Growers Say Value Of Extension Is Endless
July 1, 2011 Value To Your Business
• Accessibility. Almost every grower we talked to noted that their contacts at Extension make themselves available via phone or eMail at any time. “Where else can you stay so up to date? In a phone call or an eMail, you can have the most recent information on problems such as stink bug or brown rot resistance,” says Nathan Milburn of Milburn Orchards in Elkton, MD. “That is the only place, besides other growers, where you can get that information.”
• A resource for small and mid-size growers. “The value of these farm advisors is that medium and small growers need someone to turn to,” says Martin Britz, a stone fruit, grape, and almond grower in Fresno, CA. “Even large growers like to use farm advisors as a sounding board.”
• Unbiased source of information. “Extension has the unique ability to provide specialized third party information that is difficult to find elsewhere,” says Eric Brown of Brown’s Berry Patch in Waterport, NY.
• Source for information outside your area. “We find Extension has been helpful in providing updates on what’s happening nationally and internationally,” says Ed Weaver of Weaver’s Orchard in Morgantown, PA. “It would be much more of a struggle to find that information if we didn’t have Extension.”
• Meetings. Whether it’s attending industry conferences or field days (or even hosting them), the discussions that take place at these gatherings are critical.
• Profitability. “Extension recommendations for herbicides use have greatly reduced our weed pressure to our berries crops and thus have improved our yields and income,” says Charlie O’Dell, Crow’s Nest Farm in Blacksburg, VA (and “Berries” columnist for American/Western Fruit Grower).
• Dealing with regulations. Growers are faced with increasing regulatory pressure every day. When it comes to anything from water management to food safety to labor, they can turn to Extension for advice on how to cope with a constantly changing landscape.
Specific Benefits
• Participation in trials to develop new production systems. A number of growers have partnered with Extension on systems trials on their farms, to the benefit of both parties. “Maybe Extension can’t do everything from their stations because they don’t have the funding to do it,” says Bob Black, Catoctin Mountain Orchard in Thurmont, MD. “If we give them a tenth of an acre, it’s not much more for us to worry about.”
For growers, these trials can revolutionize one farm, or an entire industry. “Lynn Long (Oregon State University) has provided up to date data on the best cherry varieties,rootstocks and production systems,” says Tim Dahle of Dahle Orchards in The Dalles, OR. “This has completely changed the way all progressive producers operate within our district.”
Further east, a number of Pennsylvania growers are part of a Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) project which is replicated on 12 sites in the area to demonstrate the viability of high-density apple systems on trellis.
• Spray recommendations. “We rely on Extension expertise greatly to know what to spray and when to spray,” says Ed Robinette of Robinette Orchards in Grand Rapids, MI. “They keep an eye out on what might be a problem in the weeks ahead, and pests that should be emerging.”
• Pests. From beetles to rot resistance, and most recently stink bug and citrus greening, growers rely on Extension for constant updates on pest pressure. “A few years ago Chang-Lin Xiao (of Washington State University) provided insightful solutions on an internal rot issue in Fuji that affected hundreds of thousands boxes of fruit,” says Tom Butler, a horticultural field rep for Washington Fruit and Produce in Yakima, WA. “By his help we were able to identify and control the disease of until-then unknown origin.”
• Staying in apple business. “I credit Extension with growers still being in the apple business in Henderson County, NC” says Kenny Barnwell of Kenny Barnwell Orchards in Edneyville, NC. “Without showing us these new varieties, and putting them on smaller rootstocks, our industry would really be suffering. We’ve been doing a lot of replanting the last few years. It was research and Extension that showed us the way.”
• Gala/new apples. “I credit our long-time Extension agent Arthur Thompson for getting us started in Gala,” says Black. “Everyone knows how valuable Gala is now, and how it’s gotten people to eat more apples. That was a turning point.”
• IPM. “We have cooperated on many research trials over the years, including the recent Area Wide Mating Disruption Project directed by Larry Hull at Penn State University,” says Brad Hollabaugh of Hollabaugh Bros., Inc. in Biglerville, PA. “That research is just one example of work that was done on our farm that helped “prove” the value of AWMD on farms in our region.”
• Organic. “There’s tremendous demand in our area for organic apples, so I’ve become more interested in this,” says Gary Mount of Terhune Orchards in Princeton, NJ. “To make it work, it will take a cooperation of our local IPM people, and they are interested in it and have offered suggestions.”
• Thinning. Heavy rains in many parts of the country have led some growers to turn to Extension for thinning advice. “This year I’ve been going to meetings and asking about how to evaluate the effect of nine days of rainy cloudy weather a few days after bloom, and how to adjust my thinning program,” says Mo Tougas of Tougas Family Farm in Northborough, MA.
What’s At Stake
So where might the future lie if Extension continues to face cuts in budget and manpower? Here are a few possibilities.
• Bringing in the next generation. Several growers were very concerned about how the next generation of both growers and scientists will deal with this changing landscape. Although there are some exceptions, Extension agents and researchers that retire are not necessarily getting replaced. “If funding is going down, what young person will want to get into a career in pomology if there’s little hope of a positive future,” says Alstede.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. In some states, growers are actively involved in funding and recruiting for new Extension personnel (go to GrowingProduce.com for more information on this). In addition, some growers are putting their younger family members in charge of coordinating projects. “We’re part of the CIG program (mentioned above),” says Weaver. “I’ve given my son Justin the responsibility of that project on our farm. It’s been a great way to connect him with Extension and give him the opportunity to increase his understanding of apple production.”
• Food security. “Extension and agriculture have been so successful that people take for granted that the food supply is still a national security priority,” says Alstede.
• Unexpected pest problems. “I think you will see Extension continue to get cut, and then there will be some sort of pest outbreak that goes beyond production agriculture. All of a sudden people will be asking why we aren’t studying this problem,” says Alstede. Perhaps it will take a problem of this magnitude to shift priorities.
Hollabaugh echoes these sentiments. “Research on problems like brown marmorated stink bug might not get done. No research means no data, and growers would be left without resources to support their production efforts. Even the best growers do not have the time and resources to conduct the scientific research required to generate working models for new pests, diseases, or horticultural issues that crop up.”• Loss of an entire industry? It’s possible. “Without extension we would not have a stable or growing industry in Henderson County,” says Barnwell. “In fact I believe that it could be reduced by as much as 50% in a period of no more than five to 10 years. This would be a great loss considering the number of young tree planted in this area in the last five years. A viable industry could easily be destroyed.”
• Less localized information. “We’ll have to rely on information that is less specific to our region,” says Robinette. “With less localized expertise, we’ll need more info to plug into models in other to take judgments on whether to spray or not.”
• Less unbiased information, and a greater reliance on private research. “New techniques will not be confirmed as much,” says Martin Britz. “Where will young people get their information? Chemical companies, maybe, but they need to make sure the information is unbiased.”
• Information vacuum. “Losing Extension would create a type of information vacuum in the tree fruit industry. Published information would still be available to those who seek it out. But most growers are well-accustomed to depending upon both the active and passive resources made possible through Extension,” says Hollabaugh.
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