Penn State Extension | The Pennsylvania State University
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Practical knowledge to work the land, develop skills, grow your business, serve your community, steward the environment, and raise healthy families.
Learn when, where, and how you need
Choose from thousands of in-person workshops, online courses, publications, and onsite consultations on topics that matter to you.
Solve Problems
Got an issue? Let’s work together to identify and solve the most important challenges impacting your business, home, or health.
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Expert resources to develop competencies for the workforce, build your business, pursue a hobby, or follow your passion.
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Professional credentials you need to demonstrate that you are safe, competent, and qualified.
Featured Online Courses
Ag101: Introduction to Agriculture
$99.00
Landscaping Safety: Pesticides
$19.00
Employee Landscape Training: Planting, Mulching, and Watering
$19.00
Grant Writing: How to Find Funds and Write a Winning Proposal
$99.00
Nutrition 101: Healthy Eating Guidelines and Meal Planning
$69.00
Forest Taxation: Forest Finance and Timber Tax Education
$160.00
Pruning Ornamental Trees and Shrubs
$39.00
Growing Raspberries and Blackberries: From Planting to Harvest
$99.00
Private Wells and Water Systems Management
$39.00
Farmers Market Food Safety
$39.00
Orchard Management: Site Planning and Preparation
$89.00
Plant Health Diagnosis: Assessing Plant Diseases, Pests and Problems
$39.00
Totally Veggies
$39.00
Pond Management for Rural and Farm Pond Owners
$99.00
Woodland Stewardship: Management Practices for Landowners
$99.00
Food for Profit
$279.00
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- Webinars
Extension by the Numbers
People, resources, and ideas advancing the extension mission.
320+
Subject Matter Experts
1,500+
in-person and online events per year
6,000+
articles, publications, and fact sheets
Trending Topics
Extension offers the latest information and resources on topics impacting Pennsylvania today.
Avian Influenza
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI): Poultry Owners Should Be On High Alert.
Develop Skills
Expert resources to develop competencies for the workforce, build your business, pursue a hobby, or follow your passion.
Latest News
- News4/5/2024
2024 Green Industry Current Issues for April
One of the common themes throughout the Green Industry Team's April discussion was the extent to which plant growth was advanced in area landscapes.$0.00
- News4/23/2024
Scouting is Key to Insect Pest Management in Spring
As spring pests become active, remember that scouting is the key to detecting insect-pest populations and determining whether insecticides will be helpful.$0.00 - News4/18/2024
When Are Sprays Needed: Disease Forecasting Models for Strawberry Anthracnose and Botrytis
It is hard to know when weather conditions may be favorable for strawberry anthracnose and botrytis.$0.00 - News4/18/2024
Frost and Freeze Damage Event on Strawberry April 20–April 22
Your crops may need frost protection.$0.00
- News3/20/2024
Forest Snapshot March 2024
This bi-monthly article is a collection of forest health observations, plant and animal phenology, important upcoming dates, and hunting season changes.$0.00
- News4/23/2024
Weather Outlook for the Week of April 23, 2024
Cool with showers on Saturday, a taste of summer for early next week.$0.00
Our Vision
We believe that all people should have access to science-based information.
Penn State Extension is a modern educational organization dedicated to delivering science-based information to people, businesses, and communities. We provide access to face-to-face and online education to our customers—when they want it, where they want it, and how they want it—to help them address problems and take advantage of opportunities for improvement and innovation. Partnering with and funded by federal, state, and county governments, we have a long tradition of bringing unbiased support and education to the citizens of Pennsylvania. We make a difference locally through focused engagement, and more widely to customers connecting in the digital landscape.
You May Also Be Interested In...
Spotted Lanternfly Management Guide
Roadside Guide to Clean Water
Best Practices for Managing and Moderating Community Social Media Groups
Beer and Spirits: Supplying the Craft Beverage Boom with Local Ingredients
Mulching Landscape Trees
How You Can Comply with the Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine Regulations
Tree-of-Heaven
Choosing a Qualified Pest Management or Lawn Care Company
Common Drinking Water Problems and Solutions
Pennsylvania Native Plants for the Perennial Garden
Fruit and Vegetable Marketing for Small-Scale and Part-Time Growers
Pennsylvania Pesticide Applicator Certification
8 Things You Need to Know Before Starting Your Own Dairy Farm
Featured Articles
Spotted Lanternfly Management Guide
Roadside Guide to Clean Water
Best Practices for Managing and Moderating Community Social Media Groups
Beer and Spirits: Supplying the Craft Beverage Boom with Local Ingredients
Mulching Landscape Trees
How You Can Comply with the Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine Regulations
Tree-of-Heaven
Choosing a Qualified Pest Management or Lawn Care Company
Common Drinking Water Problems and Solutions
Pennsylvania Native Plants for the Perennial Garden
Fruit and Vegetable Marketing for Small-Scale and Part-Time Growers
Pennsylvania Pesticide Applicator Certification
8 Things You Need to Know Before Starting Your Own Dairy Farm
Upcoming Workshops
Dairy Biosecurity Plan Development for Bovine Influenza A (HPAI)
Free
Streambank Restoration Using Live Stakes
Free
Color and Texture in a Four-Season Garden
$10.00
Watershed Teaching Tools for Educators
Free
Women Rooted in Agriculture: Goot Essa Cheese Tour
$15.00
Let's Cook Charcuterie Boards
$30.00
LIFT (8 Weeks)
$60.00
ServSafe®
$165.00
Tree Climbing School
$400.00
What our customers are saying
Everything we do is centered around animal welfare and food safety. However, we needed the science. It's all that partnership and education. I've learned so much through the years working with extension. It's been a great thing.
Frank Connett
Manager of Flock Services at Kreider Farms
Management of forest invasives has been a very large problem for me, and I've managed to keep on top of it, but I found the resources offered by extension have been very valuable in that. It is very helpful because if you talk to the professionals who do it, you get a very different view point and in many cases you could be wasting thousands of dollars in doing the wrong thing, or the right thing at the wrong time. I found that having the resources from extension has aided me in many ways.
John Hoover
Bald Eagle Tree Farm
The extension programs have given me reference making me a much better steward of our property and a better understanding of how the ecosystem fits together. Since I've been managing it, we've seen a return of fishers and beavers to our stream so we are getting back pieces to the ecosystem that have been missing.
Susan Shoemaker-Benedict
Beartown Family Limited Partnership
Penn State has been an integral part of the business since I’ve been here. We do about 3.5 million pounds of fresh sausage a year. We’ve relied on Penn State many times because we do not have the budget to have a full-time person here that deals with food safety or research and development.
Len Caric
President/CEO Uncle Charley’s Sausage Co.
We work very closely with Penn State Extension, and that has been instrumental in developing best practices and new processes and technologies, both in the orchard and the packhouse.
Danijel Lolic
Rice Fruit Company
I really appreciate the instructors from Penn State Extension mostly because they serve as a really good resource. They're well-spoken and very clear. They'll take subject matter and dumb it down–so to speak–so that on every level, you understand it.
Ester Betley
Dining with Diabetes Participant
Penn State Extension and the University have provided us uncounted resources when it comes to the education of our employees.
Byron Shaffer
Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance at Kreider Farms
Volunteers are the backbone of extension
Join a highly engaged team that supports Master Gardener; Master Watershed Steward; 4-H; and Nutrition, Health, and Wellness programs.
Pennsylvania 4-H: Transforming kids through doing
4-H is the state's largest youth development organization, with clubs in rural communities, small towns, and big cities–including a club near you. Members tackle projects that build life skills, explore careers, and help young people find their passion in life.
Learn more about Pennsylvania 4-H