[CH] Town name -- What is a County Agent?
Nels Peterson (npkp4jp@polarcomm.com)
Tue, 23 Jan 2001 19:53:59 -0600
Yeah -- forgot the town was Hooterville, in the days before Political
Correctness. The name of the sit-com was Petticoat Junction.
-- someone asked what a 'County Agent' is? I guess I am qualified to answer
that one - as I am a County Extension Agent in North Dakota, USA. (the local
Hank Kimball)
A County Agent is a curious partnership between the United States Department
of Agriculture, individual state governments(through the state land-grant
university) and county government. We are charged to bring research based
educational information, primarily agricultural in nature, to residents of
our counties. By definition, that sounds like it would seem overwhelming,
and believe me; it can be! Our state director is fond of saying we are
"Specialized Generalists," meaning if we don't readily have the information
needed by a client, we need to be able to access that information.
Generally, to qualify to be a County Agent, you need at least a bachelor's
degree in an agricultual discipline, be able to understand the general
industry of agriculture, and have the ability to source, understand and
disseminate information from specialists in a wide variety of agricultural
disciplines. North Dakota has on staff at North Dakota State
University(NDSU) specialists that can be called on for eductional
presentations as well as to be used as informational resources when we can't
readily answer a clients question. In addition to direct questions, we plan
and deliver educational programs in agricultural production (large and small
farms), home horticulture, 4-H and youth, food safety, etc.
It is never boring, always mentally challenging and is the best job a person
can have! BTW --- we like to consider Squanto the first 'County Agent' as he
was responsible for helping the Pilgrims grow corn and crops adapted to the
'New World'!
Nels in ND