Two years later, E.G. Booth is hired in 1927 as the first Extension Agronomist, specializing in diversification into alfalfa and sweet clover. As drought and grasshoppers grip the region, Extension coordinates programs transport livestock out of the state and feed into the state. Nearly 200 Extension homemakers clubs are established by 1930. Despite their own poverty, they rally to help with drought relief. The clubs use 1.4 million pounds of cotton to make 28,000 mattresses and 16,000 comforters to replace straw ticks for the poor.
Home economists travel by train and are out for a month or more at a time.
Among other things, Extension homemaker clubs promote home canning technique. At the same time, home information becomes a lightning rod for critics. In 1932, tax relief promoters force votes in 19 counties and nine agents are removed, leaving agents in 21 of 53 counties. The 1933 Federal Agriculture Adjustment Act involves extension agents as secretaries for local committees. In 1936, Extension supervises a program to obtain grain seed for drought-struck farmers in the Dakotas, Montana and Minnesota.