Cooperative Extension Service, in the United States, former agency of the Dept. of Agriculture, est. 1914 by the Smith-Lever Act. Designed to provide Americans with the understanding and skills essential for solving farm, home, and community problems, the service offered educational programs that made use of research findings emanating primarily from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and the state land-grant colleges and universities. The service also sponsored Four-H programs for young people throughout the country. The 1995 reorganization of the department merged the Extension Service into the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.
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