Stewards of the Land

County forestry associations benefit from Extension’s presence

Story by Nathan Gregory • Photos by Kevin Hudson

Whether it’s related to his work or his sons, Iuka logger Jonathan Cutshall’s path often intersects with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

In particular, he often winds up in the same place as Zach Yow, MSU Extension agent in Cutshall’s native Tishomingo County.

In addition to specializing in agriculture and natural resources, Yow also assistswith 4-H programming. He co-led Jonathan’s son’s 4-H Shooting Sports team.

“I knew Jonathan and his family long before I started with MSU Extension, but I really got to know them better in 2015 when Jonathan’s son Nathan became involved in shooting sports,” Yow says.

Cutshall recently finished a 6-year stint as the president of the Tishomingo County Forestry Association. Yow serves as secretary.

“Zach was the actual president,” Cutshall jokes. “We did a lot of work together organizing these meetings for the county. Those forestry meetings and the workshops the Extension Service organizes have been helpful to me and a lot of other foresters. We’ve had a lot of safety meetings here with Extension forestry specialists to help us get our insurance rates down. I’m friends with a lot of them and have been over the years.”

Cutshall is a fourth-generation logger. In 1971, his father, Douglas, launched D.L. Cutshall and Sons in Iuka, 2 years before Jonathan’s birth and 21 years before he entered the business himself in 1992.

“My dad was logging when I was born,” he says. “I was brought up in the woods, and I don’t know anything but the woods.”

The business began operating as Cutshall and Sons in early 2024. Including himself, Jonathan runs a three-man crew, one of whom is his son, Nathan. They haul eight to 10 loads a day in Itawamba, Alcorn, Prentiss, and Tishomingo Counties. Cutshall’s wife, Cara, is also instrumental in day-to-day operations.

“I enjoy logging because I get to be outdoors all day,” Cutshall says. “I feel like one of the stewards of the land. We’re managing timber for Mississippi. I still love it, or I wouldn’t be in it. I love seeing God’s work and seeing the sun rise in the morning and set in the evening in the woods.”

Yow says county forestry associations like the one he and Cutshall led are beneficial because they unite each part of the industry and provide useful education.

“You’ve got landowners who are producing the timber, you’ve got the loggers who are coming to the meetings, and you have people representing the sawmills as well,” Yow says. “The CFA meetings are a great way of putting all those different aspects of the industry together under one house.”

The meetings often feature MSU Extension forestry faculty as keynote speakers. MSU Extension also serves the industry by conducting forestry educational programs and regularly developing publications on each facet of forestry, from planting the first trees to marketing timber.

“I think the Extension Service is very important, especially for the forestry associations around the state,” Cutshall says. “I don’t know what we’d do without the Extension Service, as far as our associations, because they help us get people to come deliver these classes and make sure our members know when meetings are so we have high attendance.”

Yow adds that Extension agents value clients like Cutshall who see the merits of the organization and appreciate its broad reach.

“They know that we’re just a phone call away, and we know how to get the information they can use to make informed decisions about their business,” Yow says.