On the Eastern Shore of Virginia
11/12/02
A Virginia man with a long career in production agriculture on the Delmarva Peninsula has accepted the open position of Northampton County, Va., agricultural Extension agent, a job that has been vacant since the death of Fred Diem almost one year ago.
W.E. “Bill” Shockley Jr., a cotton, grain and vegetable farmer near Cheriton, Va., for the past 15 years, will begin the county-funded position Jan. 10, said Clifton Slade, southeast district Extension director. One of Shockley’s sons, Thomas, will manage the farm’s day-to-day operations.
Shockley was raised on his father’s vegetable and livestock farm near Eastville, Va., and holds a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from North Carolina State University. He worked in the retail fertilizer industry for 20 years on Delmarva and in North Carolina before farming.
“I love to farm and I love to work with farmers,” said Shockley. “Through my experiences and what I’ve learned over the years, I feel I can make a contribution and serve as a link between the university, agricultural programs and the farming community.” During his career, Shockley worked as a regional agronomy supervisor for Southern States Cooperative in Seaford, Del., and was a retail manager at Southern States dealers in Dagsboro and Laurel, Del.
He takes the Extension job during a challenging time for the Extension service statewide and the county’s agricultural interests.
On Oct. 15, Gov. Mark Warner cut $858 million from the state budget, including the layoffs of 140 Extension employees. In addition, 147 Extension jobs were reduced.
In August, Northampton supervisors adopted a resolution asking Warner for agricultural disaster status because of drought conditions. The county suffered crop losses totalling $5.6 million this year.
Because of a state hiring freeze, Northampton County included money last June in its budget to fund the agricultural Extension position. Normally, counties pay one-third of Extension jobs and benefits.
“We’re mighty grateful and thankful to Northampton County for funding this position 100 percent,” said Slade. It’s one of 25 state Extension jobs now completely funded by localities, he said.
In the job, Shockley will provide research-based information as it relates to agriculture to all county citizens, among other duties, Slade said.
“We know that one of his primary audiences will be farmers,” he said, adding that the job is also important to other groups.
“Someone who wants a beautiful lawn should be able to call the Extension office for information,” he said.
Despite state budget woes, Slade estimated that Virginia Tech would reinstate funding for the position within 18 months.
“We think that we’re going to get through this budget cycle and begin to turn things around, slowly but surely,” he said. Slade attributed the local funding of Extension positions statewide to the influence of those who previously held the job, including Diem.
“In all cases, where we had an excellent agent, the local government has agreed to fund the positions 100 percent until Virginia Tech can afford to pick up the traditional 66 percent of the salary,” he said.
The good-humored, well-liked Diem, who had been Northampton’s agricultural agent since 1974, died last Nov. 7 after a short battle with cancer. “No one can do like Fred, so we don’t want Bill to think that he has to do like Fred,” Slade said. “We want Bill to bring new ideas to the position and his way of doing things, and we welcome that.”
“Fred did a lot for agriculture in Northampton,” Shockley said. “He’s missed as a friend and as a key part of this county.”