Top Greenhouse Growers Make Major Research Investment

Midnight Snack Tomatoe Bed Long Island Horticultural ResearchFive New York greenhouse business have established an endowment at Cornell University’s Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center (LIHREC) in Riverhead, Long Island. The “Founder’s Fund” is worth approximately $130,000, and the interest generated by the fund will support research and Extension programs at the Center.

The Founder’s Fund was established through the generosity of  Ivy Acres (now called Coastal Greenhouses), Van de Wetering Greenhouse, Kurt Weiss Greenhouses, Otto Keil Greenhouses, and C.J. Van Bourgondien Greenhouses.

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Suffolk County, where the LIHREC is located, is the most diverse county and the leading crop agricultural county in New York based on wholesale value. It also has the strongest greenhouse industry in the state of New York. Horticulture has always been strong on eastern Long Island and is one of the reasons that the LIHREC will celebrate its 100th anniversary in two years.

Cornell University has maintained the Long Island campus in the center of New York’s main agriculture region to help the green industry prosper. The LIHREC is the only horticultural research center in the U.S. that has scientists and professionals in all commodities, as well as cross-commodity specialists in plant pathology, entomology, weed science, and plant tissue culture/micropropagation.

The endowment is only the second ever to be established for the exclusive benefit of the LIHREC. Last year, retired nurseryman Ray Bell established the first endowment for the Center. These two endowments offer the LIHREC an advantage for its continued success in the future. With the establishment of the new Founder’s Fund, the LIHREC can now receive donations to support the research and Extension programs.

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