The Faces Of Extension: Wayne Mitchem

Representing the new breed of Extension representative, Mitchem is affiliated with North Carolina State University, but he also serves not only South Carolina, but Georgia. He is not as limited by geography as his predecessors. Rather he is a specialist in a given area, in his case weed management in orchards and vineyards, primarily orchards. “My position is less county and more tri-state,” he says. “The program works real well in allowing growers access to specialized information,” he says. “For the fruit industry in the southeast, those positions have worked very well.”

As for the overall picture in his region, it is fairly bleak, though he remains optimistic. North Carolina has actually not lost a lot of Extension personnel, but did lose people at the university level, mostly through attrition. South Carolina has lost more Extension folks, and there will be more cuts, in the range of 10% to 25%. If the cuts are above 15%, he says they will have significant impact, disrupting work at research stations and other facilities. It’s difficult to speculate on exactly what the impact will be at this time.

Extension is important, says Mitchem, because it’s always ready to take on new challenges, and God knows there are always plenty of those. Food safety is a really good example. That’s an issue that emerged extremely quickly, from just a speck on the radar — albeit an important one — to a key component of a grower’s business plan. Now, with the recent passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act, it’s even more critical.

Another good example of a new challenge is all the pests that have emerged in the U.S. in the past few years, such as the spotted wing drosophila and the brown marmorated stink bug. “Without Extension, who would tackle those? Somebody has to work out the details as to how we’re going to manage those pests,” says Mitchem. “Without Extension, who is going to fill that role? How would that impact the supply of fresh fruit?”

Growers in the Carolinas as well as Georgia are very much concerned about Extension’s plight, says Mitchem. They understand that a lot of the applied research Extension does is important, because as with pest management, if Extension didn’t do it, who would? In specialty crops, growers are very much at risk. It’s not the same as with agronomic, or program crops. “We don’t have the private industry support. Look at the development of pesticides and herbicides. They develop all kinds of registrations for those crops, and the major chemical manufacturers support them because there is so much acreage,” he says. “They still depend on Extension to a degree, but the specialty crops are much more vulnerable to Extension cuts.”

As for the immediate future, Mitchem believes that administrators have done a pretty good job in planning. They have developed plans that will be set in motion at various funding levels, whether 10, 15, or 20% cuts. “Our administration has been very proactive in maximizing resources to minimize impact,” he says. “In North Carolina, we’ve had good support from our commodity organizations, and agriculture is recognized as an important industry.”

But more can certainly be done. Mitchem says that the key role Extension plays in developing IPM practices needs to be better highlighted. Extension’s role in controlling SWD is absolutely vital. Moving forward, Extension supporters need to point out the fact that Extension is very much “with it” when it comes to modern trends, and that it’s localized nature is a huge asset. “There’s no question there’s a lot of interest in local foods, and Extension has role in that,” he says. “It means there can be a lot of growth in specialty crops, and a lot of interest in finding local sources for those crops. If that interest continues, Extension will play an important role in developing those sources.”