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Extension in Central Massachusetts

About Central Massachusetts

The central region of Massachusetts is composed of Worcester County. The largest city in the region is Worcester.

Extension Programs and Functions Moving Online

March 18, 2020

Because of the coronavirus emergency, the UMass Amherst Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment and UMass Extension have postponed public face-to-face programs through at least May 18.  Online presentations are being prepared where possible. The Soils and Plant Nutrient Testing Laboratory as well as the Plant Diagnostics Laboratory are both also closed until at least then.

Clem Clay Named Director of UMass Extension Agriculture Program

September 23, 2019

The University of Massachusetts Amherst has named Clem Clay as director of the UMass Extension Agriculture Program, a 110-year old educational outreach program that serves farmers, landscape and turf professionals, fruit growers, arborists, nursery owners, flower growers, service providers, public agencies, non-profit organizations and businesses.

70th Worcester County 4-H Fair returns to Barre

August 24, 2019

The 70th annual Worcester County 4-H Fair returned for a second year to the fairgrounds on Old Coldbrook Road, in Barre. Nearly 300 4-H exhibitors from 4-H clubs across Worcester County, neighboring counties and New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island were on hand as clear skies and cool, dry air carried an early hint of fall, providing ideal weather for fairgoers. Extension 4-H Youth Development Program assistant director Linda Horn and CAFE Assistant Director William Miller made opening remarks.

Urban Planning in Worcester's Challenging Kelley Square, UMass Professor Comments

October 15, 2018

“Six streets in search of a stoplight,” they call the spot where Madison, Green, Harding, Water, Millbury and Vernon streets converge without benefit of stoplight or central rotary in Worcester. Michael DiPasqalue, licensced architect and urban planner who directs the UMass Design Center in Springfield, weighs in on the design of this unique intersection. (Telegram 10/15/18) 

Gypsy Moth Outbreak in Massachusetts, 2016

When Joe Elkinton worries about gypsy moths, it is time everyone else in Massachusetts does, too. Elkinton is a professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst and an expert on this pest.  Recently he observed, “I would say almost surely this is the largest outbreak we’ve seen since 1981. This is unprecedented. It’s been 35 years. Defoliation caused by gypsy moth Lymantria dispar has occurred over this summer, in many parts of Massachusetts and the rest of New England.”

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