The Faces Of Extension: Stephen A. Hoying

The Faces Of Extension: Stephen A. Hoying

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Extension is still very strong in New York, says Hoying, though they are experiencing the same budgetary problems every state is facing. Some smaller counties are consolidating into multi-county associations to save money. However, they are still run fairly independently. Of late, there is more regional programming rather than along county lines. “That’s the way it ought to be,” he says, “because it allows people in Extension to cover more counties.”

They are “absolutely” still doing farm visits, says Hoying, who was on the phone with a grower when GrowingProduce.com called. His position is 50% Extension, 50% applied research at the Hudson Valley Lab, which is located an hour and a half north of New York City on the Hudson River. He primarily works with Hudson Valley growers.

He does that both directly and by helping other Extension farm advisers through the applied research he does at the lab, which has 35 acres of tree fruit and an acre of grapes.

Working with growers doesn’t just mean farm visits, however. Now, with such tools as digital photos and Skype, modern communication has improved. Growers will see things on the Web and ask him about new cultural practices, etc., and Hoying will research those things and adjust them for his growers. He’s more efficient, and he dispenses a lot more information. “It’s not nearly as tough as it used to be. I used to get home and call growers for three or four hours. I used to do faxes, recorded messages,” he says. “Now I’m doing nearly daily eMail (blasts). You don’t always have to get in touch with people directly to help them.”

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Hoying said New York Extension got some bad publicity because their IPM Program was zero-funded. However, it was put back in the budget, albeit at a lower level, because of grower support. It’s more bare bones, but it wasn’t eliminated completely, which was great. Another program, the grower-organized Farm Viability Institute, was also originally zero-funded, but it too is now back in at a bare bones level. “It’s been difficult but we’re surviving,” he says.

Though New York has had some cuts, their Extension program was more robust than states such as California to begin with, says Hoying, who sees the Golden State potentially following the track of Europe. “There (agricultural consulting) went private 10 to 15 years ago,” he says, citing HORT RESEARCH in New Zealand as a similar case. “Most research is sponsored. They don’t have Extension.”

While Extension programs in California and other states in the West are undermanned, New York is in much better shape, says Hoying. He’s confident in the future, largely because of the tremendous grower support. Twenty years ago they formed regional programs such as the Lake Ontario Fruit Team, which has been very successful. Now they’re putting together a team for eastern New York, from the Canadian border to Long Island. What they have found is that if you look at all the different counties, if you streamline, you can give growers better service than if you have just county employees. There is a desirable built-in redundancy. “If you lose a county agent it used to be awful,” he says, “but now, we can just slide in someone else.”

Hoying says that Extension has to change with the times. While some may see regionalization or specialization as a sign of decline, he thinks they have become more effective. “We have a fruit person for a fruit farm now. Then we have a vegetable person for vegetable question,” he says. “We want specialists who can answer growers’ questions on all sorts of crops. We’re working synergistically to serve fruit and vegetable growers.”

Just lately, they’re hiring more staff people, including an economist and an IPM specialist. “That’s almost unheard of in this day and age, adding people,” he says. “We’re very pro extension — 4-H, Master Gardener. If you look for it, you will see it in the local paper a lot.”

But they could always use more support, says Hoying. He urges growers to support their local universities and Extension in particular because the need for applied research is constantly growing and changing. That research needs to come from unbiased view — which is absolutely critical. Growers should educate their political representatives on how valuable Extension is to all citizens. For example, the brown marmorated stink bug is a big problem to growers and homeowners alike in the Atlantic region, and the USDA has been able to put together a team of researchers by relying heavily on Extension. “People might not understand Extension completely,” he says. “It affects all people, not just ag.”

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