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\u201cThe outreach and the ongoing continual education is phenomenal, and that\u2019s what we need. The whole state benefits from it,\u201d he added, emphasizing how \u201cphenomenally respected\u201d the institution is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesse May, who works in greenhouse production at Whitmores in East Hampton, highlighted how closely she\u2019s worked with LIHREC to keep plants healthy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve helped me conquer problems, identify problems, they\u2019ve done tons of lab work for me \u2026 where it\u2019s just been a huge help to get our production from one year to the next,\u201d she said. \u201cThe resources that we have available to us through them, it\u2019s just invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The LIHREC facility is not to be confused with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County down the road. Each New York county has its own cooperative extension program with budgets and personnel based on the strength of agriculture in that county, according to Mr. Bridgen. The LIHREC research center is a campus of Cornell University, which funds the facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur mission, those of us who work for the university, we have a mission to the entire state, whereas Cornell Cooperative Extension has a mission to Suffolk County,\u201d Mr. Bridgen said. \u201cWe are the only horticulture research center in the United States that has scientists, professionals for each of the commodity industries as well as the cross disciplines. And the only way we can claim that is because of our close relationships between the Cornell University faculty and the Cornell Cooperative Extension.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The research has the advantage of being within about a 50-mile radius of stakeholders, he added. Much of Long Island\u2019s agricultural community \u2014 about 592 farms and approximately 31,000 acres of farmland altogether, according to a 2019 state report \u2014 is in eastern Suffolk County. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe nice thing about that is that if they want to, they can run a sample over for us to look at or invite us to their place to help talk about a problem,\u201d Mr. Bridgen said. \u201cThe other advantage is that, because of this nice relationship with the cooperative extension, we have specialists for each area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n LIHREC offers plant pathology, entomology and weed science, making it a \u201cone-stop shop\u201d for the ag community. In the past 20 years, some of the facility\u2019s accomplishments include breeding plants for resistance to disease and pests, and helping growers reduce pesticide use through programs like integrated pest management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vegetable scientists at LIHREC, for example, found that mustard plants can act as a natural herbicide and a natural inhibitor of certain root rot diseases, Mr. Bridgen said. \u201cNot only do you get weed control, but you also get disease control. That\u2019s pretty significant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n LIHREC celebrated its centennial, which passed on April 1, with a ceremony last Thursday that historically included the facility\u2019s second visit from a sitting Cornell University president, and a formal resolution presented by state Assemblyman Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) and state Senator Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) congratulating the research center on its 100th anniversary. The dean of the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Science also paid his first visit to the campus since he was appointed during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEveryone here is so committed to furthering the science because you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to come next. And you don\u2019t know what advances in the science are going to make a difference five, 10, 100 years from now, but they\u2019re also so committed to working with all of you who are here and everyone in the community, to ensuring that that knowledge gets out there and makes a difference to what you\u2019re doing,\u201d said Cornell University President Martha Pollack at the celebration. \u201cIt makes not just the local community, but I would argue the whole world better because when one region works towards sustainability, the whole world benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speeches from local politicians, including Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue), focused on the economic and cultural significance that agriculture holds on the East End, highlighting generational farm families that have worked the land for centuries and the trust LIHREC holds with the Long Island grower community.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAgriculture is of critical importance here, and the families and the businesses that support agriculture are so critical, not just to our economy, but for the way of life that has evolved here over the centuries,\u201d Mr. Thiele said. \u201cThe strength of Cornell isn\u2019t just the science that they do, isn\u2019t just the research they do. It\u2019s the trust that they have with the agricultural community here on the East End of Long Island and I suspect all across New York state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat you folks do when it comes to disease and pest control and everything that this amazing agency has been doing [is] critical, because it\u2019s a way of life for us,\u201d Mr. Palumbo said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bob Anderson, who was born and raised on a vegetable farm on Roanoke Avenue, spoke as a stakeholder at the ceremony. His father, who is over 80 years old, still farms the land, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI asked him the question, I said, \u2018What comes to mind with LIHREC? What do they do for you?\u2019 And he goes, \u2018Everything.\u2019 He goes, \u2018The entire package,\u2019 \u201d he said. \u201cI asked him, \u2018Could you give me one example?\u2019 And so he did, he gave an example.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mr. Anderson\u2019s father recalled a crop-saving visit from a LIHREC researcher years ago, after the decline of his tomatoes following a storm. Everyone told him the plants had probably been impacted by saltwater from the downpour, but, as it turns out, the LIHREC scientist found an infestation of mites. He offered advice on how to control the pests and the crop didn\u2019t fail, Mr. Anderson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s how important it is for this group of people to be here,\u201d he said, highlighting not just the science offered by the facility, but the bridge it provides between growers and government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The celebrations will continue on Nov. 2 with the Long Island Nursery and Landscape Association, which plans to honor LIHREC staff with an award for men and women of the year, according to Mr. Bridgen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe roadmap to 2050 highlights moonshots,\u201d Mr. Bridgen said. \u201cRemember, you can\u2019t have a moonshot without a firm base to push off. And that\u2019s what our center has been doing all these years. We provide that solid foundation. We provide the fuel for these moonshots.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A seed for Long Island\u2019s powerhouse farming industry was planted with a single question: \u201cWhy should we not have a branch of the New York Experiment Station located on Long Island?\u201d The Rural New Yorker in 1888 quoted this anonymous query from a question box at the Riverhead farmer\u2019s institute, highlighting the need for an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1901,"featured_media":112830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4298,1743,35],"tags":[15434,10893,978,5668,3176,13186],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-112829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture-environment-2","category-featured-story","category-news","tag-100th-anniversary","tag-agriculture","tag-cornell-university","tag-long-island-horticultural-research-and-extension-center","tag-mark-bridgen","tag-premium"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/3\/files\/plantscienceday-cornell-1024x644.jpg\")
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