UF President Bernie Machen continues to deny accusations that he called agriculture "a dying industry in the state of Florida" in the wake of impending budget cuts to UF departments, including its agricultural institute.
Still, the comments attributed to Machen, quoted by an online farming newspaper, have lawmakers and farmers up in arms.
Farm & Ranch News published a story on Feb. 5 reporting that Machen would cut faculty members from its Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, reduce courses offered by the institute and close some extension offices, which are in at least every Florida county.
Machen was quoted as saying that agriculture is "not worthy of the investments being made by the Legislature."
In a statement released Monday, Machen wrote that he did not make the comments.
After unreturned phone calls, George Parker Jr., the newspaper's publisher, wrote in an e-mail that he stands by the story and has no other comments.
Machen wrote in the e-mail that budget-cut plans have not been finalized. In his statement, he wrote that he plans to make targeted reductions in programs, including IFAS, instead of across-the-board cuts.
Machen wrote in his statement that he is committed to supporting agriculture because UF is a land-grant university - an institute federally funded and required to promote agricultural research and extension offices.
Farm & Ranch News has since encouraged agriculture supporters across the state to write letters to Machen urging him not to cut IFAS funds more than other UF programs.
The president's office has received more than 30 letters since Monday, a few of which are dated before the newspaper's issue went online, according to copies of the letters.
Letters came from citrus growers, ranchers, sugar cane growers, Florida senators and Ben Hill Griffin III, son of UF football stadium's namesake and citrus grower Ben Hill Griffin Jr.
State Reps. Debbie Boyd, D-Newberry, and Bryan Nelson, R-Apopka, met with Machen on Friday to express their concerns about the reported comments.
Boyd said Machen was noncommittal about which aspects of IFAS will receive the most cuts, but he indicated in a letter sent later to the representatives that UF is interested in "making programmatic cuts that minimize the impact on education and research."
