Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Growing up on his family’s cow/calf farm operation outside of Lewisburg, Garrett Vaughan developed a passion for agriculture that started with 4-H and FFA and has now led him to be the new Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Agent for Pocahontas County.
As a 4-Her and FFA member, Vaughan was always around the extension service and extension agents, so it seemed a natural fit for him to take on the position to help other young people have a similar experience.
“I grew up exhibiting cattle and swine and participating on the county livestock judging and quiz bowl teams,” he said. “I’ve kind of been around extension from about the time I was nine.”
When it came time to choose a career, he initially thought of going to veterinary school, but realized it wasn’t the right fit. Instead, Vaughan received a bachelor’s degree in animal science with a minor in agricultural business from Oklahoma State University.
He went on to receive a master’s degree in animal physiology at West Virginia University. While at WVU, Vaughan served as the university’s livestock judging coach for two years.
Vaughan’s first foray in the extension service was during his college years, when he was an intern at the Greenbrier County office.
All these experiences, along with his brief employment at the West Virginia Department of Agri- culture and Natural Resources Conservation Service as a nutrient management specialist have led him to Pocahontas County, where he is eager to get to work with the students and local producers and farmers.
With those two parts of the job – the youth and the producers – Vaughan said he has some ideas of things he wants to implement, but he also just wants to get a feel for what the community members need from him.
“From the youth 4-H side of it, I’ve been really involved in livestock judging my entire life and I know what it can do for you outside of just cows, pigs, goats and sheep,” he said. “It builds your public speaking skills quite a bit and allows you to travel, meet new people, make all kinds of connections outside of just being around livestock.
“So, I think that’s probably one of the first things I’d like to do is get the youth 4-H livestock judging team back going here,” he continued. “It will definitely be a lot of work because that’s not an easy thing. I know that there are enough producers in this county and even in Greenbrier County that would not have a problem with us coming through a couple evenings and looking at their cows and pigs, and judging them.”
Vaughan said he’d also like to put together a quiz bowl team, which keeps the students active and learning during the winter months.
“It’s really cool because they get to compete with other kids and counties in the state,” he said. “That’s one of those things that happens in the fall or wintertime so it gives them a little something more to do when the weather is not so great outside.
“It teaches them a lot, too,” he added. “Originally it was just for beef cattle, but now it’s all species. I learned plenty of stuff that I went over in college and expanded upon there.”
For the producer side of his job, Vaughan said he wants to get out and visit local farms and see what the farmers need help with and develop programs that address those needs.
“Extension does these wintertime meetings once a month,” he said. “They have somebody come in as a speaker who works for, say, an animal health company that’s telling you about the products that they have that helps with ringworm or something like that.
“I’ve just got to get out and talk to the farmers in this county and see where they think they need some help,” he added.
Extension is a resource for more than just producers and farmers. It also works with organizations like the Master Gardeners and Beekeepers Association. Vaughan said he wants to work with everybody to learn more about their organizations and what they need to continue to succeed.
“My background is in livestock, so I’ve certainly got a lot to learn in a couple other worlds, but being involved in extension and living in this state for quite a while, I feel like I’ve got plenty of connections with people who will have information,” he said. “I’m going to lean on a few of them for that sort of thing.”
Vaughan still helps his dad run the family cow/calf business in Greenbrier County and said it means a lot to him to see the next generation coming in to get calves for their 4-H and FFA livestock projects.
“Our goal is to raise calves for 4-H kids to show,” he said. “That’s something that I really enjoyed. I grew up showing, too. It’s really cool to see the heifers that I used to show – that are mature cows now – that I’m selling their calves to other kids knowing I bought those heifers from somebody who did the same thing.
“It’s all one big cycle,” he continued. “It’s really cool.”
