Published January 15, 2011 The South Tyrol Advisory Service performs many of the same services that Cooperative Extension does in the United States—educating growers about integrated pest management, irrigation, fertility, and nutrition. The biggest difference is funding. The budgets of Cooperative Extension in the United States are often squeezed when state and local revenues fall, and, of late, some have been hit especially hard. In South Tyrol, the extension service is more like a private organization, with growers paying about half the budget and local governments paying the other half. South Tyrol’s extension service, called Beratungsring, was established more than […]