Judith Basin County Profile
Judith Basin County is located in Central Montana in a fertile basin between the Highwood, Big Snowy, and Little Belt Mountains. Stanford serves as the county seat.  Other communities include Hobson, Utica, Moccasin, Windham, Geyser, and Raynesford.  Judith Basin County is home to the Central Agricultural Research Center (CARC), which is located just west of Moccasin.  The county encompasses 1,880 square miles, and has a population of approximately 2,200.  According to Montana Agricultural Statistics, the county ranks 19th in the state in wheat production, 13th in all hay production, 11th in production of alfalfa hay, 8th in sheep production, and 14th in cattle production. 

What is MSU Extension? 
MSU Extension is a state-wide educational outreach network that extends university resources to help Montanans thrive. It connects researchers and educators on campus with a web of MSU faculty located throughout the state's 56 counties and seven reservations. Guided by public input, Extension agents and campus-based specialists develop educational programs and partnerships that respond to local needs. The result is a dynamic educational resource the helps Montanans meet new challenges, make informed decisions and take action to improve their own lives.
MSU Extension is a cooperative partnership between Montana Counties, Montana State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, receiving funds from county, state and federal sources.

What is MSU Extension "about?"

• Providing practical applications of research knowledge that people can use to improve their own lives.
• Offering unbiased information that people are free to apply on their own terms.
• Creating partnerships for effective programs to produce positive impacts state-wide.
• Developing relevant educational resources that respond to current and changing needs.
• Empowering people and communities, through education, to improve their own quality of life.
• Providing accessible resources to all people, equally and without discrimination.
• Solving public needs with university resources through non-formal, non-credit programs.
• Serving as an unbiased, non-regulatory educational outreach agency.

History of Extension
Cooperative Extension is a key component of the largest educational delivery system in the world, the Land Grant University system. Listed below are key pieces of federal legislation that enabled the creation of Extension:

The Morrill Act of 1862 provided for at least one college in each state to be established where "the leading object shall be, without excluding other scientific or classical studies, to teach such branches as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts".

The Hatch Act of 1887 allowed for the establishment of Agricultural Experiment Stations at one Land Grant College in each state. This is important because this act established agricultural research as a recognized function of the Land Grant University.

The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 provided for mutual cooperation of the United Sates department of Agriculture and Land grant colleges in conducting agricultural extension work; it specified that the work...."shall consist of instruction and practical demonstration in agriculture and home economics to persons not attending or resident in said colleges in the several communities, and imparting to such persons information on said subjects through field demonstrations, publications and other wise...."