Newsletter, Team

The Monmouth Extension Connection is a quarterly newsletter that is published by Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County. This publication represents a collaborative effort by the departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 4-H, and Family and Community Health Sciences.  All content is written by faculty members and programmatic staff of Rutgers Cooperative Extension. The objective of the Monmouth Extension Connection is to provide residents of Monmouth County with science-based information on current agricultural and health and wellness topics, including: cultivation of new crops, pest and disease updates, extension services, youth programming, healthy recipes, and food safety. Additional information on current and upcoming extension events is also provided. The audience for the Monmouth Extension Connection includes commercial growers, home gardeners, 4-H families, members of the Monmouth County Board of Agriculture, and other Monmouth County residents who are interested in agriculture and healthy living. The newsletter is available as a full-color, printed hard copy and a downloadable digital version on the Monmouth County website.  Printing, web-hosting, graphic design and layout are all provided by the County of Monmouth. Combined circulation of both formats is approximately 1,500 and all newsletters are available free of charge. Copies of the newsletters are available at the extension office, distributed at events, and mailed directly to clientele. Announcements of the release of the digital version with a link to the current issue are emailed to stakeholders, partner organizations, and clientele in each of the three extension departments. In addition to providing stakeholders of the Monmouth County Extension Office with updates and current information, the newsletter also serves as a recruitment tool to invite new participants to become involved in extension. To this effect, an increase in participation in activities promoted through the newsletter has been observed. Positive feedback in the form of emails and comments has also been expressed by the agricultural community, 4-H families, and the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, who recognize the Monmouth Extension Connection as a valuable and effective measure for communicating the efforts of Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County.