Division of Agriculture veteran to show new extension agents ‘how it’s done’

By Sarah Cato
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK – With 30 years of experience under his belt, Chad Norton is ready to shepherd in the next generation of agriculture extension agents in Arkansas.

OLD HAND — Chad Norton, agriculture and natural resources instructor for the U of A System Division of Agriculture, will be working directly with new county agriculture agents and help them understand their duties. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

Norton, who worked as a county agent for 20 years and a verification coordinator for 10, stepped into his next role with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture as the new agriculture and natural resources instructor for row crops on June 1. Norton will be working directly with new county agriculture agents and help them understand their duties. He joins current instructors Les Walz, beef and forages, and Leigh Ann Bullington, family consumer science.

“With his extensive experience in extension and with county agents, Chad is well-suited for this position,” said Victor Ford, associate vice president of Agriculture and Natural Resources for the Division of Agriculture. “We’re excited to have him in this new role.”

This position won’t be entirely new to Norton, who has worked closely with new agents in past roles, including as verification coordinator for the Corn and Grain Sorghum Research Verification Program.

“As a verification coordinator, I was in south Arkansas at the time, and we had four or five brand new agents,” Norton said. “That gave me an opportunity to work with someone just starting out and help them increase their knowledge base.”

Norton said his experience working with new agents taught him how to work with different learning styles, saying that “not everyone learns in the same way.” But that’s a challenge he’s looking forward to.

“I’m very excited to work with our new agents and watch them grow and gain confidence,” Norton said. “That’s what I’ve enjoyed doing over the last ten years. That growth is what I like to see.”

Find your local agriculture county extension agent at www.uaex.uada.edu.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.

Extension’s Ford receives Lifetime Achievement Award for forestry contributions

By Tracy Courage
U of A System Division of Agriculture

LITTLE ROCK — Victor L. Ford, associate vice president for agriculture and natural resources for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ouachita Society of American Foresters for his 40-year career in forestry.

A LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENT — Victor L. Ford, associate vice president for agriculture and natural resources for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ouachita Society of American Foresters for his 40-year career in forestry. (Division of Agriculture photo.)

The award, presented Nov. 10 at the society’s banquet in Oklahoma, honors a person who has made considerable contributions to the forestry industry and to the Ouachita Society of American Foresters. The Ouachita Society of American Foresters includes foresters from Arkansas and Oklahoma and is part of the Society of American Foresters, the professional organization for foresters.

“It has been a labor of love over the past 40 years to give back to my profession,” Ford said. “I came to Arkansas and attended meetings with foresters who managed the virgin pine forests. These pioneers gave me a sense of history and along with others in my career were treasured mentors. I hope that I can give that sense of our place in history to the next generation of foresters.”

Ford has been a member of the society since 1982. He was named Forestry Educator of the Year for the Ouachita Society of American Foresters in 2013 and named Fellow of the Society of American Foresters in 2014.

He has held numerous positions within the organization, serving as secretary, vice chair and chair of the Silviculture Working Group. He served on the Ethics Committee, which he chaired for two years, and he co-chaired the Certification Review Board, which oversees professional credentialing. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Society of American Foresters and is the first Arkansan to serve in this capacity.

Ford’s career has always involved forestry — 20 years in private industry and another 20 with the Cooperative Extension Service. Before becoming associate vice president for agriculture and natural resources in the Division of Agriculture, Ford worked five years as an extension forester at the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope and later served as director of the center for eight years.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.