Johnson Recognized by Cooperative Extension for Outstanding Achievements

Jerry Johnson, crops testing coordinator and research scientist for Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, was recognized Dec. 9 with the F.A. Anderson Distinguished Service Award, which is given each year to a Colorado State Cooperative Extension professional at the state level for outstanding service.

Johnson coordinates the Collaborative On-Farm Testing program, or COFT, which is a testing program that gives new wheat variety seeds to 20 to 40 wheat growers who plant them beside better known varieties to compare performance. Because of this program, more than half of the acreage planted to winter wheat for the last two years has been planted to Colorado State University-developed varieties.

Ones of Johnson’s most important achievements has been to rebuild the Colorado Wheat Field Days. Every year, six to eight Colorado State and wheat industry representatives provide wheat education at various locations to reach wheat producers. With more than 100 such workshops in the last ten years, the university has increasingly strong relationships with wheat growers. Johnson also leads the crops testing program, which tests crops in Colorado and helps crop producers to choose the best crop varieties for their particular farms.

Johnson has served on multiple Colorado State Cooperative Extension boards and committees including the Associate Director’s advisory committee and Pedagogy committee, and as co-coordinator of the Soil and Crop Sciences Cooperative Extension group. He has also served as Administrative Professional Council representative for the College of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension representative to Colorado Seed Grower’s Association’s board of directors, and a member of Colorado State Cooperative Extension’s Classification and Promotion Committee.

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Colorado State University Cooperative Extension brings the resources of the university to you. As part of a nation-wide system, we call upon the latest research to help Coloradoans learn more about gardening and commercial horticulture, healthy eating, personal finances, community resources, agricultural technology, food safety, dealing with changes in their community, family relationships and managing small acreages and natural resources. Our youth development program annually reaches more than 115,000 children in Colorado. Our 57 county offices, serving 59 Colorado counties, help people use university expertise on the job, at home and in their community.