MIFFLINTOWN — Jeff Hackenberg, customer relations manager with Penn State Extension, and Michael Ryan, director of business operations for Juniata and other counties, shared a presentation on Penn State Extension during Monday’s Juniata County Commissioner’s meeting .

Hackenberg shared a few things Penn State Extension is offering in our county.

“Signed by President Lincoln in 1862, the Morrill Act established a land grant system to meet the demand for agricultural and technical education in the United States. » Hackenberg said. “Later supplemented by the Hatch Act of 1887, it provided federal funding for agricultural research. »

Additionally, the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 created a cooperative extension system associated with each land-grant institution.

Penn State University is the only land-grant educational institution in Pennsylvania. With more than $1 billion in research, the university is among the top 25 research institutions in Pennsylvania.

“Penn State Extension falls under Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, which has nine departments, which in turn requires a lot of research in each of those departments,” Hackenberg said.

Extension educators based in multiple counties use their research to create educational resources for the general public.

Penn State Extension is a modern educational organization dedicated to providing scientific information to people, businesses and communities.

This service is “funded by a partnership between federal and local governments, created to ensure that all have access to higher education and benefit from applied research”, Hackenberg said.

You can find this and much more online at www.extension.psu.edu, including the five categories in which Extension programming is structured.

The first category, 4-H Youth Development, includes volunteer management and development, science, and positive youth development.

“We plan to continue and expand this opportunity in 2025.” Hackenberg said.

The second category is animal systems which include livestock, dairy and poultry.

With the third category, Horticulture, you will be able to learn about the green industry, vegetables, berries, business and economic development as well as the Master Gardener program and more.

The Master Gardeners held a “Harvest and prepare your own pizza” event in their children’s demonstration garden. Last May, they launched their first children’s demonstration garden in Juniata County, at the Juniata County Library.

During this event, ten children planted vegetables and aromatic herbs.

In August, Penn State Extension partnered with Clarissa Beaver, their Extension Nutrition Education Advisor, to host a “Make your own pizza” event where children were able to harvest the vegetables they planted and use them as pizza toppings, including tomatoes, peppers, carrots, beets and potatoes.

In the fourth category, Agronomy and Natural Resources, you can learn about energy, farm safety, pesticide education, and how to grow and forage crops.

In the fifth category, Food, Families and Communities, educational resources teach family wellness, the Food Safety Modernization Act, health and wellness, and nutritional connections and youth programs.

The Nutrition Links program is expected to be completed with community partners such as CYS, Head Start, PreK Counts, Crossroads, Lumina Center and TIU.

Nutrition Education Advisor Clarissa Beaver and her team collaborate with the Paul W. Delauter Youth Center, the Sonbeam Early Learning Center and several farmers markets.​

Youth programs are in full swing with summer camps at the Lion’s Den, the YMCA and the Paul W. Delauter Youth Center.

You can learn more on their website or by contacting Hackenberg at [email protected] for more information. Beaver can be contacted by email at [email protected].

In other cases, the commissioners…

•Approved a letter of support for Fayette Township supporting a request for multimodal transportation funding for Leonard Road improvements;

• Approved the resignation of Robert Zimmerman from his position as a telecommunicator at the Juniata County 911 Center, effective at the end of operations on December 9, 2024. Mr. Zimmerman will retire after more than 38 years of service to the county;

•Approved payment of checks in the amount of $106,082.80.

There will be no commissioners meeting on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 due to Election Day.