The Faces Of Extension: Desmond Layne
July 11, 2011 
South Carolina has decided to take a team approach to Extension, says Layne, who heads up the horticulture program team of county Extension agents.”We are trying to do more with less,” he says. “We have seen in the past five years, just from the hort standpoint, that we went from 31 county extension agents down to 25. And we are not in position to refill any of those positions right now.”
Layne says they have gone from the approach of having one person focused on only one county to now covering two or more counties. Unfortunately, that one original county might have already had a lot of demand. Also, they have sustained cuts in their travel budgets. They have zero funds for travel. While he might have a state-owned vehicle to visit growers, he doesn’t get money for gas, or money for repairs. “A lot of us drive 4-wheel drive trucks and they have terrible gas mileage. It can be $50 to visit one grower — just for gas,” he says.
Increasingly, they are seeing the need to have fee-based programs to generate revenue to support travel, equipment, supplies, etc. In past years, he might have had 80-100 growers come to a peach program that was offered at no charge to the grower. The food would often be provided through sponsorship by one of the chemical sales representatives. Growers would get a free meal, free publications, as well as pesticide certification credits.
“Today we increasingly need to charge for these programs. For a half-day program, the registration might be $25,” he says. “We’re not trying to make a profit but to help cover expenses for doing our job. Although attendance for some programs has been reduced, most growers understand that state budget cuts limit what we can offer for free anymore.”
The growers who utilize Extension definitely value getting expert help in a swift and professional manner, he says. And they appreciate that agents have no self-interest. “That’s the real key, that there’s no whiff of bias,” he says. “Having an unbiased source that’s been involved in hort — in this state — for many years, is invaluable. We can help growers in ways that private consultants cannot.”
To save money going forward — because there may well be more cuts in the future — Layne says they need to keep helping growers get up to speed in using the Internet. Even older growers are getting pretty active, he notes. Extension must make more educational resources available to growers at their desktop. And agents need to communicate more with growers via eMail.
“I post lots of FAQs (frequently asked questions) on my “Everything About Peaches” website,” he says. “It’s reliable, informative, and we don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on glossy publications. They can just go online and get free, timely, information. The Web is perfect for that. That can save us a lot of money, but we can still get the information to people when they need it.”
Growers are recognizing the need for change, and adapting. “With fewer county agents, the day that an agent would drop by their farm once a week? Those days are gone,” he says. “We just don’t have the ability to make regular house calls anymore.”
Growers realize Extension folks are doing their best with fewer people and limited travel budgets. They serve a lot of growers. Also, they do a lot of research trials. “The number of hours has increased; I don’t know how much longer this is sustainable,” he says with a laugh. “We’re cutting into the bone at this point.”
All the people on Layne’s team are in this because they love it. They aren’t in it to make a million. They enjoy serving people and they love the work they do. It is stressful, but they love it. They’re willing to do it because they really care about the work they are doing and the people, the growers, they are serving. Sure, they are moving to a model where they charge more for what they do. They have no choice. In the past, as state employees getting federal support, growers thought it would entirely be taxpayer-supported, that that’s enough.
“But now we know we have to raise money some way somehow, and growers are going to have to begin paying for more services in the long-term,” he says. “I imagine there may be a time in the future where we discuss the idea of charging fees for on-farm visits.” However, he hopes it doesn’t come to that. Layne remembers the summer of 1985 when he was a junior in university and he worked with a county Extension agent in Essex County in Southern Ontario, Canada. “That summer birthed my love for Extension,” Layne says, “working directly with and problem-solving for fruit farmers.”
Layne hopes that interested growers contact both federal and state officials and let them know how they feel about Extension. Growers should communicate with their representatives that they should try and increase funding for Cooperative Extension because it is so valuable. For commercial growers, Extension provides an unbiased source of research-based information. That’s key. “They can get info from lots of different places,” he says. “But if they get it from us, it’s research based, and it’s unbiased. You can take that to the bank!”
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