Extension reports 19 master gardeners, 1,800 webinar registrants and 164 pesticide applicators in county programs

Lisa Dirks, regional director for the University of Minnesota Extension, and Katie Druitz, Houston County’s agriculture and natural resource educator, told the Houston County Board of Commissioners that local Extension programs remained active in 2025 and contributed measurable volunteer time and outreach.

“Good morning, Houston County Board of Commissioners, staff, and visitors,” Dirks said as she introduced the annual county update. Druitz then outlined a range of agricultural and community programs supported by county funding under a memorandum-of-agreement arrangement.

Druitz highlighted the Extension Master Gardener program: “In 2025 we had 19 active members. They contributed almost 2,000 hours worth of volunteer time,” she said, and added that those hours convert to roughly $71,000 in volunteer value using standard volunteer-rate calculators. The volunteers also provide public education and site-based project support in county parks and community gardens.

The educator described mandatory private pesticide applicator training that she runs locally. “We had 164 applicators in Houston County for this year,” Druitz said, noting that farmers must re-certify every three years and that the county offers in-person, take-home tests and online options.

Druitz also emphasized Extension’s remote programming reach: a ‘‘Gardening from the Ground Up’’ webinar series drew about 1,800 registrants and roughly 500 daily live viewers across the region, she said, and the county’s Master Naturalist volunteers contributed roughly 516 service hours in 2025 on activities such as trail maintenance, invasive-species work and water-quality monitoring.

The presentation included youth outreach: Druitz previewed the Tesmer Farm Safety Day for fourth-graders (roughly 200–300 students at past events) and described youth tractor safety training that combines online coursework with two days of hands-on instruction and supervised driving practice.

Board members asked about Master Naturalist data and on-the-ground impacts; Druitz said the Extension will share state program reports at the upcoming Extension Committee meeting and provide the county with the local figures. Commissioners thanked the presenters and invited Extension to continue annual updates.

Next steps: Extension staff said they will continue to provide the county with program reports and requested the board’s ongoing support for local educational programming.