Wines & Vines

AUGUST NEWS Professor Decries Farm Advisor Shortage ASEV Merit Award speech addresses withered state of UC Extension M onterey, Calif.—The former head of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, told his colleagues in a June 27 speech that the university has not been able to keep its Cooperative Extension service healthy. While accepting the annual Merit Award at the national conference of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, Dr. Jim Wolpert urged the wine industry itself Stanley Howell (left) shakes hands with Merit Award recipito consider funding extension ent Jim Wolpert at the annual farm advisors for grapegrowing meeting of the American Socirather than continuing to depend ety for Viticulture and Enology. on the UC system. The retired professor and researcher recalled that when he came to Davis in the 1980s, about 450 University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) employees served farmers of all types around the state, bringing them up to date on the latest research and helping them solve problems in their fields. Today the number has dropped to 200-250 advisors, depending on how they are counted, Wolpert said. Faced with a similar situation, the table grape growers of California recently decided to raise funds themselves. Wolpert said they have gathered $840,000 and are work- winesandvines.com ing on a method to supplement the state's Learn more: Search keywords extension budget and keep farm advisors in "ASEV Extension." their fields. "I hope you will consider if we can do that for viticulture," Wolpert said. (For more on this topic, see the Vineyard View column on page 85 of this issue.) This year's ASEV conference, held in Monterey, drew 600 people. Next year's conference takes place in Austin, Texas, and organizers are considering integrating the ASEV-Eastern Section's annual meeting. —Jim Gordon  Editor's note: After this article was posted on winesandvines.com, a spokesperson for the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources contacted us with further information. Pam Kan-Rice stated that interviews are under way for two UCCE viticulture advisor jobs and that recruitment for a UCCE specialist for wine grapes will begin soon. Kan-Rice acknowledged that budget cuts have reduced the number of UCCE advisors and specialists, but stated, "UC ANR has maintained its core by identifying priority positions, strategically using state funds and seeking industry support. It's now  on the rise. Since January 2012, UC ANR has hired 29 Cooperative Extension advisors and specialists across the state and recruitment is either under way or will begin in 2014 for 43 more positions." Win es & Vines AU GU ST 20 13 15

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