Marlin Bates has been the horticulture agent at the K-State extension office in Douglas County for about two years. On any given day he talks about insects, snakes, lawns, trees, shrubs. His real passions are fresh fruits and veggies and working with local people and businesses.

Staplers, post-it-notes and highlighters might be commonplace in a normal office environment, but Marlin Bates is just as likely to have snakes or insects sitting atop his desk.

“For identification, of course,” Bates says with a laugh.

For nearly two years, Bates has worked as Kansas State University’s Horticulture Agent at the Douglas County Extension Office, a job that constantly keeps him interested and on his toes.

Marlin Bates has been the horticulture agent at the K-State extension office in Douglas County for about two years. On any given day he talks about insects, snakes, lawns, trees, shrubs. His real passions are fresh fruits and veggies and working with local people and businesses.

“Horticulture is an interesting world,” he said. “It’s a discipline with many disciplines in it. You have entomology, vegetables, fruits, lawns, trees and shrubs, ornamentals, household insects, snakes, weed management and more.”

On a given day, Bates, 35, might deal with anything from invasive species of insects, local caterpillars, pesticides and irrigation issues to questions about marketing.

Although he wears many hats within the agriculture community, Bates said, the majority of his time is spent working with local farmers, gardeners and producers, helping to develop the region’s food production system.

“He’s a great extension agent,” said Jack Wilson, owner of Washington Creek Lavender. “He’s knowledgeable. He’s come out to our farm and looked around. he’s really hands on. We’ve got ‘Growing Lawrence,’ which is an organization he’s been working with us on and helping us put together.”

Once a month, Growing Lawrence, a collection of local agricultural professionals, will meet and workshop different topics, said Karen Pendleton, owner of Pendleton’s Country Market.

Topics range range from advertising, insurance and employees to organic growing and pest control, Pendleton said. Meetings also serve as a networking opportunity for local growers.

“It doesn’t pertain to people who are just growing fruits, vegetables or animals. It’s anybody with anything in agriculture,” she said. “(Bates) comes to those meetings and gives a lot of input. The knowledge base is just so good that he has. And it gives us more contacts.”

In addition to his work with local groups and organizations, Bates moves frequently from home to home helping those in the agriculture industry maximize their potential or solve any problems that arise, Pendleton said.

“We work with Marlin a lot,” she said. “He’s helping us figure out how to save on our fertilizer costs and types of fertilizers.”

Bates, a Southeast Kansas native, said his interest in nature goes back as far as he can remember.

“I’ve always appreciated plants,” he said. “I’ve always had a passion for gardening.”

An avid golfer, Bates originally attended Kansas State University to study golf course management within the horticulture department, but a few mentors along the way began to encourage him down a different path. One of the more influential people in his college career was his academic adviser, the state extension office’s expert on fruit and vegetable production, he said.

“He was constantly going around the state giving talks to community producers and master gardeners about fruits and vegetables,” he said. “He was engaging the public in ways I wasn’t particularly familiar with. That’s where I really became interested in going down this path.”

Graduating from Kansas State with a bachelor’s degree in greenhouse management and a master’s degree in vegetable crop production and plant pathology, Bates began his career as an extension agent for the University of Missouri.

Within his first extension position, Bates recalled, he began to fall in love with his career path.

“It’s pretty powerful when you have the opportunity to influence peoples’ lives in a positive way and equip them with knowledge,” he said. “It’s something I don’t take lightly, and I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction from it.”

Now married with two children, Bates doesn’t golf as much as he used to these days, but he still finds time to practice what he preaches in his spare time.

“We do have a relatively large vegetable garden,” he said. “I have about 100 grape vines. I just planted a little hobby vineyard. I’m particularly passionate about grapes.”

Greg Shipe, of Davenport Orchards & Winery, said Bates has taken a special interest in area vineyards and wineries.

Every now and then, Bates will show up at the orchard with a group of people and teach them about the dangers of spray drift, where pesticides can become airborne and threaten humans, animals and crops in nearby farms and homes.

“I think he’s been a great asset to Douglas County, especially to people who grow specialty crops and grapes,” Shipe said. “He’s got a passion for this kind of work. You can almost tell when you talk to somebody. Some people just do a job and go home, but I think he’s doing his passion.”

Bates estimates he’s spent more time talking about grapes than he has planting grapes. But now that he’s growing a healthy mix of table grapes and wine grapes, he’ll have a chance to put his knowledge to the test, he said.

“I’m doing some of the stuff that I’ve been teaching for a long time. I’m going to have to figure out how to make good wine,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve heard it’s really easy to make bad wine.”