From the Polk Ledger

Are You Going to Take It?
Contributed by Kevin Bouffard - Posted: February 8, 2008 6:27:06 PM
The citrus industry along with other Florida agriculture sectors is buzzing about the impact of pending budget cuts at the University of Florida, which some maintain will hit the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) disproportionately.
Farm & Ranch News in Tampa fanned the flames when it quoted UF President J. Bernard Machen as saying "agriculture is a dying industry in the State of Florida" and "not worthy of the investments being made by the Legislature" at IFAS.
Machen denied those statements in a Thursday letter to publisher George Parker.
"I am writing to let you know I never said the things about agriculture that Farm & Ranch News attributes to me. I am appalled Farm & Ranch News refuses to retract the information even though the error was pointed out," Machen wrote in the letter provided to me by the university. "Agriculture is a very important part of our economy and IFAS' main objective has been, and continues to be, to support Agriculture in every way possible. We are particularly concerned about the citrus industry and its challenges."
The article goes on to say Machen intends to cut 200 to 300 faculty from the IFAS faculty, which spokesman Steve Orlando also denied. No decisions have been made on specific cuts, he said.
However, the article actually understates the budget cuts IFAS faces. It says Machen is considering "$25 million (or more) in potential budget cuts" at UF by March.
In reality the university has to cut $50 million from its current budget, Orlando acknowledged, and it faces a similar cut in its 2008-09 budget.
A Tuesday memo from IFAS head Jimmy Cheek also uses the $50 million figure for the current budget. Cheek said he didn't expect a final decision until spring.
The IFAS faculty feels it will be targeted for a disproportionate share of the budget cuts, according to one source who asked to remain anonymous for fear of losing his job. The source also heard the cut would amount to $25 million, and he added that the IFAS share would be $5.1 million.
Orlando wouldn't discuss how much of a budget hit IFAS would take.
Jay Clark, president of Florida Citrus Mutual, said growers are worried the cuts will affect citrus research efforts, particularly on battling citrus greening. He noted the pending cuts come on top of cuts IFAS already took in this year's budget earlier.
"It would be an even bigger impact than that $5 million" on the citrus industry, Clark said.
The concern at IFAS also is high, my source said. He wondered if Machen hasn't already decided "we don't need to be a land grant university anymore."
Cue Robin Reece (stay with it at least 1 minute).


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