02/12/07 Hopkins leaves U/I

Jeff Miller has left. Bryan Hopkins is settling in at Brigham Young University, with a new job and new surroundings. Like Miller, Hopkins just left the University of Idaho ag extension where he has spent many years working on potato cropping. HOPKINS "The U of I just hasn't kept pace. I got a pretty big salary increase. And then another huge issue is that BYU offers tuition assistance for your kids and U of I doesn't offer anything and I have six kids." Hopkins says the University of Idaho has financial problems just like most land grant institution, partly due to federal funding cutbacks. In the six years he was at ag extension many jobs when unfilled when people quit, retired or were laid off. Hopkins says was the workload didn't change. HOPKINS "You know I have a hard time saying no, its stuff that needs to be done. When you're an extension guy you kind of have an obligation to answer people's questions and try to do your job. It was just interfering too much with my personal life." Hopkins is one of the soil scientists who left the U of I but there were others who did the same. HOPKINS "Soil is an extremely important part of agriculture. There is nobody to fill that void now especially in our major potato growing parts of the state. I don't know what's going to happen." Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott