The Robeson County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service has recently added a new employee to our staff. Ms. Tiffanee Conrad joined our staff on July 1 as an Area Livestock Agent. Her office will be here in Robeson County at the Extension Center, but she will work and perform similar duties in Hoke and Scotland Counties as well.

Ms. Conrad is a native of Indiana and graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Animal Science. Before joining Extension, she was employed with Browns of Carolina as supervisor of their 1,200 sow farrow-to-finish hog operation in Scotland County. Although she has never worked for Extension before, she is very familiar with many of the things we do and how we do them. She grew up in a rural area and her family was involved in farming, often working with the local Extension agents and Extension staff in Indiana. She was an active 4-H member and participated in many 4-H activities including a variety of animal science projects. She worked closely with her 4-H agent and attributes a lot of her interest in animals to the guidance she received from this agent as she participated in animal projects and shows.

Ms. Conrad's major interest is farm animals, with a particular interest in hogs and beef cattle. However, she loves horses and enjoys horseback riding and has been involved in the past working with youth with various horse activities. While in college, she competed in a variety of horse shows and events.

Robeson County is the 6th largest swine-producing county in the state. While most of our swine are produced by local farmers under contract with the large swine companies, there are many local farmers who grow hogs as independent producers. Ms. Conrad's major responsibility will be to work with contract growers to help them better deal with the issues they face related to facilities, odor and fly management, labor management, and government regulations. She will also work with independent producers with issues related to herd health, breeding, feeds and feed rations, facilities management, and marketing. Most importantly, she will work with all swine producers to help them learn how to better deal with managing the animal waste generated from their operations. She will train those involved in the application of this waste to local fields to become certified waste applicators so they properly meet all government regulations and to help protect the environment and our water quality.

Many swine producers are applying waste from their lagoons to hay fields. In order to utilize the hay that is produced, many of these producers have developed sizable beef cattle herds. Many other farmers in the county who are not swine producers have beef cattle on their farms as well. In addition to assisting beef cattle producers with issues related to management of their hay fields, Ms. Conrad will also work with them to help them better address issues related to herd health, breeding, feeds and feed rations, and marketing.

Meat goat production in Robeson County has grown drastically during the past ten years. There is a strong market for meat goats by many ethnic groups in the area so many farmers are able to generate additional income by producing meat goats. Many others living on farms raise goats as a hobby or as pets, since they are smaller and easier to care for than cattle. Ms. Conrad will work with these producers as well to help them better address issues similar to those faced by other animal producers.

Because of her past experience with youth and horses, Ms. Conrad has expressed a strong interest in helping develop a variety of 4-H horse activities and projects in an effort to give more of our young people the opportunity to be involved with horses. She has also expressed a strong interest in helping more youth become involved in other animal projects such as goats, lambs, beef cattle, and hogs. Many of these animal projects will center around the county fair and the various livestock shows that are held as part of the fair.

Youth involved in animal projects quickly learn responsibility while they learn more about agriculture and how our foods are produced. In addition, many of these youth are able to generate additional income for themselves and their families by selling the animals they produce or by earning premiums in various livestock shows and sales.

Ms. Conrad will be able to provide valuable services to livestock producers, our local youth who are interested in animals, and to consumers who Extension has not been able to provide in recent years. If you are a livestock producer or have children interested in animals, I encourage you to call Ms. Conrad at 910-671-3276. She would welcome the opportunity to get to know you better and to find out how she may be able to assist you. If you don't have an animal interest, you might want to call her anyway and welcome her to Robeson County.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 8/06/03