William T. Hlubik

William T. Hlubik is a county agent and director for the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County’s EARTH Center in South Brunswick, NJ. He also teaches two undergraduate courses--“How to Start and Manage a Small Farm” and “Sustainable Agriculture”--at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.  Bill has more than 36 years of experience providing, advice, mentoring, leadership, and support for new and experienced farmers in New Jersey and the surrounding states. His areas of expertise include vegetable and small fruit production as well as agricultural marketing and communication. He created the RU Ready to Farm statewide beginner farmer program in 2020 with colleagues Brendon Pearsall, William Errickson and fellow ANR Team members.   The program was featured on CBS 'Eye on America' in August 2024 which aired to over 4 million viewers. Bill also created the statewide “If Plants Could Talk” television series for NJ PBS and produced and hosted 22 episodes. He has written hundreds of newspaper articles for the state’s largest newspaper, The Star-Ledger, and has been interviewed for his expertise by CBS, ABC, FOX, NJN, News 12 NJ and NPR news networks regarding his programs and research. Bill  has managed over $7 million in grant funds and has won more than 100 state, regional, and national awards for Cooperative Extension programs and applied agricultural research at Rutgers. Bill and his colleagues on the Rutgers Strawberry Production team, Peter Nitzsche and Gojko Jelenkovic developed and  released the ‘Rutgers ScarletTM’ strawberry in 2015 and more recently ‘Rutgers D’LightTM’ in December of 2021. These new varieties have been distributed nationwide to growers in over 22 states.  Bill has published in HortScience, HortTechnology, The Journal of Extension, The American Vegetable Grower, The American Fruit Grower, and The New Jersey Farmer. Bill has a long and productive history working together with farmers and agricultural organizations throughout the state and has extensive experience in media outreach through newspaper, radio, and television.