The seventh video in the “We Do That!” series focuses on Chad Taylor who is the western regional field certifications specialist in the Plant Industry Division. Taylor works a dog named “Goose” that is a trained pest-detecting dog.
As with the other videos in the series, the goal is to showcase one of the many different types of jobs within the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. If you can think of a type of job, there’s a chance “We Do That!” in the department – from the fields of research farms to the laboratories that test for animal disease and food and drug safety. It takes lots of jobs to service the people of North Carolina through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Across the department’s 26 divisions, you’ll find jobs in the field that deal with plants, animals, farmers markets or ag centers, pesticide regulations, pollinators, meat processing, truck driving and forestry, just to name a few. Many jobs in the department are also based in offices or laboratories, from veterinary or agronomic testing, to accounting, legal services and marketing. Other examples of NCDA&CS jobs include chemists, lawyers, lab technicians, veterinarians, foresters, soil scientists, marketing and communications specialists, gas inspectors and engineers.
The series continues with this video of Commissioner Steve Troxler talking with Taylor, who is based in western North Carolina. His work is important to be sure plants and other commodities in the state aren’t harboring destructive pests. That’s important to be sure the pests are spreading to landscaping or farm fields or even internationally via exports. Goose is instrumental to the work.
Watch this video for the conversation about Taylor’s work with Goose and/or read the transcript below.
Commissioner Troxler:
I’m commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler, and today I have with me Chad Taylor, who is a western regional field certifications specialist with our Plant Industry Division.
And we also have a rock star here. Goose is part of what he does every day.
And, I’m gonna let him talk about, Chad, what’s your job? I know it’s got a lot to do with protecting the environment and agriculture. So just tell me what you do.
Chad:
So we do a lot to deal with exporting our agriculture products for North Carolina. We do nursery inspections. We do field export certifications for anything from lumber to sweet potatoes to cotton bales to tobacco. All of that is certified through our division.
Commissioner Troxler:
Right. You know, I’ve had some experience before with export certifications and stuff. Just how important is that to the agricultural business of North Carolina?
Chad:
Yeah, it’s very important. If something gets to another country and it doesn’t meet their requirements, then they’ll stop the import of the product. So, you know, the container could be hung up for anything from days to months. And sometimes days make the difference. It could spoil in the container. So, us having all the I’s dotted and T’s crossed, that the importing country wants is very important.
Commissioner Troxler:
There’s only so much time that we have to get these products from North Carolina to the destination. So sometimes time is of the essence. And I know how hard you folks work to do that.
Chad:
Very much so. Yes, sir.
Commissioner Troxler:
How long have you been working for the department?
Chad:
I’ve been here about 12 years now. I came from private industry before I started here, but I’ve loved every minute of it.
Commissioner Troxler:
What’s a typical day like?
Chad:
No two days are the same. The only thing that’s constant is Goose. He’s always with me. But one day I might be looking at doing nursery inspections for, landscape material, to next day, I might be doing an investigation of a spotted lanternfly report, that we got somewhere.
Commissioner Troxler:
What kind of training and education did you have to have for this job?
Chad:
So I have a B.S. in horticulture from Clemson University. And, it really prepared me to, because we, primarily my job deals with horticulture in that with nurseries all the time and pests are imported on plants and stuff like that. So, that has served me well.
Commissioner Troxler:
I know you work western North Carolina primarily, and what kind of pests are you looking for?
Chad:
So, currently spotted lanternfly is one of our big ones. We look for it from one end of the state to the other. Not just in the west, but… The other one I would say is the elongate hemlock scale on Christmas trees is a big issue. During Christmas time, some states that don’t have it don’t want it. And so we have to be keep that under control.
Commissioner Troxler:
We mentioned that you have a special partner – Goose. This is pretty unique to the Department of Ag. Tell me about Goose.
Chad:
So, Goose is a spotted lanternfly …dog. He’s not a spotted lanternfly. He’s spotted lanternfly dog. He can find the egg mass and all the life stages of the spotted lanternfly. He is a USDA trained detector dog.
Commissioner Troxler:
So you’re telling me he’s better than you are?
Chad:
Much better. Hands down.
Commissioner Troxler:
We certainly are proud to have Goose and you as a team in North Carolina because the spotted lanternfly is particularly destructive. Particularly, I understand they like grapes.
Chad:
They do. That’s the only commodity crop that I’ve heard, from Pennsylvania anyway, that, they had a vineyard that spotted lanternfly had eliminated. They killed it.
Commissioner Troxler:
Wow.
Chad:
And they reduce yields and stuff like that.
Commissioner Troxler:
What’s the most rewarding thing that you do?
Chad:
Feeling like I got a part to help in the control or control of invasive species I guess. Working with Goose every day just adds to that.
Commissioner Troxler:
How would you describe working with the Department of Ag?
Chad:
This is, like I said, I was in private industry before this. This job is, I love it because it’s not just a paycheck for me. It’s a career. And, that’s the one thing that I can say that I’ve really enjoyed about the Department of Ag. I’m not coming to work everyday for a paycheck. I like that I’m helping people.
Commissioner Troxler:
Well, I can tell you that you’re an example of the type employee that we are so proud of in the department, and we have got many, many employees like that.
Chad:
Thank you. I enjoy it.
Commissioner Troxler:
Thank you. And thank you Goose.