MIFFLINTOWN — Penn State Extension Client Relationship Manager Jeff Hackenberg and Michael Ryan, the business operation manager for Juniata and other counties, shared a presentation about Penn State Extension during the Juniata County Commissioner’s Monday meeting.

Hackenberg shared a few things that Penn State Extension offers in our county.

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

Also, 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 school institution in Pennsylvania. With over one billion dollars in research, the university is a part of the top 25 research institutions in Pennsylvania.

“Penn State Extension is under the College of Agriculture Sciences at Penn State which has nine departments, which in return requires a lot of research under each of these departments,” said Hackenberg.

The 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 delivering science-based information to people, businesses, and communities.

This service is “funded through partnership of federal state and local government, created to ensure all have access to higher education and benefit through applied research,” said Hackenberg.

You can find this and more online at www.extension.psu.edu including the five categories the extension programming is structured into.

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

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

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

With the third category, horticulture, you can learn about the green industry, vegetables, small fruits, business and economic development as well as the master gardener program and more.

The Master Gardeners held a “Harvest and Make Your Own Pizza” event at their Children’s Demonstration Garden. This May, they introduced their first Children’s Demonstration Garden in Juniata County at the Juniata County Library.

At that event, they had 10 children plant vegetables and herbs.

In August, Penn State Extension partnered with Clarissa Beaver, their Extension Nutrition Education adviser, to host a “Make Your Own Pizza” event where the children got 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 field and forage crops.

In the fifth category, food, families, and communities, the educational resources teach family well-being, the Food Safety Modernization Act, health and wellness as well as nutrition links and youth programming.

Nutrition Links programming has been scheduled for completion with community partners such as CYS, Head Start, PreK Counts, Crossroads, Lumina Center, and TIU.

Clarissa Beaver, Nutrition Education adviser, and her team are collaborating with Paul W. Delauter Youth Center, Sonbeam Early Learning Center, and several farmers markets.​

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

You can dive into this and more on their website or by contacting Hackenberg at juh714@psu.edu for more information. Beaver can be reached by email at clb6063@psu.edu.

In other business, Commissioners…

•Approved a Letter of Support for Fayette Township supporting an application for Multimodal Transportation funding for improvements to Leonard Road;

•Approved the resignation of Robert Zimmerman from his position as a telecommunicator at the Juniata County 911 Center effective as of the end of business on Dec. 9, 2024. Mr. Zimmerman will be retiring after more than 38 years of service with the County;

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

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