Margaret Ross takes position as area poultry agent for Extension
By Steve Herring
Published in News on January 11, 2016 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Margaret Bell Ross stands at the N.C. Cooperative Extension office. She has taken the helm as poultry agent for 40 counties at the Extension.
Growing up on her family's farm near Pollocksville, Margaret Bell Ross always wanted to be a veterinarian.
She also wanted to move away from the small Jones County town.
Now 28, she has returned home, not as a veterinarian, but as the area poultry agent with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, where she is responsible for the 40 counties east of Interstate 95.
She will be based in Jones County.
"I never thought I would move back to Pollocksville, little old Pollocksville," she said. "But I love it. I grew up on a farm in Pollocksville. I always wanted to be a vet. My dream was to go to N.C. State. I got in and got into the animal science program."
She graduated in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in animal science. By that time, her interest had changed from veterinary school to looking at a career with the Cooperative Extension Service.
She started with Extension right out of N.C. State as the livestock agent for Craven and Jones counties and moved back home.
She remained in that position for about five and a half years before taking on her current role as area poultry agent on Nov. 15 -- the same day that her husband, Adam, began working as the livestock agent for Duplin County.
"While I was the livestock agent I was able to, online, go back to N.C. State and get my master's degree in animal science," she said. "I always loved livestock, and like I said, I always wanted to be a vet. But working with the farmers is definitely the best part of it, being able to work with the animals, to work with the livestock and work with the folks.
"I really want to do a good job and really have a good quality product to put into the food supply."
The biggest part of her job is working with commercial operations.
"I have some backyard (poultry) responsibilities as well," Mrs. Ross said. "We would like to be able to get the livestock agents in the counties to start answering some of the backyard questions.
"As far as the commercial side goes, there is a lot of expansion among some of the integrators right now. So we are working on litter plans. We are working on composting permits. That is what I am mainly doing right now. We will see how that changes as that expansion comes along."
Mrs. Ross said she has people who come to her all of the time with questions and concerns and who just want to do things well.
Those questions and concerns involve being more sustainable, more energy efficient and more productive on their farms, she said.
"That is definitely what we are here to do," Mrs. Ross said, "We are here as a resource from N.C. State, and we can provide them educational programs, information, things that they read up on to help them make better decisions about how to be productive on their farm."
One of the biggest concerns the state has experienced in recent months is the threat of the avian influenza.
"We are hoping to make it to Jan. 15 of this year, we are hoping by then that the Department of Agriculture will feel comfortable enough, if nothing has happened before then, lifting the ban on all sorts of birds sales, auctions, things like that," she said.
"There were no bird events at fairs this past year because of the threat of avian influenza."
A couple of cases were reported out west at the end of 2014.
The concern was that when the birds flew north to Canada, and then migrated back to North Carolina that they would bring the bird flu back with them, she said.
To date, there have been no confirmed cases of avian influenza in the state, she said.
That, she said, is "amazing."
"So we hope it is no longer a threat right now," Mrs. Ross said.
She met her husband through Extension.
Ross, who is from Wilkes County, was the livestock agent in Randolph County.
They have been married two years.
"I brought him down to the better half of the state," Mrs. Ross said. "Of course, he would argue that. He is from Wilkes County so we are total opposites."
Ross was an ag teacher for a year, and then he worked for Galager Animal Management that sells electrical fencing for livestock.
He did that for about three years.
"He was a traveling salesman so that got old pretty quick," she said. "He had the opportunity to come back to Extension as livestock agent in Duplin County. So he did that. He is loving it. He started the same day that I took the poultry job. It was meant to be. He mainly works with the cattle."
It is common for them to swap stories about their days, she said.
"He covers all livestock except swine because their director, Amanda Hatcher, does swine," Mrs. Ross said. "It is pretty funny to hear some of the stories.
"It is good to work together, too, because when I left Craven and Jones, no one is there currently handling livestock. So it is good to have him at least as a cattle resource for some of those folks."
Reorganization at N.C. State is creating new positions and altering some of the old ones including area positions that cover multiple counties to better fit state needs, she said.
There is a poultry agent in the middle part of the state and another in the western part, she said.
There are a couple of counties that have their own, Mrs. Ross said.
"A lot of my counties either don't have large commercial operations or have very few," she said. "So that is how I think they grouped them, so if they expanded, they would have someone as a resource.
"So it is not like I am going to be in every county every other month. I am just here as a resource."
Duplin, Wayne, Sampson and Lenoir and possibly Bladen are probably the biggest poultry counties in her area, she said.
She does not have a regular schedule -- they just don't work for Extension agents, Mrs. Ross said.
But she said she would be in regular contact with county Extension directors and people can get in contact with her if they need assistance by calling the Extension office at 919-731-1521.