Matthew D. Palmer
Matt Palmer grew up on a farm in central Utah. He said he enjoyed the opportunities that came with it; however, he said he also saw the hardships of farming and has always wanted to help rural communities.Palmer received his bachelor’s degree in 1998 from Utah State University in bioveterinary science, and then in 2000, received his master’s degree in animal science from USU. He transferred from Tooele County to Sanpete County Extension in September of 2004 and works as an Extension associate professor and agent. He has provided excellent educational and outreach programs that have improved the agricultural practices and youth education in both Tooele and Sanpete counties and throughout Utah. All this has been done while providing administrative responsibilities and moving from a more urban area to a more rural area.
Agriculture is the main area of Palmer’s work, wherein he has helped the local agricultural community in three major areas: production agriculture, horticulture and pest management.
Helping agriculture producers improve production and marketing practices is a highlight of his work. He has developed yearly crop schools, a state-wide beef quality assurance program and rangeland grazing programs. He taught 20 presentations to agriculture producers throughout the state, which helped them improve production practices in livestock, rangelands and crop production. He has also developed 21 educational programs that help agriculture producers with current interests and concerns.
When Palmer arrived in Tooele County as a new Extension agent, he developed a massive Mormon cricket education and treatment program that assisted state, federal and private land managers in treating more than 180,000 acres in a two-year period. This program helped reduce crop damage in Tooele County as evidenced by the fact that while Mormon cricket infested acres continued to increase throughout the state from the year 2003 to 2004, Tooele County infested acres declined by more than 100,000. He has also conducted pest diagnostic clinics, weed tours and pest control workshop to help land managers, home owners and gardeners reduce crop and landscape damage.
With an extended drought came a big public push for water conservation. To help the community, Palmer developed a highly visible water-wise garden and turf plot demonstration garden on main street in Tooele that taught hundreds of residents and business owners how to reduce landscape water use by 50 to 75 percent. He taught 22 presentations on topics ranging from lawn grass management and landscape water conservation to soils and proper fertilizer application. He also trained and managed more than 60 Master Gardeners who contributed 1,000 hours of service back to the community.
Palmer developed a youth garden, a yearly Farm Safety Certification Course with Farm Bureau, and 49 youth programs that helped 5,611 youth learn about hard work, self confidence, leadership and other important life skills that will help them become productive members of society.
Palmer has solicited funding from external sources, receiving a total of $157,778. He also sought competitive internal funding that totaled $76,519. He has conducted nine state and nine national/regional scholarly presentations, and presented a poster at the National Association of County Agriculture Agents meeting in Buffalo, New York.