The Cooperative Extension Service is a unique federal, state, and county partnership that was enabled by the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 and constitutionally mandated in New Mexico in 1915. Needs of New Mexicans have changed over the past 100 years, but Cooperative Extension Service maintains its relevance and mission by listening to its clientele and providing up-to-date information to citizens throughout the state - both in rural and urban communities.

The mission of the Cooperative Extension Service is to provide the people of New Mexico with practical, research-based knowledge and programs to improve their quality of life. New Mexico State University's Cooperative Extension Service delivers research-based information to New Mexicans, improving their quality of life. It supports the mission of the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences - to be an engine for economic and community development in New Mexico, guided by four pillars: food and fiber production and marketing, water use and conservation, health of all New Mexicans, and environmental stewardship.

Thanks to the Cooperative Extension Service, the discoveries of New Mexico State University faculty reach about a third of New Mexico's nearly 2 million residents through non-formal education programs in each of the state's 33 counties. Cooperative Extension is all about outreach and engagement and the faculty conduct programs aimed at the following issues: 1. Youth programs 2. Natural resources 3. Production agriculture and urban horticulture 4. Nutrition, food safety, and healthy families and 5. Community and economic development.