7-8 IAN Extensions Closing

 How long will ag extension services exist in Idaho. Well the squeeze is on nationally. I’m David Sparks and I’ll be right back with the story. I can’t tell you how often I call U of I Ag Extension specialists to get expert knowledge on agricultural trends…from soils, to crops, to herbicides to economics. Extension services are funded largely by federal, state, and local tax dollars. Usually these organizations are the educational outreach function of the state Land Grant university system. That is the case here in Idaho where extension specialists have lived and worked serving commercial farmers for most of their career. Mike Gray is an entomology specialist and  has extension counterparts in most of states that do a similar function. Mike but dwindling dollars may eventually force those state lines to fall for his and many other functions of extensions that service commercial agriculture. “Whether it’s agronomy, plant pathology, weed science, entomology, soil fertility, all of those areas that we have seen reductions, not just in our state but in other land grants in terms of fewer positions in those areas, we’re getting down to just small cores of those people, and increasingly we’re going to have to look at ways to share resources not just across regional lines within states but across state lines.”

Another blow due to a poor economy.