Erroll Mattox has retired after 16 years of service at UMES as a farm management agent with its Extension program. Over his career, he has marketed and promoted the program throughout the Delmarva Peninsula.
Chief among his duties was identifying small, limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, assessing their needs, providing educational materials and conducting one-on-one or group training. Key to his success was being knowledgeable of USDA farm programs including the application process, eligibility requirements and policy regulations in order to help small farmers make good use of the opportunities provided by such programs.
Mattox holds membership in the Maryland Organic Food and Farming Association, Rural Maryland Council of which he is an executive board member and the Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology.
Prior to coming to UMES, he was the owner and operator of Three Maples Certified Organic Farm in Hebron, Md. where he raised and managed sheep for meat production and grew eight acres of organic produce.
“Mr. Mattox worked with the Small Farm Program for over 15 years and contributed enormously to the growth and success of our program. The wealth of knowledge and farming experience he brought to the table will be hard to replace,” said Berran Rogers, coordinator of UMES’ Small Farm Program.
