The Faces Of Extension: Tim Smith

Smith has been an Extension tree fruit agent in Wenatchee, WA, the nation’s “Apple Capital,” since 1975. In a manner of speaking, Extension has had its ups and downs. “Extension has never gone up in those 37 years, it’s always gone down. The quality’s up, though. I’m amazed at the quality of my colleagues – not just in ag but across the board,” he says. “The grower sees Extension as just his local agent, but it’s not just the person or small group of people you know. There’s a vast number, though it’s becoming smaller all the time. On quality – The bar has been raised very high. We ask so much of young faculty. The quality of people who make it in is amazing. Years ago, I think I may have gotten hired, but I don’t think I would have gotten tenure.”

In terms of numbers, there were seven tree fruit agents in the state back in 1970, and it’s been dwindling ever since, says Smith. Today, there are only 2½ – besides Smith, there is Karen Lewis and half of Gwen Hoheisel’s time. This year the state’s budget is $5-6 billion short, so he’s expecting more of the same. “The university’s budget has been hit several times,” he says, adding that administrators seem to be doing as best they can. “WSU has been very supportive of Extension. We may be cut, but we’ve been treated fairly. Extension hasn’t been singled out. WSU has done good job of protecting ag. The cuts have been tremendous. You can’t balance a budget without cuts.”

To understand Extension, Smith says it’s important to realize that it’s about far more than fruit growing. “Forestry is critical in western states; almost 6 million acres of Washington forest are in private hands. There are 215,000 individual owners of forestry land. The forestry people in Washington don’t know about tree fruit Extension. They think Extension is just all about forestry, and how to manage forest land. There’s a lot of forest in the west, and it needs to be managed.”

Actually, says Smith, Extension’s not even limited to agriculture. It’s also about social programs. Most educational programs for families are Extension programs, he says. Rather than throw troubled young men in jail, they teach them how to raise families. They teach day care, how to run a business – none of those students know about tree fruit Extension. “We have a lady in our office who works with inmates in the jail across the street. They volunteer for a class in which they learn how to become better fathers. It’s neat, and over time they can measure impact. And it goes on and on,” he says. “Extension is doing many things – the overall impact of getting research out there so it can be used. We’re not selling anything. We just provide information. There are no vested interests.”

It’s absolutely vital for people to realize that while research is a part of Extension, and a vital part at that, it is so much more than that, says Smith. Extension is about making the connection between researcher and user so the information can be applied. “We rely heavily on the researchers that we have in tree fruit. They’ll do 20-30% Extension, and we get a lot out of them for that,” he says. “A true researcher doesn’t necessarily teach information. If Extension is not involved, the information wouldn’t necessarily be applied.”

Because of its nature, Smith is concerned that Extension is vulnerable to further cuts. “I used to have a colleague who said that is if the garbage company stopped picking up garbage, you’d see it right away, but we’re not like that. A lot of what we do is what society wants a farmer to do. I don’t help growers grow more apples. We could still be using harsh old chemicals; that would be cheap and easy. The public doesn’t want us to do that, so we need to do research and then we need to teach growers to use newer, softer chemicals, and we’ve done that. We’re helping growers do what the public wants, accommodating what the public wants them to do. But if society wants these things, it has to provide a way for growers to learn these new techniques. And that’s what Extension does.”

Another great attribute of Extension is that it’s all about sharing. Agriculture’s getting so competitive that information isn’t shared as it used to be, says Smith. It makes sense from a business standpoint. “If I have an advantage, why would I share it with anyone else? That shareable aspect of ag is disappearing. I tell people I never let a good piece of information remain unstolen. Don’t tell me anything that you don’t want a lot of people to know,” he says. “The information doesn’t necessarily have to come from WSU. I know agents all over the West. Extension in other states is connected. Spotted Wing Drosophila is an excellent example. People who had it shared information so we weren’t caught flat-footed. So we were able to share information with growers and were able to avoid any type of disaster.”

Because of the budget problems, and the true nature of Extension, Smith says he no longer has time for individual farm visits. Helping growers efficiently produce low cost food in a way the public demands is what we do. That’s what public demands of Extension. “I’m helping individual growers only rarely; I have to work with groups. With me covering three counties and with responsibilities to the rest of the state, I can’t work with individual growers,” he says. “That guy from Green Acres, who would just stop by, he doesn’t exist. Most growers don’t expect me to help them individually.”

Extension funding in the future is up in the air in Washington. Right now, Smith says there is an industry push to ask growers to support an assessment to purchase endowed chairs from WSU to enhance research. He’s interested to see how growers perceive it. “It’s not a small amount of money, and it comes right out of their pockets. Things are better than they used to be, but not really good. We’ve never regained the economic status the industry had in the 70s. If you look at apple prices, then you could get $28 a box for Red Delicious. Today it’s only about half that,” he says. “It was a lot easier in those days to make a living. Other varieties are better, and we’re doing a fantastic job of producing good fruit that tastes almost fresh from the tree 12 mos. of the year. Apples are a pretty good deal at $1.29 in your grocery store. Almost too good a deal, if you’re a grower.”