Extension Threatened: A Call To Action
July 5, 2011 If you’re reading this, you no doubt care about Extension. You understand and appreciate its value to not only our nation’s fruit growers, but all people. Everybody eats. So we urge you to take a minute and make your feelings heard. You need to be heard by someone who can make a difference, who has the power to dictate what government programs are spared in these perilous budgetary times.
To save you time, we have composed a sample letter. But because we know that people value Extension for various reasons, we have listed several bullet points, each of which is a solid reason for preserving Extension programs. You can use as few or as many as you like, but we suggest you keep in mind the fact that quite often, shorter messages can pack more of a punch.
So use the sample letter and the bullet points below as a guide for a letter you can send to the appropriate elected representative(s) (which can be found in the links in the sidebar above). In less than 10 minutes, you can help make a difference. If you do it now, you’ll be glad you did.
Note: Using the links in the sidebar above, look up the state you live in, and copy and paste your governor’s or one of your state’s two senators’ names, and place their title and last name in the first two spaces. Then, from the list below, copy and paste a few of the bullet points below the first paragraph. Then enter your name at the bottom of the letter. When finished, use the links in the sidebar above to find the addresses where you should send your letters. Many representatives offer the option of eMailing or faxing letters if you’d prefer, rather than sending them by mail.
Dear __________ __________,
I write to encourage you to preserve our state’s Extension programs. I understand these are difficult times, and you have some very hard choices to make, but few programs provide as much bang for the buck as Extension. Please consider the following ways in which Extension benefits our state.
Extension serves far more than just the 1% or 2% of the population that is directly involved in production agriculture. There is a much more far-reaching, important issue, and that is ensuring we produce our own food. We don’t want to become dependent on other countries for our food. Look at how much our dependence on foreign oil has hurt our country. This is a matter of national security.
In helping our nation’s fruit and vegetable growers, Extension helps ensure people have access to nutritious and affordable produce. We have a serious problem with obesity in our country. Anything that negatively impacts our supply of nutritious fruits and vegetables hurts our country.
As a fruit grower myself, I look to Extension for practical research on how I can do a better job. Quite simply, Extension has helped make me a better farmer. Not only is it a good source of information, I can trust Extension to be impartial. They don’t try to sell me anything, so when someone with Extension tells me that such-and-such is a good product, I can be pretty sure it’s true.
If Extension funding is cut any more, I’m concerned that I will lose my local Extension advisor. When I’ve got a problem, such as some disease or something I can’t diagnose, I don’t want to have to call someone three counties away. I want someone who I can call who can come out to my farm, check out what’s going on, and give me an answer, an answer I can trust.
Extension staffing levels have already been cut to the bone. There comes a point when if you cut something too much, the whole system just seems to start coming apart. I’m really getting concerned that our local Extension office is really getting to be in rough shape. These guys already work a good 60 hours a week. How many people collecting a government paycheck can you say that about? (Yourself excepted, it goes without saying!)
We are under attack from a whole host of bugs in this country. They haven’t gotten all that much attention in the media – yet – because with the exception of the brown Marmorated stink bug, they haven’t invaded people’s houses. But fruit and vegetable growers are really concerned. And when grocery buyers start finding certain fruits and vegetables either really expensive or missing altogether from store shelves, these pests will become a big deal. In just the past couple years, we have been invaded by the spotted-winged Drosophila, too. And in California, there is the European grapevine moth and light brown apple moth. Agriculture has never had a greater need for localized research and technical assistance.
Agriculture as a whole is going to get increasingly stressed in the future. We’re adding people at about the same rate that we are paving over prime agricultural land, or we were until the housing meltdown. With the rising cost of water, growers are going to have a tougher time keeping food prices down. Farmers are trying out new crops that use less water, and they’re also trying to create new markets — which I don’t need to tell you will help our balance of trade — and they need Extension farm advisors to work with to develop the best cultural practices.
LAST:
Here in California, we grow 52% of the nation’s fruit, and we are down to 200 Extension advisors statewide. Think about that for a minute. You talk about getting value for your tax dollar. We produce billions of dollars worth of fruits and nuts — that’s billions with a “B” — in this state, and we only have a couple of hundred Extension people. Consider that Fresno County, the nation’s leading tree fruit country, has zero Extension tree crop advisers. Kern County, the biggest almond-producing county in the country, doesn’t have an Extension almond adviser. This pathetic list goes on and on and on.
Here in Washington, which I don’t have to tell you is by far the nation’s top apple-growing state, not to mention cherries and pears and a bunch of other crops, we have only three tree fruit Extension agents. Actually, that’s overstating things a bit, because it’s technically 2.5 positions. There were seven such agents back in 1970, and the state’s been cutting back ever since. Of course, back then the world’s apple capital was Wenatchee. Now it’s Xian, China.
Here in the Eastern U.S., the trend toward locally grown produce has given many of us an even stronger direct connection to our customers. One thing are customers are asking is that we become more diversified, so we can provide them with a “one-stop shopping” experience. This where my local Extension service comes in very handy. They can provide input on how to grow new crops the most efficient way possible. Losing this valuable resource will make it much more difficult for me to meet the needs of my customers.”
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