2024 Impacts & Success Stories
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Collapse ▲By the Numbers
| Program Area | no. of participants | no. of programs/events | no. of technical assistance requests | no. of outreach contacts (newsletters, social media, newspapers, fairs, etc.) |
| 4-H & Extension Youth Programs | 1,730 | 142 | n/a | 12,254 |
| Animal Production Systems | 676 | 21 | 130 | 6,933 |
| Food Safety & Nutrition | 905 | 46 | 118 | 1,335 |
| Consumer Horticulture | 682 | 39 | 1,046 | 73,326 |
| Plant Production Systems | 101 | 5 | 80 | 4,406 |
| Community Development | 139 | 9 | 50 | 162,343 |
| no. of hours served | no. of client contacts | Dollar Value of Volunteer Effort |
| 7,295 | 12,078 | $218,487 |
Program Spotlight: We have 94 Extension Master Gardener Volunteers who serve our community through educational workshops, school gardens, technical assistance, and more!
In 2024, the community asked 682 questions about landscape and home gardening, all of which were answered by diligent Master Gardener volunteers.
The Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Haywood County served a total of 6,810 hours in 2024, which is an economic benefit of $203,960 to the people of our county.
| Institutional Outcomes | no. of impacted community members |
| # of youth increasing their knowledge of agriculture | 1,046 |
| # of local farmers who increased their knowledge in evidence-based business practices | 40 |
| # of individuals who gained knowledge related to fruit and vegetable gardening | 88 |
| # of participants who gained knowledge in best management practices for landscapes, lawns, and gardens | 153 |
| # of pesticide applicators gaining continuing education credits | 101 |
| # of producers who increased knowledge of livestock animal health and welfare | 155 |
| # of food handlers who increased their knowledge of commercial food safety | 76 |
| # of participants who increased their knowledge of home food safety | 59 |
Helene Response
Helene hit at the end of September and affected the agricultural community specifically with pasture flooding, loss of hay and sileage feeds, loss of livestock, and damage to farm infrastructure. The timing of this storm was integral to it’s damage with hay and sileage feed, due to it being late in the season; inventories were high and the need is great going into the winter months. Many farmers in Haywood County and adjoining areas lost hundreds of bales of hay.
The Haywood County government with support from N.C. Cooperative Extension hosted an agricultural donations site at the Smoky Mountain Event Center in Waynesville from 10.4.2024 to 1.31.2025 — the impacts and donations are listed in the table below.
| Helene Response Outcome | Impact to our Community |
| # of individuals provided with printed educational materials | 725 |
| # of hours of supply distribution & recovery efforts dedicated by Cooperative Extension staff | 532 |
| # of community members supported with agricultural supplies | 6,029 |
| # of round bales of donated hay distributed | 4,266 |
| # of square bales of donated hay distributed | 4,009 |
| # of bags of animal feed distributed | 2,740 |
| # of farm visits made to support recovery efforts | 64 |
2023 NC State Extension Annual Report
Extension featured in ‘Our State’ magazine
Telling Our Stories, Celebrating Our Successes
In the aftermath of Helene, Haywood County 4-H aimed to provide tools for mindfulness in a fun and simple manner. 4-H Fall Chill Kits were created. These kits included fall themed crafts such as pinwheels and origami, but also included mindfulness activities such as breathing exercises and other mindfulness activities.
These 4-H Fall Chill kits were distributed across Haywood County at various community centers, Hurricane Helene distribution sites, libraries and community resource events.
Approximately 425 kits have been distributed at this point. While dropping off these kits many people looked through the kits and mentioned that these activities, especially the mindfulness and breathing activities, would be good for entire families.
Livestock agents in Haywood and Buncombe counties partnered with beef reproduction specialist Felipe Silva to host a Cattle Reproduction workshop in Western North Carolina hosted at the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville, NC.
Producers from each county attended a two day workshop that featured both hands on and classroom learning. In the classroom, producers learned about breeding seasons and management tools, Estrous synchronization and artificial insemination, and Selection and Mating decisions.
For the hands on portion of the workshop, producers were able to perform and practice tail-bleeding cattle in order to determine pregnancy as well as internal palpations to assist them in learning what stages of pregnancy cattle are in. 5 producers plus 4 Mountain Research Station staff registered and attended.
Haywood County Center organized and hosted a Fall Pro Day in collaboration with several other agents and the nursery specialist in order to offer an entire day’s worth of classes. A total of 30 attendees made for a very successful event!
This program taught attendees about various landscape pests and disorders. Landscapers can reduce pesticide use by properly identifying issues in the landscape and thus knowing when a spray would be necessary. The program also discussed how water quality can affect pesticide performance. Proper water quality can reduce pesticide failures and reduce the number of subsequent sprays from field failures in some instances. By offering this program we can encourage the safe and proper use of pesticides.
In Haywood County childhood obesity is at 16%. Cooperative Extension offered Color Me Healthy, partnering with 4 Pre-K classrooms at Hazelwood, Meadowbrook, North Canton and Clyde Elementary Schools. 4 principals, 10 teachers and 72 students and 144 parents were reached through the program. Parent booklets and surveys were made available and facilitated the programs ability to reach limited resource families.
100% of parents who completed the evaluation agreed that participating in the program increased their child’s willingness to taste fruits and vegetables. 88% of parents who completed an evaluation reported that participating in the program has increased their childs physical activity. A teacher commented: “The students in my classroom enjoyed this program. They looked forward to it each week. In the classroom, we noticed the students are more willing to try new foods. We have received positive feedback from the student’s families”. One parent commented: “Easton is always so excited to tell me about what he had tasted on your days visiting the classroom. He is very excited to tell me what he liked”.