October 2012 Archives

FARGO, N.D. -- A framed newspaper advertisement hangs in the office of Chris Boerboom, director of the North Dakota State University Extension Service. The ad, which features Boerboom's father, a Minnesota farmer, dates from 1962 and promotes fertilizer sold by a Minnesota farm supply company of which Cornelius Boerboom was a customer.

That ad is a relic from a bygone era, a time when farmers still were adjusting to commercial fertilizer and learning the value of it.

Today, skeptics wonder if the century-old extension service is a relic, too. They question if extension remains relevant in a world dominated by the Internet, a world in which farmers can turn to many sources for information.

The skeptics are wrong, Chris Boerboom says.

"There's a lot information available and a lot of places to get it. But we're still the place to go when you want reliable, unbiased information," he says. Read more ....