Courtesy photo.

CASEY MURPHY, Special to the Tyler Morning Telegraph

Longtime Smith County Extension Agent Chad Gulley was honored this summer with state and national distinguished service awards.

Gulley, the county extension agent for agriculture and natural resources in Smith County, received the 2017 Distinguished Service Award, along with four other Texas agents, at the National Association of County Agricultural Agents meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. The conference was held from July 9 to July 13.

Gulley was also honored with the Texas County Agricultural Agents Association

Distinguished Service Award at its annual meeting in Odessa. That was held from July 16 to July 19. 

Gulley has served the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service for more than 17 years in Polk, Nacogdoches and Smith counties. 

He has been responsible for programming and clientele inquiries in beef and forage, horticulture, wildlife, aquatics, volunteerism, environmental stewardship and 4-H youth development. 

Gulley provides leadership to numerous agricultural groups in East Texas, and he serves as a mentor to several Early Career Extension Agents in neighboring counties. 

“It is an honor to be selected by my peers to receive the NACAA and TCAAA Distinguished Service Awards,” Gulley said. “It was truly a humbling experience to walk in at the NACAA Annual Conference Banquet to a standing ovation for all the winners from across the United States.”

Gulley said since he helped his grandfather and dad while growing up on the farm, agriculture has always been his passion. 

“Teaching and helping people with their agricultural inquiries is a very rewarding part of my job,” he said. “We all eat and wear clothes which makes us all involved in agriculture in some way or another.”

The Distinguished Service Awards are presented to members who have served at least 10 years as members of the Cooperative Extension Service, who have conducted outstanding programs, are held in high esteem by their fellow workers, and are approved by the State Director of Extension.

– Casey Murphy is the public information officer for the Smith County Commissioners Court.