AgriLife Extension hires Abello as economist in Vernon

VERNON – Pancho Abello has returned to Texas and to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service to fill the economist position at Vernon.

Abello, a native of Argentina, comes to AgriLife Extension with 16 years of agricultural and livestock production experience. His professional background also includes consulting, extension service, financial, economic and agribusiness analyses, strategic planning for commercial farming and ranching operations, and agricultural investment funds.

“When I was getting my first master’s degree and working with Dr. James McGrann, I had a chance to learn and appreciate the role of Extension within the land-grant university system,” Abello said. “I respected so much what they were doing and the impact they were having with farmers and ranchers in Extension.”

“The people I met in Extension were committed to making an impact, and I liked that. So, when this position was available, I knew it was my opportunity to come back and do that.”

Over the past 16 years, he has split his time between his education and working on a 17,000-acre farm and ranch operation in Argentina, which includes a cow/calf program as well as grow corn, wheat, sunflowers, soybeans and barley.

Additionally, he has served as an agronomist and agriculture business consultant for a capital management fund in Argentina and other Latin American countries.

Abello earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural production engineering at the Universidad Católica Argentina in Buenos Aires and two master’s degrees from Texas A&M University, one in agricultural economics and one in agribusiness.

He worked for AgriLife Extension for two years while getting his second master’s degree. Working under Dr. Marco Palma as an extension associate, he was responsible for implementing the Texas MarketMaker website and MarketReady programs for small agricultural producers, fisheries and agricultural markets.

Abello also spent time implementing marketing and management programs for small farmers and developing educational materials focused on managerial accounting and strategic marketing for farmers and ranchers and specialty crop producers.

He worked with the Beef Cattle Standardized Performance Analysis and developed farm and ranch management information systems utilizing economic tools to measure the impact of livestock and crop producers’ decisions.

“I know I will work a lot with livestock producers in this region. There are some educational programs already in place, and I will continue those,” Abello said.

He said he will also concentrate on strategic management for family business operations, supporting producers to make cost-effective decisions that maximize their long-term profitability and assisting with financial strategy and analysis and marketing for their businesses.

In addition, Abello said he will work with AgriLife Extension agents throughout the district and provide economic input for Texas A&M AgriLife Research projects.

“I understand as a farmer and rancher myself and working with many others the situations producers face and hopefully understand what they are going through and how they think,” he said. “I look forward to using that experience to have an impact in my new position.”