Clyman's reward: 41 years of friends, advancements in agriculture

Rusty Murry/Daily Mail David Clyman, District Conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service spent more than 20 years of his 41 year career with the NRCS in Vernon County. In honor of his retirement, an open house for employees and agency personnel, complete with barbecue and all the fixin's, was held between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., on Tuesday, Dec. 29. An open house for local landowners, ranchers and producers was held immediately afterward. [Click to enlarge]

Clyman is well known to the farmers, landowners, and different producers of Vernon County because he has spent just over 20 years of his time with the NRCS in the Nevada office. Although he is not a native to Vernon County, Clyman grew up on a farm in Jasper County where they raised some row crops, milked a few cows and kept a some hogs and chickens.

His mother still lives on the family's 290 acres, but Clyman has been gone from the farm a long time. His interest in his work began when he worked as an aid in the Jasper County NRCS office while in attending college at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield. "I thought I was going to be an ag teacher," he said, but he was influenced quite a lot by a soils professor and ended up earning his degree in that area of study.

His early career took him to the towns of West Plains and Houston Mo. and then into several counties in different parts of the state before he was placed in a position in Iowa that would last 14 years.

When a position opened up here, "I found a chance to come home," Clyman said. That was in December 1988, and he has been in Vernon County, along with several members of his family ever since. Clyman has found, "the people we work with and the farmers" in the area to be the biggest enjoyment of his job. "I've really been fortunate, I think, I've had good staffs to work with," he said. However, he did state that crossing all the T's and dotting all the I's has become his least favorite part of the job. He doesn't get to do much field work anymore, because of his administrative duties.

Clyman has seen some dramatic changes in agriculture during his tenure. Individual farm size and technology are probably the most marked changes he has seen, but there have been others. Every farm bill brings something new, but the 1985 Food Security Program brought a lot of changes to his profession. Programs like the Conservation Reserve Program, the Wildlife Improvement Program and the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, have made big differences in how land is managed in the state and Vernon County.

Clyman also stated that the diversity of Vernon County has been a very enjoyable aspect of his job. Working with pecan growers, row crop farmers, cattle ranchers and individuals trying to manage native prairie all within a single county has been a challenge for Clyman and his staff. That diversity has given him the opportunity to work with some of the best trained people in the field.

Clyman says he has mixed emotions about retirement, but that he is "looking forward to it." He is sure that his wife of 36 years, Glenda, has a list of things for him to do, and they plan on doing a little traveling. "I have a motorcycle I plan on riding a little bit," he said and he may try to get a little woodworking done that he hasn't had time to work on in the past. He is sure he is going to be busy.

In honor of his service, there was an open house held at the NRCS office in Nevada on Tuesday Dec. 29. A two-part affair, the event welcomed representatives from different NRCS offices, family and friends to a barbecue dinner from 11a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 1-3 p.m. hosted local farmers, ranchers and producers to snacks and refreshments.