Zavala County AgriLife Extension agent Marcel Valdez gives a presentation to fourth-graders during the Uvalde County Ag Fair Day hosted annually by the Uvalde County chapter of Texas Agri-Women at the Uvalde County Fairplex. Valdez is retiring from his post as extension agent tomorrow after 23 years of service.
After 23 years working in the heart of the Spinach Capital of the World as the Zavala County AgriLife Extension agent, Marcel Valdez says he has finally grown to love spinach.
“Before becoming the extension agent, I did not have a like for spinach. However, after working with growers doing spinach variety, density, fertility, and spinach fungicide trials, I have to admit that now I love spinach,” Valdez said while reflecting on his career, from which he is officially retiring tomorrow.
Valdez grew up in Kinney County on a cattle ranch south of Brackettville and graduated from Brackett High School in 1977. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural education from Texas A&M University in College Station.
Valdez began his career as the agricultural science teacher for Knippa Independent School District where he remained until 1985, when he moved to La Pryor ISD.
In February of 1997, the Zavala County Commissioners’ Court approved Valdez as the county Extension agent for Zavala County.
“The first day on the job was a little overwhelming, moving from a classroom to an office with a secretary, to boot,” Valdez said. “What made the transition easier from an FFA program in school to a 4-H program county-wide was the fact that I had lived in Zavala County since 1985, so I knew a lot of people, former students, parents and volunteers.
“When I began as the Zavala County Extension agent in 1997 there were about 35 4-H kids countywide. Now we have close to 200 4-H and 4-H clover kids in the county. I am very proud of this growth” Valdez added. “We even had a team of 4-H kids from La Pryor that won the State 4-H bass fishing championship this year. Now, that is hard to beat.”
As the county Extension agent, he has also worked closely with agriculture producers, providing them with relevant research-based information in an effort to help them navigate the challenging agricultural business.
In 2003, Valdez implemented a pesticide applicators’ Continuing Education Units meeting. It was attended by five private agricultural pesticide license holders.
Seventeen years later, the event is now called the Annual Zavala County Last Chance Pesticide Applicators’ CEU Meeting, and draws more than 45 agricultural producers from 11 counties in the surrounding area.
Also in his role as county extension agent, Valdez provided food safety education to agricultural workers who harvest, pack and handle fresh spinach and other vegetables.
He says he conducted most of his trainings in Spanish to ensure that the importance of practicing food safety was best understood and practiced by those being trained.
“I love what I do and it was a very difficult decision to retire,” Valdez said. “After 40 county shows, numerous major shows, getting up in years- and a bored retired teacher at home, I think the time has come to hang up the old boots, put on some sneakers and hand over the old working gloves to a younger generation.”
Valdez is married to Linda Valdez, his wife of 33 years, who is a retired elementary teacher.
They have one daughter, Cecilia, who followed her father’s footsteps and became an Aggie.
She graduated from Texas A&M University-College Station with a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental studies last December.
“My advice to my replacement will be to take one day at a time, always search for new and innovative ways to deliver good educational programs to youth, farmers and ranchers, and don’t expect the job to be an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. office job,” Valdez said.
He said communication skills are key, as is being able to jump from dirty work clothes to a business suit in a minute’s notice.
Furthermore, he recommends having a designated spot in the office to put all the exotic samples people will bring to be analyzed, including rodents, bugs and stinky, wilting plants.
August 30, 2020 at 04:16PM
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Valdez retiring after 23 years as Extension agent - Uvalde Leader-News
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