by Linda McCandless
Geneva, NY - Governor George Pataki underscored his commitment to the Geneva Plan and New York agriculture during a one-hour visit to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, on Thursday, September 4.
Speaking before 250 Station employees and industry representatives who filled the Station's 10,000 sq. ft. Fruit and Vegetable Research Pilot Plant floor and crowded onto the second-story balcony, Pataki invoked his farm-boy roots and enumerated his support for recent legislation that will improve the odds for family farms and agribusinesses.
"We do not want to look back and say that agriculture was the biggest industry in New York State in the 1990s, we want to look forward and make sure agriculture is the largest industry in New York State in the 21st century as well," he said.
Pataki recognized the experiment station as a catalyst for growth and
acknowledged the importance of the "cutting edge experiments and research"
performed at the station, saying the $600,000 appropriation for the station
that he supported in the recently approved state budget will fund important
agricultural research to help New York farmers and food processors "prosper
and stay competitive." 
"It is not just that we are working to help the farmers, we have to invest in the research and the science and the technology for the future if we are going to compete," he said. "I am very pleased that the state this year has provided the largest sum of assistance ever to the Geneva Experiment Station and that includes the $600,000 to upgrade the technology and the buildings to do research here."
Pataki said, "I know that this is a small positive beginning towards achieving what has been referred to as the Geneva Plan, but as we go foward, to the extent that the state has the ability to do it, we are going to look to do more to make sure that the Geneva Plan is no longer the Geneva Plan, the Geneva Plan is, in fact, the Geneva Reality so you have the resources to take the research into the 21st century." He was met by thunderous applause.
Following comments from Farm Bureau President John Lincoln, Senator Randy Kuhl, Jr. (R-52nd District), chairman of the state's Agriculture Committee, Senator Mike Nozzolio (R-153rd District), and Assemblyman Craig Doran (R-129th District), Patkai made his way through displays and exhibits set up by the food science, horticulture, plant pathology, and entomology departments. He was accompanied by Cornell University President Hunter R. Rawlings, Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean Daryl B. Lund, and James Hunter, director of the station.
"The $600,000 appropriation is partial funding for the Geneva Plan," said Hunter, noting that senators Kuhl and Nozzolio spearheaded the initiative to get this appropriation into the budget. The director also acknowledged the strong support of the governor, Dean Daryl Lund, and Doran. Many members of the agricultural community supported the allocation, including growers, food processors, the New York Farm Bureau, and the Council of Agricultural Organizations.
The Geneva Plan maps out programs in research and extension at the station that will benefit producers, processors, retailers, and consumers of fruit and vegetable commodities, as well as the state's turf industry. It is a vision of how the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station can better accomplish its mission to serve New York "from the farm to the fork." At the core of the plan is an increase of $2.77 million in the annual appropriation to the Station's base budget-a request that has been before the state government since 1996, and will be brought forward again in 1998. The plan's one-time request for equipment has been reduced to $2.2 million now that the State has provided $600,000.
Cornell President Hunter Rawlings expressed his pleasure with the state's support for the Geneva Station, saying: "The programs supported at the Geneva Experiment Station typify Cornell's role as New York state's land grant university-providing the results of new research to New York's agricultural and food science industries and learning from their experience. The new equipment provided by this appropriation will help us keep pace with the real, practical needs of the state's growers and food processors."
"We are very pleased that the governor has recognized the importance of Geneva for the plant-based agriculture and value-added processing sectors of New York state agriculture, said Lund. "Funding for improvements at Geneva is critical in meeting the needs of the industry, the state and New York citizens."
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