Press Release

County Agents from Across the U.S.
Visit Kerr Center July 14

County agents load up for tour of Kerr Ranch. (click on photo to enlarge)

County agricultural agents from across the United States toured the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture near Poteau Wednesday, July 14, 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).

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.

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.

“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.

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