Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service

CSREES' unique mission is to advance knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities by supporting research, education, and extension programs in the Land-Grant University System and other partner organizations. CSREES doesn't perform actual research, education, and extension but rather helps fund it at the state and local level and provides program leadership in these areas. The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), part of the executive branch of the Federal Government. Congress created CSREES through the 1994 Department Reorganization Act, by combining the USDA’s Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS) and Extension Service (ES) into a single agency. This move united the research, education, and extension portfolios of both agencies and consolidated their expertise and resources under one leadership structure. -- from the CSREES Web site, February 2009