By Greg Forbes, Denison Bulletin and Review
Iowa State University Extension recently welcomed a new face to the Crawford County area.
Chris Clark will now serve Crawford County, among other counties in west central Iowa, as the ISU Extension beef specialist.
Clark, a graduate of Albia High School, grew up around cattle on a Monroe County farm and spent some of his youth exhibiting livestock in 4-H.
"Cattle is in my family. My dad had beef cattle and I have two uncles back in Albia that still have beef cattle," Clark explained.
His love and passion for animals propelled him to pursue a career as a veterinarian. He graduated from Iowa State University in 2004 with a degree in veterinarian medicine and spent the next few years practicing his trade. Clark admitted that he never found a veterinarian position or duty he was truly happy with.
Before his return to Iowa, Clark served as a teacher at Sanford Brown, a veterinarian technical school in St. Louis, Missouri.
Earlier in the summer, Clark heard of the opening and jumped at the opportunity.
"I took it for a variety of reasons," Clark explained. "I've wanted to return to Iowa for a long time."
He continued that the Extension job provides an invaluable opportunity to combine his interest of education and teaching abilities with his love and knowledge of beef cattle.
Clark described his responsibilities as 75 percent appointment and 25 percent research. In the appointment capacity, Clark helps develop programs to educate producers on methods to improve profitability.
He conducts the majority of his research responsibilities at the Armstrong Research Farm near Lewis. There, he has the opportunity to care for cattle and also compare research findings between different studies.
Though both capacities require different work styles, Clark mentioned that they have both increased his beef knowledge.
"I've learned a lot about nitrate levels in corn and the toxicity of it in cattle," Clark said. "My strongest area in cattle is health but this will require more to do with nutrition, economics and task management. Hopefully I become a pretty good expert on beef cattle."
Clark admitted he hasn't gotten an opportunity to visit Crawford County but plans to once he is settled into his house in Anita. Since he began July 9, he had commuted from Albia to Anita to work. Now, he hopes to have more time to devote to work travel. And once he has time to visit his new counties, he hopes to further his beef and cattle knowledge.
"It's fun to just be able to talk about beef cattle and to beef producers every day," Clark said. "I've been working a lot with my mentors to further my knowledge."
