Past Events

County Agents from Across the U.S. Visit Kerr Center

County agents load up for tour of the Kerr Ranch.

County agents from across the US learned about Kerr Center programs.

Horticulture Director George Kuepper explains his program.

County agricultural agents from across the United States toured the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture near Poteau on Wednesday, July 14, 2010, to learn about center projects and sustainable agriculture in Oklahoma.

The agricultural agents were in Oklahoma for the 95th annual meeting and professional improvement conference of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA).

Le Flore County Extension Director Brian Freking served on the conference planning committee and brought the group to Poteau.

Kerr Center president Dr. Jim Horne welcomed the group at nine a.m. and presented a short history of the Kerr Center and overview of current programs.

He noted that since the founding of the center in 1985 that the idea of sustainability has become much better understood.

Kerr president Dr. Jim Horne (left) welcomes a group of county ag agents to the Kerr Ranch. Le Flore Co. Extension Director Brian Freking (in orange) brought the group from Tulsa.

“We are making progress,” Horne said. “But there is still a lot to be done.”

The county agents then toured the horticulture and livestock areas of the ranch. Meat goat project manager Mary Penick showed agents the meat goat projects, including bucks just enrolled in the center’s fourth annual buck test.

Penick also presented information on the Kerr Center’s efforts to preserve the endangered heritage breed of cattle, the Pineywoods, native to the southern U.S.

Horticulture and intern program director George Kuepper showed the visitors the center’s organic horticulture plots and talked about weed management, cover crops, organic certification and recent trials of  heirloom varieties of tomatoes, squash, okra and sorghum. 

Intern Seth Stallings gave a short presentation on biochar, a recent experiment at the center.

The tour enjoyed a lunch of chicken fried steak at the Kerr Mansion and had time to visit the Robert S. Kerr museum and tour the mansion rooms. The Poteau Chamber of Commerce greeted the group and provided “goodie” bags with info about the area.

After lunch, Kerr Center agricultural economist David Redhage and center president Jim Horne showed the agriculturists the center’s agroforestry and conservation projects.

Each tour participant also received a packet of educational information about Kerr Center research and programs.

USDA’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program was a major supporter of the NACAA conference. SARE Associate Director Kim Kroll accompanied the tour to Kerr Center.

The Kerr Center manages SARE's professional development grant program for county agents and other agriculture professionals in the southern region of the United States, which includes Oklahoma.

The visit to the Kerr Center was one of several educational tours offered during the five day conference. Other activities included educational seminars, state meetings, programs for spouses and children, and award presentations.

Phil Pratt, retired Tulsa County Extension Director Agent, is outgoing president of NACAA. He pointed out that many of the presenters at the NACAA conferences are county agents/educators and area or state Extension specialists.

“It is always beneficial to learn from our peers about Extension programs that have been successful in other states,” he said.

“We also incorporate into the program updates and presentations from our friends and supporters who work with us in agriculture,” he added.

Bob Woods, northeast (Oklahoma) regional agronomy specialist in the Muskogee Regional Extension office was chairman of this year’s conference.

The Cooperative Extension Service system was created by the U.S. Congress because of concern for the education of the average citizen.

In 1862 Congress passed the Morrill Act, which provided for a university in each state to provide education to citizens in agricultural and mechanical fields. In Oklahoma these “land-grant” universities are Oklahoma State and Langston.

Congress soon realized that to be effective, the educational function of these schools needed to be supplemented with research capabilities. In 1887 the Hatch Act provided for the establishment of research farms.

In 1914 Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act which created the Cooperative Extension Service. Today, county extension offices "extend" information which has been developed on campus and research stations across each state. The extension specialists in each office offer the public information on gardening and nutrition as well as on agriculture.