Make Some Noise for Extension and University Programs (Opinion)
April 10, 2022 Greenhouse Grower delights in honoring growers, operations, and other industry players for their achievements and dedication to excellence in our industry through our Medal of Excellence program. This month I am reminded of a group of people who deserve more recognition and support for their dedication to excellence and their many game-changing contributions to our industry over the years — our university and Extension folks.
The Smith Lever Act of 1914 formalized Extension by establishing the USDA’s partnership with land-grant universities to apply research and provide education in agriculture. Extension services played a pivotal role in the American Agricultural Revolution, a time when U.S. farms began the transition from hand labor to machine farming. Earlier in 1862, the Morill Land Grant College Act paved the way with allotments of public land in each state for the agricultural and industrial colleges that would serve as both educational institutions and research centers. These facilities have played a pivotal role in advancing agriculture and horticulture ever since.
The late Richard (Dick) T. Meister, who led Greenhouse Grower’s parent company Meister Media Worldwide from the 1940s to the early 2000s, was a strong proponent of the Land Grant University system, forever touting the education it provides to growers and its innumerable innovations that are the bedrock of our agricultural system today. He established the Richard T. Meister Scholarship Fund, distributed through the American Floral Endowment, for students interested in horticulture and floriculture to support the next generation of agricultural leaders.
George McDowell, now retired Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech, wrote an article (Is Extension an Idea Whose Time Has Come and Gone?) in 2004 that discussed an Extension system under assault due to lack of funds and government support as well as loss of leadership. He said Extension has and does make the scholarship in land-grant universities better and more relevant than it would be otherwise because it solves real problems for real people. He also recounted in the article how in 2003 Michigan State University issued an email appeal to alumni to make noise wherever they could to keep both Extension and its Experimental Station off the chopping block — not just for cuts but for possible elimination. That was nearly 19 years ago, but I’m not sure times have changed so much. Extension and university programs dedicated to horticulture still have their share of struggles to survive and thrive.
I’m not as up as George McDowell on what is currently happening with our Extension and university programs for horticulture, but here is what I do know. We need to make some noise about the irreplaceable importance and the value of these resources in our local communities or risk dealing with diminished services and programs, or in a worst-case scenario, lose them forever. We’re already experiencing some fallout from the hit these programs are taking. For the past several years, declines in undergraduate enrollment in postsecondary horticulture programs have resulted in the elimination of some degrees and staff positions. Funding for research is at an all-time low.
According to an April 2020 article (Public Colleges Lose State Funding, Effective Immediately) by Melissa Korn in The Wall Street Journal, some public colleges and universities are starting to cut their budgets with surprising speed, as states reckon with the economic fallout of the pandemic. These cuts are deep and swift, and they can happen in Extension or the horticulture department of a college or university just as easily as in other areas, especially if the constituents these programs serve don’t let leaders know they are necessary and valued. They need our voice, and more importantly, our support to ensure they continue a long tradition of excellence in research and education and solving real problems for real people that depend on those solutions in part to keep their businesses prospering.
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