Extension Workers Creed

I LOVE the big out-of-doors; the smell of the soil; the touch of the rain; the smile of the sun; the kiss of the wind; the song of the birds and the laughter of the summer breeze in the trees.

I love the growing crops; the rustle of the corn; the golden billow of the ripening wheat; the fleecy cotton bursting from the soil; the musky odor of the ripening fruit and the shimmer of the grass that is blue.

I love God's creatures, great and small, that minister to man's needs; the friendship of the horse; the confidence of the sheep; the gentleness of the cow and the contented confidence of the fattening swine. These represent the response of service to kindness and care.

Because I Love These Things

I BELIEVE in the open country and the life of country people; in their hopes, their aspirations and their simple faith; in their ability and power to enlarge their own lives and plan for the happiness of those that they love.

I believe in the farmer as the Nation's sure defense; the reservoir of its prosperity; its haven of security from those who would despoil it from within or without.

I believe in the farmer's right to a comfortable living; to such recompose for his capital and labor and skill as will make him the peer of those who work in office, shop or mine; in his right to co-operate with his neighbors for the security of his business life and in the helping service science sends as handmaid to his common sense.

I believe in the sacredness of the farmer's home; in the holiness of the country woman's love and the opportunity that home should assure to culture, grace and power.

I believe in the country boy and girl; in their longings for opportunity; their right to trained minds, healthy bodies and clean hearts, and to the country's call and claim to their service.

I believe in my own work; the opportunity it offers to be helpful; in its touch of human sympathy and its joy of common fellowship.

I believe in the public institutions of which I am a part; of their right to my loyalty and my enthusiasm in extending the established principles and ideals of those who seek and find the truth.

I believe in myself; in humility, but with sincerity of purpose, I offer to work with country man, woman and child in making the farm prosperous, the country home comfortable and beautiful; the rural community satisfying and my own life useful.

Because I love these things and believe these things, I am an extension worker.