Success StoryThe Renaissance of a Horticulture Agent



The Renaissance of a Horticulture Agent

Author: Clay Stamm

Planning Unit: Rowan County CES

Major Program: Home & Consumer Horticulture

Plan of Work: Horticulture, Livestock, Forages, Agriculture

Outcome: Initial Outcome


The spring of 2020 brought about quite a bit of change and turmoil in the Clark County Cooperative Extension Office. The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way we reach our clientele to say the least, and agents were forced to make key changes to their program or be left behind. While this was happening, I had another special set of circumstances I was forced to adapt to. My longtime co-worker and horticulture agent David Davis left Clark County Cooperative Extension to take a job elsewhere. With his absence, I began to not only cover my agriculture and natural resource responsibilities, but I also took over his horticulture responsibilities in the county. Within the first two weeks of covering the horticulture program area I had answered more questions concerning trees, shrubs, and ornamental plants than I probably had in my whole extension career. A late spring freeze event wreaked havoc on these types of plants. In addition to those calls, I fielded many calls where folks were raising gardens for the first time ever. Many people were afraid of a food shortage event due to the virus and decided to try their hand at their very own garden. This brought about many basic gardening questions that I was happy to address with them. My venture back into the horticulture field did not stop there. Clark County is fortunate to have some large-scale commercial horticulture producers. I have also been on field visits to their farms in conjunction with horticulture specialist to diagnose plant pathology issues in their crops. As you can tell, I have had a rebirth in my horticulture knowledge this spring, as I hope that this does not become permanent so I can get back to focusing exclusively on my ANR program, this has been a nice break in routine, and a confidence booster in my horticulture knowledge.  






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