New 4-H agent seeks out opportunities
Kennedy grew up on Wyoming farm
By LARRY MEYER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Monday, October 29, 2007 12:18 PM PDT
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| Matt Kennedy, a graduate of Oregon State University, is the new Malheur County 4-H Extension agent. While growing up on a farm in Wyoming, Kennedy was heavily involved in 4-H and FFA. |
ONTARIO - Matt Kennedy, Malheur County 4-H agent, goes after opportunities when he finds them and is willing to move and see new places and do new things, which is how he got to Oregon, and eventually to Malheur County.
Kennedy, 26, has been on the job at the Oregon State University Malheur County Extension office in Ontario since September, after having taught at Casper College, in Casper, Wyo.
“I’m originally from Casper,” he said, where he graduated from high school and was involved in 4-H and FFA programs. “We farmed and ranched.”
Kennedy said his father managed farms and ranches, raising mainly alfalfa, corn and barley.
“He did have cattle on the side, and sheep,” he said of his father. “He was always into the animals.”
Kennedy found success in livestock judging, which he has continued to be involved in since graduating.
“It paid for half of my tuition (at Casper College),” he said, adding it opened the door for him to attend Oregon State University. “I became a ‘Beaver Believer,’” he said.
While at OSU, where he was involved in Young Cattlemen’s Association, he was also active in doing research, which opened doors for other opportunities.
“Research is what made me get my masters degree in ruminate nutrition,” Kennedy said.
Out of college, Kennedy taught at Linn-Benton Community College at Albany and helped coach the livestock judging teams.
He then worked at Wilco Farm Stores for a few months and then returned to teach animal science courses at Casper College.
However, because his wife Brittany, who he married within a couple of weeks of getting his masters, is from Medford, Kennedy decided to find a position closer to her home and saw the listing for the position in Malheur County. Extension was something he wanted to do, he said, and decided this was the time to take that opportunity.
“I wanted to try something different,” he said.
Having come to Oregon to study, Kennedy found he liked the state.
“I like the diversity,” he said.
He does find some similarities between Eastern Oregon and where he grew up in Wyoming, which he described as being a combination of Malheur and Baker counties, having mountains and open range.
Kennedy is already planning to introduce new programs for 4-H. One is a science, engineering and technology program, working in such areas as global positioning systems and precision farming.
He hopes these programs will attract children in town to 4-H, as well as children living in the country.
