January 17, 2019 600 AM
PRESIDIO COUNTY – Reba Griggs, the Presidio County agent the past two years, has resigned.
Griggs and her husband, Derrick, became parents to their first child, Kenneth Royce Griggs, on November 24, 2018, and her new job takes her closer to family.
Griggs has accepted the post of residence hall director at South Plains College in Levelland, she said this week.
“While I’m excited about my new opportunity, there’s also a big part of me that’s sad to be saying goodbye to amazing people,” she wrote in an email. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed our time working together, and how much I value the friendship and support you’ve shown me over the past few years.”
Griggs was fresh out of training as a county agent with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension service when she took the Presidio County job two years ago.
“It’s what I’ve always wanted to do,” she said.
County agents have to be “a jack or jane of all trades,” said Rebel L. Royall, the District Extension Administrator for Far West Texas District 6 in Fort Stockton, whose task will be to help Presidio County find a new agent.
They have to know about farming and ranching and help keep farmers and ranchers up with their certifications needed to use chemicals, insecticides and pesticides, and stay abreast of the latest industry studies, technology, and market conditions. And that’s not all: county agents are expected to sponsor 4H clubs for the youth of the communities – which in Presidio County is the Rio Grande 4H Club in Presidio and the Marfa 4H Club – as well as host AgriLife seminars for the public on gardening and related topics.
Royall said a county agent with a bachelor of science degree in an agriculture field will make $41,000 a year plus benefits, and an agent with a master’s degree makes $45,000 a year.
Presidio County kicks in an additional $13,000 a year, county Judge Cinderela Guevara said.
Royall said he’ll soon post the job opening on the Texas A&M AgriLife website, in addition to some other job posting websites outside the A&M system.
