HALSEY - Oregon State University's College of Agriculture needs to develop a closer relationship with the state's production farm and ranch families, a dozen mid-valley farmers told Sonny Ramaswamy, the new dean, at a breakfast here Tuesday morning.

The event was hosted by former state Rep. Liz VanLeeuwen and her husband, Geo., both OSU graduates and Irish Bend Loop grass seed farmers.

"At the end of the day, people are investing their hard-earned money to let us do what we do," Ramaswamy said. "Our reasons for being are the students who came to our college, their parents and our stakeholders, which is everyone."

Dona Coon said she would like the college's attitude to shift from "you can't do that" to "how can we help you achieve your end goals?"

She added that staff need to reach out to farmers and ranchers.

"We grow more than 220 commodities in this state. You can't paint all farmers with the same brush," Coon said. "We're open to new ideas and technologies."

Geo. VanLeeuwen said there is a wide gap between production farmers and "hobby" farmers who tend a few acres.

"Hobby farming isn't going to feed the world," VanLeeuwen said.

VanLeeuwen also encouraged Ramaswamy to develop an active recruitment program to bring farm-raised students into the college's ag programs. One person said too many of the ag college's students are "horse" people, who grew up on acreage with one or two horses, rather than on a working farm or ranch.

Bryan Kerr said the college's Extension Service is a valuable resource for farmers and ranchers, but due to budget cuts, he fears the loss of quality people.

James VanLeeuwen encouraged Ramaswamy to rebuild the college's entomology department, a subject close to the new dean's heart.

"OSU used to have a world-class entomology department," VanLeeuwen said. "It was disbanded by your predecessor. Those of us who grow plants need to be able to combat pestilence in the form of weeds, insects and diseases."

Ramaswamy came to OSU in April after spending three years as associate dean of Purdue University's College of Agriculture, where he directed agricultural research programs. He has undergraduate and master's degrees in agriculture and entomology from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India. He holds a doctorate in entomology from Rutgers University.

An entomologist, Ramaswamy has worked in Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, Michigan and India.