J. Wes Lowe, Ph.D.

🌽🌱New high-speed planting pubs! Doubling speed ↑ vibration & misses in corn but didn’t affect yield. In soy, baseline row cleaners handled heavy rye well at 15.5 km/h — no extras needed. Thanks to @MississippiCorn & @MSSOY. 📄 Corn: 10.1002/agj2.70477 📄Soy: 10.1002/agj2.70438

The goal: turn these successes into Mississippi‑specific data growers can trust. We’re evaluating population strategies across real fields this season to help fine‑tune seeding decisions. Want to learn more or host a trial? Let us know. @MSSOY @MSUExtService

Research and real‑world experience are showing soybeans can maintain yield at lower seeding rates—saving significant input costs. This article highlights what growers across MS and the Delta are seeing:
🔗 farmprogress.com/soybean/changi…

MS soybean acres aren’t uniform—our seeding rates shouldn’t be either. Precision ag + optimized populations can save growers real $$. Dr. Justin Calhoun and I are testing this in on‑farm trials across MS this season, sponsored by @MSSOY. Interested? Reach out. @MSUExtService

The Cotton Research & Promotion Program Funds Mid-South Research Through Cotton Incorporated Core and State Support Projects cottonfarming.com/editors-blog/t… via @Cotton Farming

🌽New research: Planting corn at high speed (11 mph) increased stand variability but surprisingly didn't reduce yield. Sweet spot? 9 mph balanced speed & precision. Thanks to @MississippiCorn for funding this work. Read the full study: acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…

Take advantage of this opportunity. Odds are if you’re growing continuous soybean in MS in a light-textured soil (loam or sand) you have a nematode issue. Over the past five years I have seen more root-knot in MS soybean than in the previous decade!

Top 2028 Prospects To Watch In Mississippi @LegendsMcbride @AlyssaMc2028 @JennyGDreher @Anaston22 @HannahL9109 Click to view the article! prepsoftball.com/2025/03/12/top…

We are exactly two weeks from KATCON '25! Our keynote speaker for the event will be @johnwesleylowe from Mississippi State speaking on their "see-and-till" cultivator as well as high-speed planter data. Please join us on March 7. Register here: karta-online.org

Jason Ward and his team are currently preparing to send a mobile operations trailer to the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center located in Western North Carolina. Ward and his team hope the trailer will provide necessary support after Hurricane Helene.

@TheDirtDude @MSSOY @Case_IH Time to confirm what @TheDirtDude and I have been seeing in small-plot research over the last couple of years in a BIG way through on farm validation. Can’t wait to share the results with everyone once the dust settles next fall. Stay tuned!

Active downforce not enough for you? How about pneumatic downforce on your row cleaners and closing wheels? With help from ⁦@MSSOY⁩ ⁦@Case_IH⁩ & ⁦@johnwesleylowe⁩, we plan to put this bad boy in the field next year!

Mississippi State researchers develop prototype to advance cotton industry wcbi.com/mississippi-st…

@EdBCotton @CottonEngineer Come on, Ed! I’m sure we can come up with something fun we can work on together.

@CottonEngineer Nicely done! I hope Wes Lowe had a post doc position I can apply for some day.

Check out the new video from Mississippi State University’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering! We are advancing Engineering and Technology for Human Well-Being. youtu.be/2ZcijM2YWgk?si…

@TheDirtDude @MSSOY @harper_noah @olomitutuseyi @AgLeaderTech One of the perks of my job is working with this dedicated group of guys. It’s even better when we get to go to the field to push the science and technology to the limit and get answers to the questions that our soybean producers are asking. Stay tuned for the results!

I should mention that this work would not be possible without @MSSOY @johnwesleylowe @harper_noah @olomitutuseyi & @AgLeaderTech. Seriously, what a team!

@PrecAgEngineer @TheDirtDude @mathew_tapley Of course we need another cable. We only have 75 miles of wire in the cab already. What’s another 10 miles?

@TheDirtDude @mathew_tapley lol….that is a typical answer from an engineer “we just need another cable” 😂 I bet @johnwesleylowe said that. Hope you guys got it figured out!!

4 monitors. 3 gps units. But it still won’t talk to the planter. So we’re back to using the mechanical planter. We’ll get there tho!

@TheDirtDude All that trouble and hours of troubleshooting for one loose display cable connection. It’s always the things that seem so simple that you overlook them. On a positive note, I finally have all of the cables built and installed to have RTK on everything. Bring on some dry weather!

@TheDirtDude @olomitutuseyi @IITA_CGIAR Those first day pains of getting planting season started are real. Very thankful to work with a group with a “can do” attitude that isn’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and get it done no matter what gets thrown at them.

It didn’t take ⁦@olomitutuseyi⁩ long to go from hand planting ⁦@IITA_CGIAR⁩ to precision planting with ⁦@johnwesleylowe⁩.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the annual Seed & Ag Tech Short Course August 15 & 16. We have a great group of speakers lined up. Short course and registration information can be found at msuext.ms/seedandagtech ⁦@MSU_AG⁩ ⁦@MSUExtService⁩