Part 5 of 5
In the last post about Farming Smarter work units, we learn about the extension unit.
Jamie Puchinger, assistant manager leads the extension unit at Farming Smarter. This unit's goal is to share learning that comes from Farming Smarter and other researchers. The unit produces all external communication and extension. This includes the website, live and virtual events, newsletters, magazines and videos. It organizes all events such as Field School, conference and plot hops and ensures videos capture all the presentations.
In the past couple of years, Farming Smarter introduced a podcast, and some VR/360 video experiences. Puchinger oversees all the projects with various people responsible for specific tasks in the unit. This unit takes practicum students from the Lethbridge College Digital Media program every year and, grants permitting, keeps a student over the summer months.
Open Farm Days is an example of this unit's work. COVID-19 made public events a little more challenging this year with visitor limits, extra cleaning and record keeping added to the task list. However, peole came to learn about agriculture and made this a successful event for the extension unit.
This is the last in the 5 part series about Farming Smarter work units. Read the other unit articles.
Part 1: Farming Smarter Business Units
Part 2: Contract Research Unit
Part 3: Field Tested Unit
Part 4: Research Unit