TSU Extension Agents keep counties covered during COVID pandemic By Jason de Koff Over the last several months, Tennessee State University Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension agents and area specialists have risen to the challenge created by COVID-19. While we have all had to make adjustments in our daily work and home lives, these individuals were able to continue to make impacts across the state. Find out what they have been up to and be sure to reach out to them if there is something that interests you: In the Central Region, Area Nursery Specialist Amy Dismukes (adismuk1@ tnstate.edu), engaged in numerous nursery visits with an estimated economic impact of $520,000. She also continued distributing her “TSU Nursery News to Use” monthly newsletter (https://bit.ly/36sAqMh) to around 500 stakeholders. In Coffee County, Agent Anna Duncan (adunca10@tnstate.edu), implemented a program called, “Small Gardens in Small Spaces”, and 92 percent of the program participants indicated that the program would assist them in generating new ideas. She also engaged 600 youth and Master Gardeners in online gardening programs. In Franklin County, Agent John Ferrell (jferrell@tnstate.edu), noted an increase in phone calls and site visits and had social media posts that reached over 2,400 contacts. The local Farmers Market created a drive-thru option that resulted in more than $30,000 in sales. In Claiborne County, Agent Jennifer Gilbert (jgilber8@Tnstate.edu), handed out 400 face masks to the local community and posted more information on Facebook leading to 20,000 indirect contacts. In Morgan County, Director Jenni Goodrich (jgoodri2@Tnstate.edu), teamed up with their county health department to assist them with their COVID-19 educational outreach which included topics like how to combat stress and COVID-19
prevention. In Rhea County, Agent Thomas Greenlee (jgreenl1@tnstate.edu), provided gardening information to about 250 homeowners each week and developed numerous Facebook Live videos. In Wilson County, Agent Lucas Holman (lholman4@tnstate.edu), developed 17 Facebook Live and YouTube gardening videos that reached thousands of stakeholders. In Lauderdale County, Agent Rachel Howell (rparker12@tnstate.edu), assisted her local office in giving out 200 gardening kits to residents which contained the supplies and information for growing a container plant. In Montgomery County, Agent Karla Kean (kkean1@tnstate.edu), identified 40 percent more site visits and implemented a number of online workshops such as “Slow Your Roll: Adopting Sustainable practices,” and “Home and Garden Lunch and Learn”. In Dyer County, Agent Mary Beth Neal (mneal9@tnstate.edu) reached more than 8,500 producers through news articles, 279 via email, and 50 via text messaging. She also assisted 25 livestock producers with questions on the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. In Knox County, Rylan Thompson (cthomp55@tnstate.edu) assisted in the development of a program that allowed Master Gardeners earn their volunteer hours by signing up to answer home horticulture phone calls and emails from home. In Shelby County, Jo Anne Waterman (jwaterm1@tnstate.edu) created virtual farm tours of four small farms. She also partnered with mobile food pantry drives and provided information to 200 families on how they could grow their own fruits and vegetables. Editor’s Note: All counties are in Tennessee.
Winter 2020 | AgLINK 33