be other concerns which relate to the Extension 

 Service's work priorities and its overall purpose. 



The work priorities of the Montana Cooperative 

 Extension Service seem to provide a basis for serious 

 concern. At a time when the state's agricultural 

 producers have requested farm management and financial 

 planning assistance to help them survive a financial 

 crisis in agriculture, the Montana Cooperative Extension 

 Service has allocated 24.7% of all its resources to 4-H 

 and youth services. This is revealed in a summary of 

 the Extension Service's work priorities, which appears 

 on page 66. It must be asked whether this is an 

 appropriate work priority, one for which the state has 

 appropriated $4.5 million. ^^ 



Another concern regards the mission of the Montana 

 Cooperative Extension Service. The problem is that 

 state statutes do not seem to adequately define the 

 purpose and function of the state Extension Service. 

 Indeed, only a few statutes specifically relate to 

 establishment and operation of the Montana Cooperative 

 Extension Service. And, section 20-25-226, MCA, which 

 establishes the Cooperative Extension Service in 

 Montana, merely assents to the terms and provisions 

 of the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 that created the federal 

 extension program. 



As a result, it seems that the Montana Cooperative 

 Extension Service lacks a clearly focused mission to 

 serve the state's farmers and ranchers. It might be 

 fitting for the Legislature to provide the Montana 

 Cooperative Extension Service greater program direction, 

 as well as a carefully defined purpose. 



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