Reagan Bustabad has joined Cumberland County NC Cooperative Extension as a livestock agent. 

Bustabad is a Sampson County native raised on a commercial producer farm outside of Clinton, N.C. Following high school, Bustabad received the Park Scholarships to attend North Carolina State University and received a B.S. in Animal Science and a B.S. in Agricultural Business Management. Throughout her time at NCSU, Bustabad interned with Prestage Farms, worked at the Small Ruminant Education Unit, assisted with graduate research and participated in Amazing Grazing Extension Programs. 

Following her interest in Extension education and pasture management for ruminant nutrition, Bustabad attended the University of Tennessee at Knoxville to complete a M.S. in Animal Science under Dr. Katie Mason, the Senior Beef Extension Specialist, researching nitrate accumulation in sudex following varying fertilization rates in different environmental conditions and measuring nitrate reduction in fermented baleage. In addition to her research, she helped manage University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s comprehensive ruminant and forage Extension programs over the last two years. 

Bustabad is excited to return to the area and continue to contribute to the Extension education and livestock industry in Cumberland County.