SHELTON – To hear farmer Terry Jones put it, “the latest and greatest in science is here.”
That’s good news for him – he’s a strawberry farmer in Shelton – and he’s proud to be at the grand opening of the Jenkins Waggoner Laboratory – part of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
According to Steven Reviczky, commissioner of agriculture, “Things change rapidly in our world, and we need an ag experiment station in Connecticut that has the facilities and equipment necessary to do critical work .”
Before renovations that merged two buildings on the New Haven campus, things were dated in the 80-year-old facility – right down to a leaky roof.
But now – $13 million in upgrades and one ribbon-cutting later, wat scientists now have available to them are safe, modern facilities in which to do their work.
The ag station is the oldest one in the U.S. So, for the scientists showing off their labs, being the most modern was important – especially when a variety of experiments are conducted here, like testing on plants species and pests that attack farm crops.
Which means farmers like Jones can leave the science to the scientists, and him to his strawberries.
“It’s been a great season,” he said. “They’re really coming in now.”
