at the Extension office. Additionally, Macon County 4-H also delivers monthly in-school club meetings for the Macon County Middle School Special Needs Program. In addition to in-school programming, Macon County 4-H also offers after-school activities each week for specialty clubs. Summer activities and events are also available for local youth. Lastly, 7 Macon County 4-H members participated in Southwest District Project Achievement, and 5 participated in Cloverleaf Camp.
If you would like to enroll your child in 4-H or have questions about upcoming camps or events, please call the office or come by and see us.
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