OUR VIEW - Feb. 13

April 07, 2008 01:40 pm

— What used to be known as the "ag office" has undergone quite a change in recent years.
Suwannee County's extension office still offers farmers and ranchers expert help on issues that arise concerning livestock, crops, land use and other traditional topics. And they'll still teach you how to preserve fruit and can vegetables.
But here are some other areas they can help with as well:
Disaster preparation and recovery; aging and caregiving; money management, including budgeting and recordkeeping; credit and debt management; consumer rights, including ways to protect yourself from fraud and financial abuse; insurance; retirement issues, such as estate planning, retirement accounts, social security, reverse mortgages; end of life issues, including resources which may offer answers to legal, ethical and financial questions; and finally, 4-H.
You already know about 4-H, but oh, how 4-H has changed. The traditional disciplines are still in place. But now 4-H'ers can learn advanced computer skills, including robotics (the 4-H-sponsored "Robodogs" were featured recently in the pages of this newspaper) as well.
How did all this change come about? In part, with the help of IFAS, the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. IFAS has become a full partner in the county extension movement in Florida, providing significant levels of both funding and expertise to county agents throughout the state. Essentially, IFAS makes the extraordinary resources of UF available to every county in Florida, big or small, rich or poor.
That's why we're troubled by the news that UF President Bernie Machen, who must trim $50 million from the university's budget this spring, has suggested that IFAS may suffer "disproportionate" cuts in relation to other UF programs. Machen
may or may not have called agriculture "a dying industry in the state of Florida" (he was quoted to that effect in a Tampa-based newsletter, but now denies it). But whatever his personal feelings, we hope Mr. Machen keeps small counties like Suwannee in mind when he makes his cuts. Fifty million dollars is a lot of money, and everybody will have to bear some of the burden. But we shouldn't be asked to shoulder more than our share.
For more information on UF/IFAS and the Suwannee County Extension Office go to http://suwannee.ifas.ufl.edu.