Nevada cooperative extension focuses on addressing six critical issues in the state: (1) sustainable dryland agriculture, (2) natural and environmental resources, (3) horticulture and food systems,…

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded the Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education, operating as University of Nevada, Reno, $2,606,232 under the Smith-Lever Extension Funding program (CFDA 10.511) on October 1, 2025.

Nevada Cooperative Extension delivers educational programming and applied research across six critical focus areas: sustainable dryland agriculture, natural and environmental resources, horticulture and food systems, health nutrition and food safety, community and economic development, and children youth and families. Extension maintains educators and coordinators in every county across Nevada; additional staff and faculty are hired at the local level to address identified county needs. Extension educators hold tenure or tenure-track academic appointments; specialists are all tenure-track faculty, with most carrying 100 percent extension appointments and others holding split appointments with the Experiment Station, College of Agriculture, or other University of Nevada colleges as needed to address priority issues.

The award funds a five-year period of performance from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2030, with place of performance in Reno, Nevada. Extension integrates university research with extension programming through needs assessments and stakeholder input to establish program priorities, design and deliver programs, and evaluate outcomes. The funding classification is a formula grant.

Nevada cooperative extension focuses on addressing six critical issues in the state: (1) sustainable dryland agriculture, (2) natural and environmental resources, (3) horticulture and food systems, (4) health, nutrition and food safety, (5) community and economic development, and (6) children, youth and families. Addressing these issues will require adequate time and sufficient funding. In order to effectively address the complex issues facing citizens in nevada, the US, and globally; extension must continue to increase their interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary problem-solving approaches. To do this, extension has educators and/or coordinators located in or responsible for every county in the state of nevada. At the local level, additional staff or faculty are hired to deliver programs to address identified county needs. Extension educators are academic faculty with the majority of them tenured or tenure-track. Specialists are all tenure-track academic faculty. Most specialists have 100% extension appointments, while others are split appointments with experiment station, college of agriculture, or other colleges within the university of nevada, as deemed necessary to address the aforementioned critical issues. As the outreach unit of the land-grant university, IT is especially important that extension and the nevada system of higher education (the governing body of nevada's colleges and universities) seek and seize opportunities to integrate university research with extension programming. The university of nevada, reno, as nevada's land grant institution, recognizes extension's value as a connection between all the state's communities and the university research base. The university supports and rewards efforts to meet community needs. Extension uses needs assessments and stakeholder input to help establish program priorities, allocate and acquire necessary funding to support priorities, design, deliver, and evaluate programs. Extension's stakeholder input is routinely used to identify emerging issues, to direct and redirect programs, and aid in hiring.