Legislative Solution Required To Protect Land Grant Agricultural Assets
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
Legislation is pending in the Nevada Assembly which will provide necessary protection for agricultural property under the control of the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). AB 357 works to limit the use of the proceeds of agricultural property within the Nevada Agricultural Research System. If enacted, the bill will require that the proceeds and rents from the sale or lease of these properties be used exclusively for current programs or the development of new programs in agriculture or the development/expansion of programs in agriculture in any other institution within the System of Higher Education.
From an organizational perspective, Farm Bureau opposes selling any part or all of the Main Station Farm, located in Reno and simply stated a core foundation in the state’s agricultural research system. In all likelihood this roughly 1,000 property will move to the sale block as the plans for closing the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources. It’s not too difficult to connect the dots of the continued emphasis on closing the College of Agriculture to the opportunities that become available for cashing-in and allowing UNR officials to allocate the revenue for other non-agricultural priorities.
The systematic dismantling of the agricultural elements of Nevada’s Land Grant University (College of Agriculture, Agricultural Research, Cooperative Extension) leave little doubt that we will soon arrive at a place where agriculture has no place in what was originally one of the main purposes for creation of the Land Grant University System. Established under the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890, the national Land Grant College System, was intended to serve the educational needs for agriculture and technical colleges. The Hatch Act, enacted in 1887, provides funding to each state to establish agricultural experiment stations that are connected with the state’s Land Grant institutions.
AB 357, not only provides the legislative mandate to maintain the resources that might come from the agricultural properties, but also recognizes that Nevada’s Constitution (Article 11, Section 1) establishes a state university which embraces agricultural studies.
After being processed by the Nevada Assembly’s Education Committee (where it was opposed by UNR), the bill has been sent to the Ways and Means Committee for further consideration. This is the group who now needs to hear from advocates and supporters of retaining the benefits of these key properties for Nevada agriculture. (Working from the list of Committee Members you can link to this tool for Legislator contact information.) Amidst all the rallying and posturing over the importance of Nevada’s Higher Education System, it is essential that our agricultural investments from the past aren’t cannibalized for purposes of other selected priorities in an attempt to continue in the redefinition of the mission of our Land Grant University away from its designated responsibilities.
Although a resolution, adopted by themselves, is supposed to guide the actions of the Board of Regents to accomplish the same results as AB 357 (81-8, adopted in 1981), we’ve seen demonstrated that the Regents will ignore this particular resolution and participate willingly in the pillage of these properties for purposes that they deem more pressing than agriculture.
Long-term, the constraints and direction of the legislative mandate of AB 357 is the only assurance we can hope to have for preservation of agricultural research/education in our state. Passage of this legislation needs to be a top priority with solid citizen involvement in promoting/encouraging action by our elected representatives.
Legislation is pending in the Nevada Assembly which will provide necessary protection for agricultural property under the control of the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). AB 357 works to limit the use of the proceeds of agricultural property within the Nevada Agricultural Research System. If enacted, the bill will require that the proceeds and rents from the sale or lease of these properties be used exclusively for current programs or the development of new programs in agriculture or the development/expansion of programs in agriculture in any other institution within the System of Higher Education.
From an organizational perspective, Farm Bureau opposes selling any part or all of the Main Station Farm, located in Reno and simply stated a core foundation in the state’s agricultural research system. In all likelihood this roughly 1,000 property will move to the sale block as the plans for closing the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources. It’s not too difficult to connect the dots of the continued emphasis on closing the College of Agriculture to the opportunities that become available for cashing-in and allowing UNR officials to allocate the revenue for other non-agricultural priorities.
The systematic dismantling of the agricultural elements of Nevada’s Land Grant University (College of Agriculture, Agricultural Research, Cooperative Extension) leave little doubt that we will soon arrive at a place where agriculture has no place in what was originally one of the main purposes for creation of the Land Grant University System. Established under the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890, the national Land Grant College System, was intended to serve the educational needs for agriculture and technical colleges. The Hatch Act, enacted in 1887, provides funding to each state to establish agricultural experiment stations that are connected with the state’s Land Grant institutions.
AB 357, not only provides the legislative mandate to maintain the resources that might come from the agricultural properties, but also recognizes that Nevada’s Constitution (Article 11, Section 1) establishes a state university which embraces agricultural studies.
After being processed by the Nevada Assembly’s Education Committee (where it was opposed by UNR), the bill has been sent to the Ways and Means Committee for further consideration. This is the group who now needs to hear from advocates and supporters of retaining the benefits of these key properties for Nevada agriculture. (Working from the list of Committee Members you can link to this tool for Legislator contact information.) Amidst all the rallying and posturing over the importance of Nevada’s Higher Education System, it is essential that our agricultural investments from the past aren’t cannibalized for purposes of other selected priorities in an attempt to continue in the redefinition of the mission of our Land Grant University away from its designated responsibilities.
Although a resolution, adopted by themselves, is supposed to guide the actions of the Board of Regents to accomplish the same results as AB 357 (81-8, adopted in 1981), we’ve seen demonstrated that the Regents will ignore this particular resolution and participate willingly in the pillage of these properties for purposes that they deem more pressing than agriculture.
Long-term, the constraints and direction of the legislative mandate of AB 357 is the only assurance we can hope to have for preservation of agricultural research/education in our state. Passage of this legislation needs to be a top priority with solid citizen involvement in promoting/encouraging action by our elected representatives.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 4/20/2011 8:22 AM 
Categories: Agriculture
Tags: College of Agriculture closing University of Nevada Research
Categories: Agriculture
Tags: College of Agriculture closing University of Nevada Research
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