Ben Houlton is the New Dean at Cornell CALS. Photo by Lindsay France, Courtesy of Cornell University
NEAFA Profile: Ben Houlton, New Dean at Cornell CALS
By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA
Benjamin Houlton, formerly the Director of the John Muir Institute of the Environment at the University of California, Davis, takes the reins of Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), effective October 1st. Houlton previously served as professor of Global Environmental Studies at UC Davis as well. At Cornell, Houlton will also be a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and in the Department of Global Development.
“The environment and agriculture are so interlinked,” said Houlton. “I don’t view them as separate. It’s important to understand how programs, like Pro-Dairy, are so critical to continuing the interaction between CALS and NY’s agricultural industry. For me there’s no better place to be, no better time to work on the agricultural - environmental relationship.”
Indeed, Houlton’s family roots are in agriculture. “In Wisconsin, my family was involved in feed manufacturing, and farming is multi-generational on both sides of my family,” said Houlton. “My grandfather managed a farm in Ohio with around 300 head of cattle that had a breeding program that was always creating state fair winners. There are family members in Kansas and Wisconsin that are still focused on livestock and poultry. I have a lot of fond memories growing up visiting the farm and feeding calves.”
At CALS, Houlton is looking forward to advancing agriculture’s role in the climate change discussions. “Cornell CALS is such an alignment with where my research is heading, my family history, and my personal interests,” said Houlton. “I feel like the stars have aligned to create this opportunity to work with New York [agriculture] and think about how does this make sense for NY, and what are some opportunities that we can take advantage of within the efforts to address climate change. When you think about greenhouse gas reduction, there are many opportunities for agriculture. – Take anaerobic digesters for example. I am motivated to address the challenges and align the incentives to where we need them to be. It’s going to be hard work and there are difficult conversations to be had, but I’m ready for that. Using digester produced renewable natural gas to power vehicles is a viable opportunity in California. There’s a study that demonstrates harnessing biogas from two cows is equal to a years’ worth of emissions reduction from a motor vehicle. There’s even a California study that shows that five cows could power a house for a year!”
Houlton sees agriculture as integral for society’s growth in the future. “Agriculture is important for the 21st century,” said Houlton. “By 2050 we are expecting to feed 10 billion people on this planet. Given the current problems with malnutrition and hunger throughout the world, it’s something we need to address. I think the pandemic has helped demonstrate what New York agriculture can do locally to strengthen our food systems. One of my favorite things is to sit back and listen, and then think of how we can build relationships and programs into something bigger that can work on a local and global scale and I think that’s a large part of what CALS is all about.”
NEAFA Executive Director Rick Zimmerman had the opportunity to pose the following question to Houlton during his conversation for this article. “The Northeast’s dairy industry is one of three mega-milk regions in the U.S.,” said Zimmerman “And, even though it enjoys a rich history of innovation and growth, it is in fierce competition with other regions of the country and the world at large to remain economically viable. Cornell’s PRO-DAIRY Program has distinguished itself with timely, thoughtful cutting-edge programs, enabling dairy farmers to address human resource, environmental, financial, and executive management challenges, among others. How do you see CALS positioning itself regarding future challenges faced by the northeast dairy industry?”
“It’s a huge question of course,” said Houlton. “We’re going to keep working on educating tomorrow’s leaders today at CALS. Dairy products, production systems, digital applications, how to diversify dairy industry— how can we provide a platform for them to get a start in the business. The average age of a farmer today is 55. We need a younger generation to get involved and that’s where CALS can have the greatest impact. Where is R&D and innovation needed? What are the economics and what incentives are needed or are currently suboptimal? Agriculture is a huge part of the economy. it’s not a one size fits all answer. I love the idea of working to support all shapes and sizes of businesses and I think that the opportunity to learn, leverage current systems and find new ways to do things is important. There’s good change and bad change. We need to bring about good change like controlling greenhouse gasses. I look forward to working with NEAFA, and I’m here to support the 150-year partnership that Cornell has had with agriculture. I’m so deeply concerned about the challenges that we’re all facing. Academia can’t stay in academia; we need to be part of the boots on the ground.
NEAFA welcomes Dr. Ben Houlton to New York and to Cornell CALS.