NORWICH – Lawmakers could decide today whether or not to beef up the staff at Cornell Cooperative Extension in Chenango County by adding a full-time grazing specialist.

The soils here are optimal for growing grasses, according to Extension Director Ken Smith. While advocating for the position at government committee meetings this fall, Smith said a grazing expert would encourage new farms, convert existing farms to rotational or other grazing systems, put idle land into pasture, and provide an economic boost for some of the more underdeveloped parts of the county.

“Every town in the county can benefit. It’s a good way to keep open land from going to scrub,” he said.