Our Impact
Making A Difference in Our County
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension is working hard for its constituents. The following are examples of Extension’s impact in the county over the past year.
Appling Co. 4-H
One of Georgia 4-H’s core programs is District Project Achievement (DPA), which is a district-wide competition requiring youth to prepare a public speaking presentation or skill demonstration on a topic of their choice.? Youth choose from more than 30 project categories and work with 4-H staff to prepare for their competition throughout the program year.? Cloverleaf DPA is offered to youth in 4th?– 6th grades and requires youth to prepare a five-minute speech with supporting materials or a four-minute skilled presentation (dance, song, etc.).? This year, Appling 4-H had five Cloverleaf competitors, with four placing 1st?in their project category and one placing 2nd.? Appling 4-H was awarded 1st?Place for the Highest Percentage of Winners at Cloverleaf Project Achievement this year with 100% of our youth receiving awards in their category.? Junior and Senior DPA is offered to youth in 7th?– 12th?grades and adds a new component to the competition with youth being required to complete a two-page portfolio to showcase their efforts and contributions to their project work throughout the calendar year, which cover civic engagement, community service, leadership, and research for the purpose of sharing and helping others.? This teaches youth resume-building and record keeping skills, which often equip them to transition from high school into the workplace or to college.? The time limit for presentations at this age level is increased as youth incorporate a higher level of research material and deeper content knowledge into a presentation totaling no more than 12 minutes.? Appling 4-H had an increase in participants this year with eleven competitors competing at Rock Eagle 4-H Center for the district-wide contest.? Six of the eleven competitors placed in their project categories earning 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.? Appling 4-H earned 1st?Place for the county with the Highest Percentage of Junior Winners with 100% of our 7th – 8th?graders placing.? Appling 4-H had one Senior 4-H Member advance to State 4-H Congress in the summer to compete at the state level to earn Master 4-H.? Overall, DPA competitors have excelled this year with eleven out of sixteen members bringing home individual awards and securing two county awards.? This is a core program we hope to continue to see grow in future years.
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Appling Co. FACS
Appling County is ranked higher than national and state levels in terms of poverty (25%), food insecurity (18%), and adult obesity (39%). Many residents have low access to healthy foods, physical activity facilities, and healthcare services, all of which suggest an increased need for evidence-based, culturally appropriate nutrition education and obesity prevention interventions. 海角官方首页 Extension offers SNAP-Education classes to enhance healthy eating behaviors, including food resource management, food safety, food preparation, healthy weight management, and physical activity. Classes are delivered in low-income areas, therefore reaching a primarily low-income and minority population, with a higher level of obesity, chronic disease, and other health disparities. In 2024, participants completed 198 hours of SNAP-Ed classes in Appling County. Of the participants: 44% showed improvement in one or more food resource management practices (i.e., plan meals, compare prices, do not run out of food, or use grocery lists); 65% reported improvement in one or more nutrition practices (i.e., using "Nutrition Facts" labels to compare foods, preparing foods without adding salt); 62% reported improvement in one or more diet behaviors (i.e., eating fruits and vegetables, drinking fewer sugary beverages, drinking more water); 44% increased their daily physical activity (30+ minutes) by at least one additional day per week; 48% planned to eat more fruits and vegetables in the next week; 79% agreed with the statement, "I plan to make healthy changes based on the information I learned today."
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Appling Co. Agriculture
According to the latest Georgia Farm Gate Value Report, Appling County is ranked 11th in the state of Georgia for a total farm gate value of over $340,000,000. To assist agriculture stakeholders in Appling County, Appling County’s ANR Agent conducts numerous on-farm research trials in a broad range of crops including blueberry, pecan, tobacco, cotton, and peanuts. Results from these trials are then distributed to producers through newsletters, one-on-one site visits, and at production meetings. Producers can then use this information on their farms to make the best management decisions for them. To further assist producers, Appling County’s ANR Agent also offers several services to farmers including troubleshooting, scouting, ag technology/equipment calibrations, and several others at growers requests.