by Monica Tsai
Staff Writer
After 32 years of teaching Northeast Florida residents how their gardens grow, Harold Jones, director of the Duval County Cooperative Extension Service, is retiring.
A University of Florida graduate, Jones career has focused on ornamental horticulture. He was a horticulture agent for the agency until he was appointed director in 1996. While he believes his administration has nurtured programs that develop leadership skills in local youth through 4-H, provide low-income families with tips on stretching their grocery dollars and helped educate the community on environmental issues, concerns over his financial future are leading him elsewhere.
“It was time for me to find something else to do,” said Jones, who retires from the Extension Service at the end of February. “I’m not gaining that much on my retirement, so it’s time for me to look at another job.”
The nationwide search for Jones’ replacement is already underway. The process begins with the University of Florida, the institution that provides the research for Extension Service programs. Advisory committees composed of individuals who use their services and a couple of other select local groups will meet the candidates the university has screened and make recommendations to Mayor John Peyton, who will make the final decision. If a selection has not been made by the time Jones leaves his post, an interim director will be selected to lead the 40-member staff.
Next year, Jones estimates their field agents will teach 1,000-1,200 educational programs in Duval County in areas such as biological controls, fighting obesity with nutritional information or helping family farms remain profitable.
“We touch around 350,000-400,000 people a year, not including mass media. We are an unbiased educational source. We don’t sell products. And it’s not just agriculture; it’s in the family consumer sciences. We provide quality of life services.”
Since joining the service in 1971, Jones has seen a slew of changes in the agricultural field.
“Everything is changing,” said Jones. “Part of that is due to environmental rules and regulations and part because of the economy. The biggest threat is development and land prices. We’ve seen a shift in Jacksonville from production agriculture to urban agriculture. I’m talking about nurseries and service industries that have developed in the last 20 to 30 years such as landscape maintenance and pest control companies. The family farm doesn’t exist like it did. Agriculture is now dominated by large producers.”
Jones plans to remain in the horticulture industry, but his post-retirement is currently undecided, although he will take a 36-day vacation with this wife to Fiji, New Zealand and Hawaii.