Kirk Clark named 2026 Hockley County Ag Professional of the Year - KCBD

Clark teaches agricultural business, economics, marketing and plant science at South Plains College. Before that, he spent 15 years teaching high school ag science, including three years at Waskom High School and 12 years at Whiteface High School. That kind of career path, moving from small-town classrooms to the college level, is a familiar story across the South Plains, where ag education runs through nearly every district.

Clark's rsum goes beyond the classroom. He founded the South Plains Showdown livestock jackpot show and served on the Cochran County Stock Show Board. He also co-founded Behind the Legend, a nonprofit organization.

For families in Hockley County who raise livestock or send kids through 4-H and FFA programs, instructors like Clark are the ones who actually show up, at the stock shows, on the board meetings, in the extra hours outside a paid teaching schedule. The Ag Professional of the Year title recognizes that kind of sustained, mostly unpaid work that keeps youth livestock programs running in small West Texas counties.