Batchelor receives Superior Service Award

COLLEGE STATION – Brent Batchelor, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent for Matagorda County, has received a Superior Service Award in the County Extension Agent category.

The award was presented Jan. 8 during the agency’s Centennial Conference in College Station.

According to the award citation, Batchelor was recognized for his exemplary programming efforts and positive impacts on his community and its agricultural economy.

Batchelor has served as AgriLife Extension’s county agent in agriculture and natural resources and county coordinator since 1999.

In his nomination letter, Batchelor was credited, among many other achievements, with providing leadership to the development of the Business Development Center in Matagorda County. The center provides 199 clients or businesses with a host of resources including a mentoring program, consultation sessions with volunteer professionals, support staff services, access to business software and offices for meetings or regular business space.

He was also cited for supporting the county’s beef production industry, which adds $23 million to the area’s economy annually.

Matagorda County Judge Nate McDonald, in a letter of support, said Batchelor should be commended for his commitment to the county and its citizens.

“The best practices Brent has brought to our county’s ranchers has kept them at the forefront of profitability and helped us emerge more quickly than most from downturns in the market that we have seen during his time here,” McDonald wrote. “Brent’s belief in diversification of crops and his willingness to look for the next cash crop has paid dividends for many producers in Matagorda County.”

McDonald also cited Batchelor for his undying support of the area’s rice industry “as we fight against Mother Nature’s drought that has us in her grips, and as the industry faces the rapid urbanization that is happening in Central Texas, thereby making water scarce in the southernmost county of the Colorado River basin.”

McDonald referred to Batchelor as a “true servant leader, an integral, irreplaceable asset in Bay City and Matagorda County, noteworthy for his steadfast work in his family’s life, in his church and in his community.”

In another letter of commendation, Mitch Thames, president of the Bay City Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, said Batchelor is “the go-to guy for all things related to agriculture. He is a resource for the community development group and the economic development group, with the ability to lead them all.”

Superior Service awards are presented to personnel who demonstrate outstanding performance or provide exceptional service to AgriLife Extension, an educational outreach agency of the Texas A&M University System.