Commissioners hear overview of K-State Extension Douglas County services

Douglas County commissioners took up a familiar but financially important question at their April 15 work session: what, exactly, does K-State Extension Douglas County deliver to county residents, and where does that service show up in daily life?

The session topic was an overview of K-State Extension Douglas County’s services, and county video records marked it that way. K-State Research and Extension says its county offices provide research-based information and educational programming in agriculture, horticulture, natural resources, family and consumer sciences, and youth development. Its county and district governing handbook, revised in October 2020, says those local offices operate under state and federal cooperative extension law.

Douglas County’s Extension office has a staff structure that reflects those program areas. K-State identifies Margit Kaltenekker as the Douglas County agriculture agent, Kaitlyn Peine as the community health and wellness agent, Sharon Ashworth as the horticulture agent and Nicole Harding as the 4-H youth development agent. Those roles matter because they show how the office reaches beyond one audience and into several parts of county life, from farm operations to household health to youth leadership.

That reach has also shown up in public programming. Douglas County Extension announced a Rural Living in Douglas County Resource Fair for April 12, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, aimed at residents managing property, land and rural homes. K-State also highlighted the office after it hosted Intro to Ag Ed students for a tour of programs on November 15, a sign that Extension is still using hands-on outreach to connect young people with agriculture careers and education.

The office’s long-term local footprint is visible in the Kaw Valley Farm Tour as well. K-State says Douglas County Extension and community members created the tour 21 years ago to improve economic activity for small family farms and educate the public about food and fiber production. That history places Extension in a practical middle ground between public education and local economic development, especially for farms that rely on direct contact with customers.

For county commissioners, the review offered a chance to weigh how many residents use Extension services, which groups benefit most, and whether current programming is meeting needs in rural areas, youth development, agriculture and family services. In a county that includes both Lawrence and wide stretches of rural land, that balance remains central to deciding what kind of public value Extension should keep providing.