The U of A System Division of Agriculture has appointed Trent Roberts the Endowed Chair in Soil Fertility Research. Roberts is an associate professor of soil fertility and testing for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and a soil specialist for the Cooperative Extension Service.

Roberts also has a teaching appointment in the U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

The new chair is endowed by a $2 million Soil Testing and Research Fund established by the U of A System and financed by money from Arkansas fertilizer tonnage fees collected by the State Plant Board, said Larry Jayroe of Forrest City, chair of the Arkansas Soil Test Review Board.

A portion of the tonnage fees is allotted to the Division of Agriculture for its Soil Test Lab in Marianna and for Experiment Station soil fertility research. The Soil Test Review Board oversees distribution of those funds.

Quality in, quality out

Jayroe said Agricultural Experiment Station research provides the most accurate and up-to-date fertilizer recommendations in the country.

"I don't think any other university system in the country is doing the quantity and quality of research that is done by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture," Jayroe said. "And the research here is continuously backed up by years of verification trials all over the state.

"Arkansas farmers can know exactly the nutrient requirements for their fields, for their crops, wherever they are located," Jayroe said. "That saves money, protects the environment and provides the best possible chance of success for their crops.

"It's hard to hold onto good people, and someone like Trent is in high demand," Jayroe said, citing Roberts' expertise in soil fertility. "He does a lot of research at the Division of Agriculture's research locations all over the state and also works on-farm with Arkansas growers. One of the reasons for this endowed chair is to keep good, quality people like Trent working for Arkansas agriculture and to provide them the resources they need to keep up the good work."

Mark Cochran, vice president-agriculture for the U of A System, said the endowed chair demonstrates the valued partnership between Arkansas's agricultural industries and the Division of Agriculture.

"The Soil Test Review Board is a partnership of Division of Agriculture personnel, farmers and agricultural businesspeople that supports the Agricultural Experiment Station soil testing and research upon which Arkansas agriculture depends," Cochran said.

"Establishing this endowed chair is a recognition of that partnership and demonstrates the degree to which the division's contributions to Arkansas agriculture are valued," he said. "It demonstrates the significance of the division's soil fertility research to Arkansas's agricultural economy, helping to keep our state in the top third overall for U.S. agricultural production year after year.

"These endowed chairs are extremely important to recruit and retain the world class scientists that the state depends upon and deserves," Cochran said.

Jean-François Meullenet, senior associate vice president-agriculture and director of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, said, "Dr. Roberts is highly deserving of holding the first soil chair in the Division of Agriculture's history. The work he's doing continues a long tradition of research and verification that have helped make Arkansas the number one producer in the nation for rice, number four for cotton and number 11 for soybeans.

"We greatly appreciate the farmers and agricultural businesses who pay the tonnage fees because they know that money comes back to them in new knowledge and technology that make their farms more sustainable and profitable," Meullenet said. "And we are grateful to the Soil Test Review Board for establishing the Endowed Chair in Soil Fertility Research that will help ensure we continue a proven track record of research and service to Arkansas."

Chair in motion

Roberts said, "This endowment shows support and faith in our program and allows us to continue the success."

Advancing soil fertility management will depend on using nutrients in the most efficient manner, Roberts said. The endowment will provide resources to take soil fertility research in new directions.

"It allows us to investigate new technologies in soil testing, some of which may be pivotal developments for Arkansas agriculture," Roberts said.

"A lot of our research focuses on developing new tools that help us measure soil fertility and manage it more efficiently," he said. "That includes things like in-season tissue tests and new methods that help us make sure that nutrient deficiency isn't limiting crop productivity."

The endowment funds also permit flexibility to investigate new research technologies, Roberts said.

"We'll be able to see how technologies like x-ray fluorescence or x-ray diffraction may allow us to examine the chemical makeup of solid materials like plants and soils," Roberts said. "These may give us a timelier way to make fertilizer application decisions, but they are untested for these applications."

Agricultural production is a big, beautiful puzzle with lots of pieces, Roberts said. "Irrigation, pest control, weed management — these are all important pieces of the puzzle. Soil fertility is also a big piece of the puzzle, a piece of everything that's needed to grow a crop.

"We continually investigate the relationship between nutrient availability and crop production," Roberts said. "We hope that our producers have peace of mind that our fertilizer recommendations are applicable to their crops and production systems. They know that when they follow Division of Agriculture recommendations, they will get a benefit in yield for whatever their crop is. They know the investment in soil testing and fertilizer management is worth it."

Standing on shoulders of giants

"I appreciate the support we've always had from Arkansas growers," Roberts said, "and I also appreciate the people who've come before me who have worked for decades to solve problems related to nutrient management."

Roberts said his research builds upon work done by Agricultural Experiment Station soil scientists like Rick Norman, Nathan Slaton, Bobby Wells and Wayne Sabbe.

"The success of our program is squarely built on the work these researchers did," Roberts said. "Generation by generation we've been conducting quality research and good outreach to Arkansas farmers. I want to keep it going and help steer it into the next generation."

To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch.

To learn about Extension Programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit https://uaex.uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AR_Extension.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.

 

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture's mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation's historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.