Comm. Court Receives Update from Extension Agents

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

HOUSTON COUNTY – During the Tuesday, Jan. 28 meeting of the Houston County Commissioners Court, the commissioners received the annual report on major programming activities from the Houston County AgriLife and Prairie View Extension Agents.

On hand to provide the report were Extension Agents Jo Smith, Corey Hicks and Tasha Brent.

Smith led off the presentation and said, “Every year, what we do is provide education for citizens and producers of Houston County. I want to highlight some of the areas we did in 2019.”

She said one of the most important things they do is teach producers “… how to better utilize their property, their cattle or whatever it is to have an economic impact on the county.”

The extension agent highlighted the Cow Country Congress, a multi-county, multi- district program hosted by 8 counties that is a long standing beef educational day.

Another item Smith said the extension agents helped county residents with was pesticide re-certification.

“When you add up all the programs – just highlighted – for 2019, there was a total of $827,000 in anticipated economic impact,” she said.

Smith added another program she administers is curriculum enrichment for younger students.

“We host a science and ag day from the third and fourth graders from across the county. We have renamed it ‘Path to the Plate’ so they will have a better understanding of agriculture in their world. Even though we live in what is considered a rural county, 16 percent of the kids who attend do not understand where their food comes from,” she said.

In other matters brought before the court:  

• The commissioners approved the minutes from previous meetings.
• The payment of bills and expenses incurred by the county were approved.
• The Houston County Compensatory and Treasurer’s Reports were received as information by the commissioners.
• Salaries for new and/or transfer employees were approved.
• March 10 was selected as the date to hold a public hearing concerning the tax abatement for Vulcraft.
• An update from Pineywoods Sanitation was also provided to the court.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].