Field Trip to an Extension Office

On Wednesday, March 23, 2011, we ventured by bus to the Extension Office in Sergiyev Posad. It is necessary to note that prior to this trip, I had no knowledge of the existence of extension offices nor their functions and applications to farmers. With this being said, I would think it is fair to note that I was thoroughly confused throughout the majority of the field trip. However, after the meeting at the office, my fellow classmates were able to illuminate me about the provisions and function of extension offices in the United States, clarifying a lot of my confusion.
To begin, we set off from Moscow at around 8 am and rode approximately 2 hours to Sergiyev Posad. Several of my classmates and I have previously voyaged to Sergiyev Posad to visit the famous monastery located within the town’s boarders. Thus, the town had an air of familiarity as we arrived at the Extension Office. Once arriving, we were ushered to the office of the man in charge and seated around an extremely long table. After a few minutes, we received an introduction from an assistant, welcoming us to the office. After introductions, the head of administration joined our table and proceeded to explain to us the function of the specific office. I have to admit that understanding was difficult as the man spoke Russian and the overview was conducted through Dr. Malashenkov’s translation.
From what I gathered, there is a hierarchy of extension office in Russia: regional, district and national. The extension office we visited was federally run and thus holds a lot responsibility and performs many functions. In Russia, the extension offices cater directly to the needs of the farmers. The farmers may request to have seminars concerning specific production and farming techniques and it is the responsibility of the extension office to create classes to cater to those needs. As it was explained to me, in the United States, the extension offices will cater to the needs of the farmers and will automatically hold seminars without the mandate of the farmers. In the US, extension offices promote agriculture more extensively than in Russia as they have many promotional techniques. For example, to incite interest with children, extension offices in the United States facilitate 4H and other agriculture groups to stimulate and spread knowledge among the youngest generation. The administrator at the Sergiyev Posad office said that they were attempting to begin planning such programs, but currently none were in place.
There is a lack of workers at the offices in Russia. The administrator explained that is was a result of students becoming educated and wanting to practice their knowledge in other countries. This brain drain directly affected the extension office at Sergiyev Posad and it seemed that the administrator held resentment about this fact. However, the most entertaining aspect of the trip was when the director offered Katie McKee a job. Granted, she did not accept, it was interesting to see the administrator directly recruiting. So, if anyone in the US ever wants to work in agriculture in Russia, I would suggest giving that man a call.
Overall, the extension office visit was very illuminating for me because I learned about the existence of extension offices. I realize that that seems rather glib, but growing up in an environment in which agriculture is not a primary topic, it is easy to miss out on certain things I suppose. I would like to see Russia try to promote agriculture to its younger generations. I think that if students become more excited about the opportunities they can receive in agriculture and it’s enormous global impact, they would be more inclined to seek a job in that field.