Tim Baker will serve as the new horticulture specialist for Northwest Missouri headquartered out of the University of Missouri Extension office located on the first floor of the Daviess County Courthouse.
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While the coverage area is flexible, Mr. Baker will mainly serve the eastern counties of extension’s northwest region. The western counties of the region will continue to be served by Tom Fowler who is based in St. Joseph.
Mr. Baker was born and raised in St. Louis County. Both sides of his family have their roots in the Ozarks.
"I’m not a city person," he said. "I prefer the rural area; that’s the reason I got into agriculture."
Mr. Baker attended high school in St. Louis County and received an undergraduate degree at William Jewell and another at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, where he also obtained his master’s degree in horticulture.
Mr. Baker previously worked for several years on a potato variety development project at the University of Idaho in Aberdeen. The project was jointly sponsored by the university and USDA. Mr. Baker then traveled to southeast Missouri in Dunklin County. He was the horticulture specialist there and was based at Kennet in the Bootheel.
"Growers can be as separated by attitude as they can by distance," Mr. Baker said. "Potato growers in Idaho liked the russet burbank, and overall it did fine. They were very reluctant when it came to taking a chance on a new variety. Watermelon growers, on the other hand, were not at all hesitant to change."
Mr. Baker will have been with extension for 14 years come December.
Mr. Baker said his experiences in the Bootheel were rewarding, but the diversity of northwest Missouri will offer a welcome change.
"There are more small farm growers and fewer commercial farms here," he said. "And some of my training will be put to better use, like agri-forestry, which includes herbs grown under forestry canopy. The southeast was very flat and there weren’t a lot of trees. It was mostly big cotton farms."
If you’re a home owner, a master gardener, or a commercial grower with a vineyard, greenhouse or nursery, and you have a question about vegetables, fruits, flowers, woody ornamental plants, trees, turf, or about anything else green and growing (including insects and weeds), feel free to give Mr. Baker a call at (660) 663-3232.
Mr. Baker and his wife, Bonnie, are presently renting a home in Gallatin.
"So far we really, really like it here," he said. "It’s quieter and less populated and more rural than Kennet. In Kennet there were five traffic lights. There are none in Daviess County and we love it."