by Chelsea Hinrichs
Let me introduce you to Ryan Craig, a 4H agent from Roosevelt County. His journey is quite unique. Growing up on a family-owned farm that raised cattle, wheat, and milo, he developed a deep-rooted love for agriculture. After graduating from Dora High School, he pursued his education at Eastern New Mexico and New Mexico State University, where he completed a master’s program in 2016. He’s been happily married to Tana for 11 years, and they have two adorable children, Bryn and Parker.
Many people have inspired him, and a little fate led him to pursue a career at the New Mexico State University College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences. He has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education. Initially, he thought he would end up in a classroom as an ag teacher. Fate led him to apply for this career choice; it started as soft money county-funded until he received his master’s. Later, the Home Economist retired, and he had to reapply as a 4H agent so he could move to a more stable position.
He believes the 4H motto sums it up the best when asked why kids should join 4H: to make the best better. With that motto, it has so many diverse opportunities for youth from ages 9-19 to grow into better stewards of agriculture, as well as leaders in their communities with the things that are taught in the 4H program from the start of parliamentary procedure to the be able to raise livestock and to develop the skills to present in front of their peers and others. We continued our conversation by asking about the county fair.
I asked him about the upcoming county fair, August 19-25. When asked about the Fair, he first stated Chaos as he chucked and explained that the fair only comes once a year for the community, but for the agricultural community, it’s the way of life. They go from one Fair to another; when the Fair isn’t happening, the ag industry works behind the scenes, getting things tended to in preparation for the next. The Fair is a good family event to come to and see what the ag industry is all about. There will be indoor exhibits of jewelry, leather crafts, quilts, and more than just the animals/4H. These projects have been worked on all summer, and participants will showcase their skills at the Fair.
The Fair is more than food; this is the time of the year when you can enjoy the scene, see old friends, and maybe meet some new ones. See all the different kinds of projects that had blood, sweat, and tears put into them. Ryan did say that for the participants, “those people have put so much time and money into the exhibits that they live out of a cooler to help save money”. But of course, everyone loves their share of fair food.
One of Ryan’s favorite things he is looking forward to is seeing the growth and development of the Roosevelt kids and the impact on their lives for the better, seeing the kids hopefully become good stewards of the land and, overall, just good people no matter the stage of life they are in.
If you are interested in attending the fair and seeing all the hard work and good people, admission is ($10 for adults,)($5 for the youth 6-12.)( Free for 5yrs and younger )(and $5 for senior citizens.). Hope to see everyone out there for a good time. FAIR BOOK | Roosevelt County Fair
