Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

New county agent gets set to talk agriculture

Arkansas is our classroom.

Those were the words of Melissa Beck, Nevada Countys new county extension agent.

Beck describes herself as a farm girl.

I grew up in South East Oklahoma on the Red River, she said.

Beck said her family farmed and her father expected her to do her share of the farm chores - despite the fact that she was a girl. She is married to Dr. Paul Beck, who is a teacher at the University of Arkansass Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope.

Beck attended Oklahoma State University where she received her bachelors degree in animal science in 1992. She then went on for a masters degree in adult education from the University of Arkansas - Fayetteville. For the past five years, she has worked as a retention coordinator for the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope.

She said the position as county agent is a natural next step.

I was raised on a farm, she said. Ive been involved in agriculture my whole life. But I just felt called to teach.

She said that the extension agent duties include offering education.

This combines my passion for agriculture and my passion for teaching, she said.

Beck said she hopes to start some new programs, including some hands-on workshops that address local concerns. Forage is one topic that she hopes to incorporate into a local workshop.

Im excited about starting some education programs and some farm demonstrations, she said.

One of the most positive points of the county agents job, Beck said, is that everyday is different. Another is that she has reasons to research local agriculture issues - and the resources to find answers.

I dont know everything, she said. But I do know how to find out.

Beck said that shes already established in her office and that shes anxious to meet the members of the local agricultural community. She said she knows the recent drought is on the minds of many and making farms pay through those tough situations is one problem shell be working to address.

We have to decide how to help them manage their production costs, she said. Anyone in agriculture is aware of that.

Beck said she wants to encourage anyone with questions or comments to drop by the office, and said her door is also open to anyone who simply wants to come by to visit.

Come in or give us a call, she said.

The office is located on Highway 67 South. The phone number is 887-2818.