Retiring Agent Defined As An ‘Institution’

By David Howell
Editor

COFFEEVILLE – After working three decades for the Mississippi State University Extension Service in Yalobusha County, Steve Cummings has no regrets.

Cummings, a native of Pontotoc, came to the county  as the 4-H agent in 1970 after graduating from Mississippi State University. At the end of the month, he is retiring as the county’s agent.  The decision to spend his entire career in the Extension Service in one county was easy for Cummings.

“Yalobusha is home. There wasn’t anywhere else I could hunt, fish, play cowboy and live close enough not to miss a Bulldog game,” Cummings is quick to point out.

“And the people here are wonderful,” Cummings reports. While Cummings has enjoyed the people in the county, the impact of his career in the county in that 30-year span can be measured both with tangible milestones and intangible relationships that have benefited the people in the county. Cummings is a also a bachelor, which has allowed him to invest countless hours, both during the regular work day and after-hours.

A diverse job, Cummings has juggled a variety of duties ranging from working with the youth, gardeners, forest landowners, livestock producers and others. He has also been extremely active in the county’s Farm Bureau, the Yalobusha County Forestry Association, the Yalobusha Soil and Water Conservation District, the Mississippi Homemaker Volunteers and countless other clubs and organizations.

During Cummings career, the county has become home to one of the largest horse shows in the Mississippi State Horse Show Association. Tri-Lakes Western Horse Association sponsors competitive shows at the Multi-purpose Building in Coffeeville.

“I have always worked hard with the horse enthusiasts in the county,” Cummings reports. “You have fun with it, it is not a job.”

Tri-Lakes has members from Yalobusha County, Batesville, Oxford and surrounding areas. During the season, which runs from March until August, the show attracts competitors from all over the north half of the state. The riders start young, with many of them being involved in the county’s active 4-H program, which also draws competitors and spectators to the regular horse shows at the Multi-purpose Building.

“I have watched the 4-H kids grow up. And now I have watched them bring their kids back to participate in 4-H,” Cummings said.

One of these longtime friends is Lisa Byford.

“Steve came when I was about 15 or 16,”  Byford recalls. At that time, Byford was a member of the 4-H club as Cummings was just getting his feet wet in the Extension Service as the 4-H agent.

 “He would go out of his way to help any kid. He would watch the shows and he kept up with the kids, and not just in our district,” Byford recalls. “He knew how kids were performing all across the state. Over the years he has really worked hard with Tri-Lakes and the 4-Hers.”

 Byford’s daughter, Casey, is one of the second generation 4-H club members participating in the horse shows during Cummings’ career.

Cummings is careful to steer the success of Tri-Lakes Horse Association and the 4-H club to others.

“There is strong tradition in this county, Yalobushians have always supported the horse shows,” Cummings reports.  

Helping build one of the state’s premier horse shows and 4-H programs is only a small portion of Cummings’ impact in the county. He defines his job and the extension service as being the liaison between Mississippi State University and the people in the county. Equally important is building life-long friendships with the people he has served, ranging from the row-crop farmer to the county’s homemaker volunteers.

The Relationships

His career can best be defined by the people he has impacted. During his 30 years Yalobusha County  can boast four different couples who been selected the Mississippi Farm Bureau Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year.

This prestigious list starts with Brad and Luanne Brooks, the first couple to win this statewide competition in 1995.

“They were the first ones,” Cummings notes, as each couple have special distinction for him.

 Kevin and Missy Kimzey were next, named the Mississippi Farm Bureau Outstanding Young Farmer in 1997. “They were the only ones that won on their first try.”

Next was Coley Little and Jody Bailey, winning the title in 2001.

“They placed in the national competition, coming in as second alternate,” Cummings adds.

The final couple during Cummings’ career named the Mississippi Farm Bureau Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year were John and Julia Ingram. They won the state title in 2005.

The Ingrams  also placed in the top 10 in the National John Deere/Jaycees Outstanding Young Farmer in 2007, after winning that state title a year earlier. Equally impressive is that all four of the couples also captured this state title, Mississippi John Deere/Jaycees Outstanding Young Farmer.

“All of that is because of Steve,” Coley Little Bailey pointed out. Bailey’s comments came during a retirement reception for Cummings on Monday. “We were lucky we had Steve, he did a lot of work for us, prepping us,” Bailey explained.

“I have never tried to teach those guys how to farm. They know a whole lot more about it than me.  I have tried to encourage them to use their leadership skills. That is what Extension is all about,” Cummings notes.

Other Talent

The list of agriculture-related folks with talent in the county is extensive. In fact, Cummings installed a Yalobusha Wall of Fame, with plaques lining a wall at the Multi-purpose Building.    

Each plaque commemorates an agricultural-related accomplishment  and Cum-mings is quick to brag on each one of them. What he may not mention is that he probably had impact on most of them.

The awards are diverse. In 1995, Danny Ross Ingram received the Mississippi Network Louis N. Wise Award for Farmer of the Year.  Clay Ashford, Daryl Burney, Christy Hathone, Ed Shearer III, and Candace Stevens were Senior Talent Winners in 2001 Farm Bureau Contest. Jennifer Sartain Dean and Kellie Burns were Mississippi Farm Bureau Queens, Dean in 1997 and Burns in 2000.

“We spent an hour with Kellie Burns the night before the competition, she was walking in heels while I was talking to her,” Cummings recalled as stories were being shared at his retirement reception.         

“She was an athlete and not as good in those heels.”

In 2003, Derrick Surrette won the Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Contest sponsored by Farm Bureau.  Chris Wilkinson won the same contest in 2005.

Surrette and Wilkinson, like many others impacted by Cummings, attended Monday’s reception to thank Cummings as the clock ticked down on his career.

“There are not many people we can call an institution,” Cummings’ boss, Dr. C.W. “Bill” Herndon noted at the retirement reception. “But this man is an institution.”

What’s Next

“Down the road if the opportunity comes up to do some part-time work, I would consider it,” Cummings said about continued involvement with the Extension Service. He  plans to volunteer to work with the horse program and Farm Bureau. He also looks forward to serving folks in Beat One and the county as Election Commissioner, a job he has enjoyed for the last seven years.

Meanwhile he has a little traveling in mind for his itinerary immediately after retiring.

“I am going to see some friends in Florida. Then I may go up and watch Jonathan (Papelbon) throw the ball,” Cummings said. Papelbon, a MSU graduate is a closing pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and one of Cummings’ favorite ball players.

“But I won’t be gone long.”