Author: Nicole Gauthier
Planning Unit: Plant Pathology
Major Program: Horticulture, Commercial
Outcome: Initial Outcome
Extension brings the university to the people. It “extends” the university to all reaches of the commonwealth. Partnerships between county agents and campus specialists have always been strong, and farmers have come to rely on the strength of our Extension family to help them increase yields and feed their families. However, in 2020, Covid-19 halted Extension as we knew it. In-person meetings and specialty trainings were suddenly unavailable to the farmers who needed them most. In response, the UK IPM Fruit Working Group and the UK IPM Vegetable Working Group teamed up to teach their stakeholders a new skill – Zoom. Typical face-to-face meetings were moved to the virtual platform, and growers were provided with detailed instructions for using its basic functions. Scientists became teachers of computer skills. One hour before each meeting, hosts were available online and by phone to assist with access. The team also assisted county agents in reaching out to growers to assure that they knew where to get personal assistance. These efforts continued for all meetings for two years. The project was successful, and virtual meeting attendance topped previous years face-to-face attendance numbers. To ensure that all stakeholders had access to information, the group also recorded each event and posted videos to YouTube. These links were shared through newsletters, email listservs, and more. Even today, growers have come to expect on-demand content through YouTube recordings of meetings and training sessions. They often request Zoom links to otherwise in-person programs, so that they can remain on-farm. Our way of teaching and learning changed drastically during the pandemic. Considering the challenges, Extension reached stakeholders through new technologies. As a result, we adopted many of those new technologies and came to embrace those that helped us extend our university to farmers across the commonwealth.
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