Cooperative Extension and Extension agents are faced with this reality daily as the number of agents throughout the nation has decreased over the last 10 years. Requirements of Extension agents have increased dramatically, even though the number of farmers who derive their total income through agricultural pursuits has decreased. Modern Extension agents have assumed many roles, such as consultants, economists, weed scientists, entomologists, pathologists, planners, evaluators, and community development specialists. Agents are constantly looking for new technologies to help them be more effective and efficient. The cellular telephone may hold possibilities of assisting agents to be more productive in their roles and functions by enabling them to stay in contact with their offices and other resource specialists while remaining accessible to their clientele.
Communication plays a critical role in agents' abilities to transfer information.
Purpose Nationwide, fewer Extension agents are being asked to serve an ever-growing population. The reduced number of agents has resulted in diversified job assignments, thereby resulting in a larger clientele base per agent. Funding cuts have affected travel budgets, causing county agents to be more careful and precise in how their travel is used. Justifying personnel assignments and expenditures is becoming common. This increase in workload is occurring concomitantly with a decrease in available personnel.