The United States exports over 20 percent of its agricultural products; thus, agricultural trade and understanding global markets and partner countries’ agricultural policies is increasingly important to its continued success. International graduate students represent a significant portion of agricultural economics students at many land-grant universities; however, many international graduate students do not receive exposure to Extension. We argue this creates an untapped resource to integrate graduate education and Extension services; thus, Extension misses opportunities to recruit top talent to serve the agricultural industry, and international graduate students have less job market success. Leveraging a survey of department heads and Extension economists in agricultural economics departments, our research documents the status of international Extension agricultural economists, identifies hidden and perceived barriers for international graduate students pursuing academic Extension careers, and provides insights into appropriate education and training programs in university graduate curricula to increase international graduate students’ awareness of and interest in Extension.

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Wang, S.L. 2014. “Cooperative Extension System: Trends and Economic Impacts on U.S. Agriculture.” Choices 29(1). http://choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/submitted-articles/cooperative-extension-system-trends-and-economic-impacts-on-us-agriculture.