For more than two decades, Dan Fernandez has been a steadfast figure in Southwest Colorado agriculture.
From his post as the director of the Dolores County Colorado State University Extension office, Fernandez has watched agriculture in Dolores and Montezuma counties change with the times and has become part of the community he has served. Thursday, Fernandez retired from the extension office, leaving behind 20 years of significant accomplishments.
A self-described city boy, Fernandez graduated from college in New York in 1974 and immediately found himself in the Dominican Republic serving with the Peace Corps for two years. The experience did much to prepare him for life in the Four Corners.
Basically, the Peace Corps is Extension, Fernandez said, referring to the CSU Extension program. You are taking research-based information and teaching people.
Following his stint in rural Latin America, Fernandez sought the polar opposite experience, taking a job on the 77th floor of the Empire State Building. His time in New York City did not last, and he found himself migrating south.
I went back to school and got a degree in horticulture and citrus management and worked for Texas A&M for eight years, Fernandez said. After the third robbery of my house in south Texas, I became interested in finding a really nice, safe place to live.
Fernandez found his utopia in Dove Creek.
It was the wide open spaces that I was really looking for, he said. I was interested in the Extension position based on the description, and it seemed like a good fit.
While the position seemed right to Fernandez, the community wasnt sure about the new extension agent.
I had to get through the initial questions of, Whats a city boy like you going to do in a place like Dove Creek? Fernandez said. I had a pretty good uphill stretch to become accepted in the community.
Since the initial awkwardness of finding a niche in the rural community, Fernandez has worked hard to become a respected and integral part of the region.
His first lesson was recognizing that area farmers and ranchers did not need to be told how to do their jobs; they needed support to be more successful.
They didnt need me teaching them how to work the land their families had worked for generations, Fernandez said. What they needed was the technical support that I was able to provide.
In terms of agricultural development, Fernandez is most proud of the work the extension office has done to bring new, sustainable crops to Southwest Colorado.
We were able to really work with the farmers in the transition to new crops like sunflowers, he said. So far that has been successful, and that is really a good portion of what we have done.
The hardest part of working in agriculture has been the ever-changing weather, Fernandez said. In 20 years, he has never seen a perfect year.
You are always growing crops on the edge of complete disaster, he said. I am constantly amazed at the risk dryland farmers take. It is a true love.
In addition to agricultural work, Fernandez has been instrumental in economic development in Dolores County, writing 141 grants for the county, 116 of which were approved. The $4,238,000 brought into the county in grants is now worth $11.5 million dollars in successful projects.
We have had really significant success with grants for the community, and that is meaningful, Fernandez said.
Economic development has been a challenge in a county that has seen a complete shift in demographics in the past few decades.
We are a relatively remote county and a relatively ag-based community, but when I came here we were 70 percent ag dependent and now we are below 40 percent, Fernandez said. That was a major shift.
Fernandez has been involved with the Dove Creek television station, which started with a camcorder and is not a furnished television studio with two channels.
Weve been running our 4-H evening news since 1997, Fernandez said. That has been a lot of fun.
In retirement, Fernandez will continue to manage the station for the county and will remain on several boards and committees as a vital part of the community. Though times have changed and culture has shifted in Southwest Colorado, Fernandez still has high hopes for his adopted community and will be part of training the new extension director. The extension office is in the process of interviewing candidates for a new director.
I still refer to this area as the great undiscovered area of Colorado, he said. I believe this area has a lot to offer, and I hope I can continue to help shape that growth.
Reach Kimberly Benedict at kimberlyb@cortezjournal.com.
