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Agriculture
and Forestry Resource Summit Cancelled
Auburn, Feb. 13--The
Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) and the Alabama
Agricultural Experiment Station (AAES) have cancelled the Feb. 21-22
Agriculture and Forestry Resource Summit in Montgomery.
"Dr. Luther Waters,
dean of the Auburn University College of Agriculture and director of
AAES, and I have elected to cancel the Summit due to the threat
of deepening proration," said Dr. Stephen Jones, director of
ACES. "As the K-12 proration lawsuit unfolds, we cannot ignore
the possibility of the 6.2 percent amount rising to as high as 18.5
percent for higher education, including the Extension System and the
Experiment Station. By cancelling, we save significant direct
costs."
The Summit was planned
as an effort to foster growth in both agriculture and forestry and
focus public attention on their importance to the state. Agriculture
and forestry are big business in Alabama, generating $43 billion in
total gross output value in 1999. But producers in these areas
continue to feel the pressure of shrinking profits, increasing costs
and expanding regulations.
The System, working with
the Experiment Station, has launched a comprehensive development
initiative to expand the state's agriculture and forestry resources.
Six Area Farm and Forestry Roundtables were held last fall. The
planned Summit was the next stage of this development initiative.
"This series
of meetings has been key to our planning of agricultural and
forestry research, and the decision to cancel it was very
difficult," said Dr. Luther Waters, director of AAES.
"Cancellation of this Summit is a clear indication of the
seriousness of our fiscal condition in light of the reality of the
6.2 percent proration, compounded by the looming specter of the K-12
suit."
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CONTACT: News and
Public Affairs, Extension Communications (334) 844-5687
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