2011 Statewide Highlights

A sampling of programs that have statewide and local importance:

·  Our Digital Evolution: The past year marks an important division between Extensions past and future. While still believing in the value of human connection, we have put a strong emphasis on developing digital resources and educational programs in order to meet the measure of how people learn and interact in the world, now and in the future. We are creating new educational videos that address an ever-widening array of needs that are shared across the University of Maine website and embedded in online publications making it possible for anyone to learn how to grow, harvest, and/or preserve strawberries in Maine, …or learn about food safety at farmer’s markets, … or understand how to look for BEDBUGS, …and much, much more. Is it working? Google Analytics data suggests an enormous response, exponentially extending our ability to help Maine people access research-based information and improve their lives.

• The Maine Compost School helps people understand how to recycle organic material, reduce their contributions to landfills, and produce rich, valuable, soil enhancing compost, a marketable commodity. Participants come from throughout world and are professional compost operators, farmers, municipal workers, homeowners, teachers, and students who gain certification in week long or 2-day programs. The School is a partnership between UMaine Extension, the Maine Department of Agriculture Food and Rural Resources, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and the Maine State Planning Office. In the last two years, six new compost businesses were started in Maine as a direct result of the Maine Compost School, creating 17 new jobs and a variety of seasonal employment opportunities.

• Harvest for Hunger: UMaine Extension’s Harvest for the Hungry Program involves home gardeners, Master Gardeners, and other volunteers who grow and glean fresh fruits and vegetables and donate them to needy individuals and families in Maine. During the 2010 garden season, UMaine Extension collected 191,977 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables to give to food banks, soup kitchens, service organizations, and directly to families as part of our healthy lifestyles educational programs. At an average market value of $1.69 per pound, the contribution was valued at more than $325,400. The program’s objectives are to mitigate hunger, improve nutrition and health, and help the recipients develop lifelong positive nutritional habits.

• Growing Alternative Fuel: For the past two years Extension has been researching the use of perennial grasses left from small grain rotations to be used as solid fuel crops. We are now working with the University Maine Process Development Center on a Biomass Engineered Fuel Project, a $1.65 million initiative recently funded by the State of Maine Technology Asset Fund linking UMaine research and development with Maine farmers, energy consumers, companies, and entrepreneurs to develop and commercialize biomass fuel in the form of grass-based pellets. In the next four years, the project will focus on the manufacturing efficiencies of converting energy crops to solid biofuel, and testing that biofuel for performance, combustion efficiency, and ultimate commercial potential.