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"We
collect data about the kinds and quantities of agricultural products our
farmers are cultivating. One reason our work is so important is that
legislators look to our statistics to help shape farm bills. That’s a
big responsibility to carry to work with you, knowing the information we
report may affect the American farmers’ way of life," Waters
says.
She
adds that it’s a way of life she respects tremendously. "You hear
people say it from time to time, but farmers really are the salt of the
earth. They are the nicest, hardest working bunch of folks in the whole
world, and I’ve known some of them so long they seem like family
now," she says.
Although
the vast majority of her work is one-on-one interviews with farmers,
Waters says she also attends seminars and workshops during the year in
preparation for specific studies the NASS field enumerators conduct.
"We
have manuals to study and different deadlines for various surveys
throughout the year, and it’s important to be familiar with exactly
what information you will need to cover in a given farm visit. Because
farmers are nice enough to cooperate with me, I try to take up as little
of their time as possible. People think of country life as being the
life of leisure, but a farmer’s time is so valuable. They can’t put
all those crops and animals on hold whenever they feel like it,"
says Waters.
A
native of Brundidge, Waters says she worked for years in banking and
with the Peanut Inspection Service. She became an enumerator a few years
after she moved to Dothan in 1987. Her daughters Kay Massler and Kathy
Dairo live in Clanton and Ariton, respectively, and Waters says they
have both been so proud of her award.
"I
was visiting my granddaughter and great-grandson in Tennessee when the
NASS field office in Montgomery found out about the award. They didn’t
know how to get in touch with me up there, but they found the number for
my daughter in Clanton and asked her to have me call the office. It was
the next day before I called them, so the office staff was excited when
I finally talked to them," she says.
Herb
Vanderberry, director of the NASS Alabama Field Office, says he is happy
to see Waters recognized for the dedication she shows to her job.
"Peggy
has never been one to seek the limelight, and she likes to downplay all
the attention she’s received as Enumerator of the Year. The truth is,
she is a great ambassador for our program and for Alabama
agriculture," Vanderberry says.
Waters
says her sister, Patsy Graham of Brundidge, has also been excited about
the award, but Waters insists her family and co-workers are making too
much fuss about her.
"The
best thing about this award is that it gives me a chance to draw
attention to the vital role farmers play in our way of life. I can’t
say enough about how rewarding it is to work with farmers. Any of them
that can make a good living deserve every penny of it. They are good
people, and the rest of us aren’t nearly thankful enough for what the
farmer does for us everyday," she says.
Kellie
Henderson is a freelance writer from Troy. |
