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Historically, since the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, CES has served agricultural 

 producers, families, communities, consumers and businesses. In recent years, the CES has 

 served the priority needs of people in agricultural profitability and sustainability, water 

 quality, youth at risk, consumer issues, human health and nutrition, waste management, and 

 community economic development. To remain relevant and to meet the constantly 

 changing needs of the people, CES must continue to work cooperatively with numerous 

 other agencies and groups and is now also networked technologically so as to better draw 

 upon appropriate research, disciplines, and databases. 



Current Critical Issues Facing the System 



Over the past five years, the CES has undergone a great deal of transition. Change 

 has been the operative word throughout the CES. The focus of the change has been the 

 move to issues-based programming. As a result of that change, some critical issues face the 

 CES. Among those issues are the following: 



• With increased intensity through the strategic planning process to identify the 

 most time sensitive and critical societal issues, the CES has refocused some 

 resources on issues affecting agriculture, children, families, envirorunent, and 

 consumers. The CES has gained significant praise from some for this action 

 w^le being criticized by others for abandoning traditional clientele, 

 especially production agriculture. In fact, the proportion of resources 

 expended by the CES on agricultural and natural resource issues has 

 increased. The most highly visible current programs of the CES focus on 

 societal issues which relate to agriculture and consumers, such as food safety, 

 water quality, and waste management. These are not seen by some as 

 traditional agricultural production programs; however, these do address 

 critical challenges facing agriculture production today. 



• As the CES transition occurs, there is some lack of public understanding of 

 the new agenda focusing on critical issues. This lack of understanding leads 

 some members of the media, national organizations, and, in some cases, 

 public officials to make statements which reflect the CES of the past instead 

 of current program focus. 



• As the CES continues the transition to issues programming, it is becoming 

 increasingly apparent that the critical issues are very difficult to address in 



a non-formal educational setting. The educational program must be presented 

 and received as non-advocacy. Staff of the CES need and will be receiving 

 extensive training in both process skills and technology related to the critical 

 issues. 



• As the general economy of the U.S. has suffered, most State and local 

 governments have had great difficulty with budgets. This has had a 

 negative impact on the state extension systems and the land-grant universities 

 in those states. For the most part, however, most have done an excellent job 

 of responding to their fiscal situations. 



