COLUMBIA, Mo. – For more than 100 years, the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) has played a vital role in carrying out the University of Missouri’s land-grant and extension missions through research, education and engagement. Last year, the Moving AES Forward task force outlined a restructuring of this statewide network of farms and centers. 

By the end of May, that restructuring will be complete. Under this new configuration, there are now four Extension and Education Centers, operated by MU Extension, and four regional research hubs designated as Research, Extension and Education Centers, operated by the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

The four centers operated by MU Extension have relaunched their websites:

• Graves-Chapple, near Rock Port
• Hundley-Whaley, in Gentry County
• Wurdack, in the northeastern Ozarks
• Jefferson Farm, in Columbia

The realignment of the centers will bring about greater efficiencies and significant cost savings, said MU Vice Chancellor for Extension and Engagement Marshall Stewart, who co-chaired the Moving AES Forward with Leslie Holloway, Missouri Farm Bureau senior director of regulatory affairs. A more streamlined reporting structure allows heightened accountability and transparency and the consolidation of fiscal, human resources and other administrative functions. Most importantly, however, programming will be better aligned with the respective strategic priorities of MU Extension and CAFNR and relevant to the evolving needs of stakeholders.