Auburn university (AU) is an 1862 land-grant institution that serves the citizens of alabama through instruction, research, and extension programs

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Auburn University $15,097,398.82 under the Smith-Lever Extension Funding program (CFDA 10.511) on October 1, 2025, to provide cooperative agricultural extension services across Alabama through the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES).

ACES operates as a partnership between Auburn University (an 1862 land-grant institution) and Alabama A&M University (an 1890 land-grant institution), with co-location and cooperation involving Tuskegee University Cooperative Extension in 12 counties. Extension agents from the two primary institutions function as county extension teams jointly located in county offices, serving all 67 Alabama counties. ACES conducts internal and external stakeholder needs assessments to identify contemporary and emerging issues of strategic importance, including enhancing the sustainability, competitiveness, and profitability of U.S. food and agricultural systems while safeguarding against biosecurity threats, and ensuring a safe, secure, and abundant food supply through agricultural innovation and supply chain leadership.

The award period runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2030. Place of performance is Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama. The Smith-Lever program provides critical capacity funding to fulfill Auburn's extension mission in conjunction with cooperative state and county funding, enabling practical applications of research knowledge and cooperative agricultural extension activities at land-grant institutions.

The smith-lever award provides critical capacity funding, along with cooperative state and county funding, to fulfill the extension mission of AU. The alabama cooperative extension system (ACES) is a partnership between AU and alabama a & M university, an 1890 land-grant institution. ACES provides a platform for 1862 and 1890 institutional strengths to address relevant issues that affect the interdependence of urban, suburban, exurban, and rural clientele. ACES employs a highly collaborative program development and delivery process that allows for the integrative and collaborative application to serve and meet the needs of alabamians in all 67 counties within the state. Agents from the two institutions are jointly located in county extension offices and function as county extension teams. ACES cooperates with tuskegee university cooperative extension, and agents are CO-located in 12 counties. ACES conducts extensive needs assessments through an internal and external approach to identify contemporary and emerging issues. A qualitative internal stakeholder survey was conducted to identify strengths, program needs, and emerging issues, with priority PR ogram teams refining the findings. Insights informed updates to the external stakeholder survey, which was broadly distributed by extension personnel and partners; results were synthesized and shared at multiple scales to guide 2026 program planning. ACES seeks to address selected questions that lead to the identification of critical issues of strategic importance. These issues include but are not limited to 1. Enhancing the sustainability, competitiveness, and profitability of U.S. Food and agricultural systems, while safeguarding against biosecurity threats. 2. Ensuring a safe, secure, and abundant food supply through global leadership in agricultural innovation and supply chain resilience. 3. Promoting environmental stewardship by developing sustainable practices for managing food, water, and land resources, and mitigating the effects of extreme weather on agricultural systems. 4. Improving human health and nutrition through science-based education and outreach. 5. Fostering rural prosperity and resilience, with a focus on economic development, health, and infrastructure in communities. 6. Building individual and family capacity through lifelong learning and community engagement. 7. Advancing energy security and the bioeconomy through the development of novel energy resources and sustainable land use practices. These statewide issues are integrated into coordinated initiatives outlined in an annual plan-of-work. Additionally, the land-grant universities of alabama engage partner organizations and 1862 &1890 universities in neighboring states to capitalize upon combined strengths and optimize impacts. Our programs are planned to be aligned with USDA's national institute of food and agriculture research and extension priority areas and with alabama needs as identified by stakeholders. As a result of the alignment, the focus will be on the following critical issues:1.global food security and hunger;2.natural resource and environmental sustainability;3.food system and food safety;4.human nutrition, well-being, health, and obesity;5.exploring novel energy systems;6.community development; and 7.family, home, and 4-H and youth development. All planned programs contained in the alabama integrated extension and research FY2024-2028 plan of work are developed within the context of research and community engagement and are of relevance to all residents of alabama who may benefit from the local knowledge base or service. All programs are logic model-based and include clearly defined expectations regarding program outcomes and impacts. As such, all programs are inherently capable of producing measures of extension productivity.