As the first female county agent for Mississippi, the Clarksdale resident has spent more hours than she can count plodding through sprawling Delta fields. Whether examining a new outbreak of disease or determining the appropriate chemicals needed to fight an insect infestation, Ruscoe works daily to assist farmers over a four-county area.

As the area specialist for cotton, she is responsible for Coahoma, Tunica, Quitman, and North Bolivar counties. In addition to her cotton expertise, however, she is called on to answer a wide range of other agriculture questions.

"I have to deal with all crops and all situations," Ruscoe explains. "Once I get to a farm, a cotton problem turns into, ‘Oh, while you're here, will you take a look at this?' So my plans change constantly."

It truly can be said that the petite 5'3" Ruscoe "grew" into the position she now holds. Her father was a county agent for 30 years and also manager of his family's farm in Greenville. Because cotton was the primary row crop, the 1976 graduate of Greenville's Washington School learned both to know it and to love it.

After graduating from Mississippi State in 1979 with a degree in agricultural extension education, she married and went on to earn a master's degree in administration at Delta State University. She and her husband Rusty, a banker, are the parents of two sons, John Landon, 15, and Rhett, 18.

Upon completing the graduate degree, she began work in Bolivar County as a Extension 4-H agent. It was from here that she later transferred to neighboring Coahoma.

"In about '88 or '89, I began taking on row crop production as part of my duties," Ruscoe says. "At that time, the crop was peanuts and Coahoma County was the largest peanut producer in the state."

More responsibilities followed for the unofficial assistant to then-county agent Charles Estess. After being promoted to area horticulture agent for 11 counties, she gained a further promotion in 1997 to Coahoma county agent.

Although she's a woman in a man's world, Rusoce says the transition from assistant to the person in charge was not difficult.

"I already had a professional relationship with most of the farmers since I had been there in one capacity or another since 1983. Plus, I was a personal friend to many of them. They knew me and knew what to expect. Since I knew my way around, it was a smooth transition."

Ann Ruscoe

With the smile of a seasoned veteran, she adds: "On those days when it's really hot and dry and there are problems, it's not as much fun, but I still don't regret taking the job."

Yet the problems that always do crop up just add spice to work that Ruscoe clearly relishes. She likes the uncertainty of never knowing what each day will bring and the freedom she has to be away from the office and even the air conditioning. For her, a really bad day is remaining in the office to do required paperwork.

As Ruscoe so poetically describes it, springtime in the rich, alluvial farmland along the Mississippi River is singular: "There's a special feeling in the Delta when it's time to plant crops. You never forget the smell of the soil when it turns over."

In a more pragmatic vein, she adds, "We in Extension have a huge impact on the farmers and, in turn, the community. I like being a part of that."