University of Georgia

A website from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

2025 Soybean Breeders Tour

Program

Wed, Sept 3rd

  • 3:00 – 6:00pm Registration at Hilton Garden Inn-Tifton (201 Boo Drive, Tifton GA) (2 min walking distance from SpringHill Suites,401 Boo Dr, Tifton, GA)
  • 6:00 – 7:00pm Social Hour at Hilton Garden Inn-Tifton
    Welcome remarks
    Dr. Timothy Grey, Interim Assistant Dean – Tifton Campus, University of Georgia
    Dr. Wayne Parrott, Director of Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia
  • 7:00 – 9:00pm Dinner at Hilton Garden Inn – Tifton, GA

Thu, Sept 4th

  • 7:30am Bus leaves from Hilton Garden Inn for Plains, GA
  • 9:00am Arrive in the UGA Southwest Research and Education Center, Plains, GA (108 Experiment Station Rd, Plains, GA)
    • Welcome remark and overview of the UGA Southwest Research and Education Center – Scott Rogers, Superintendent and Eric Elsner, Executive Superintendent
  • 9:30am Tour starts
  • Station 1: Office front area (45 min total)
    • Soybean breeding technologies, advanced yield trials & releases – Zenglu Li
    • Soybean insect resistance discovery and breeding – Wayne Parrott
    • Soybean herbicide technologies and tolerance – Eric Prostko
  • Station 2: Area 4 (55 min total, 15 min for each speaker)
    • Soybean nematode resistance – Melissa Mitchum
    • UGA Soybean Preliminary and Advanced Yield Trials – Brian Little
    • UGA Drone-based phenotyping – Dallas Kreisa and Emily Powell
  • Station 3: Area 2 (35 min total, 15 min for each speaker)
    • Insect management in ultra-late soybeans and bee pollinators – David Buntin
    • Soybean production system – Nicholas John Shay
  • Zurn Combine Display – Shop front area, Brian Ward (15 min total)
  • 12:00pm Catered lunch at the UGA Southwest Research and Education Center, Plains, GA (108 Experiment Station Rd, Plains, GA)
  • 1:15pm Travel to Georgia Seed Development facility in Plains (1547 U.S. 280 W, Plains, GA)
  • 1:30pm ALMACO – Rotary Technology Plot Research Combine Display – Todd Vincent
  • 1:50pm Tour Georgia Seed Development facility in Plains
    • Roger Boerma, Caleb Warrington, and JT Tanner
       
  • 2:40pm Bus leaves for Harrell’s Farm (295 Smithville-Leslie Hwy, Smithville, GA)
  • 3:10pm Tour Alex Harrell’s (2024 World Soybean Yield Record Holder) soybean production farm – Alex Harrell and Chelsea Lee Lopez
  • 3:40pm Bus leaves for Hilton Garden Inn in Tifton
  • 5:45pm Bus leaves for the Georgia Museum of Agriculture (1392 Whiddon Mill Rd, Tifton, GA)
  • 6:00pm Social hour at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture
    • Welcome remark by Dr. Harsha Thippareddi, Associate Dean for Research, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia
    • Lifetime Achievement Award recognition by Dr. Roger Boerma and others  
  • 7:00pm Dinner at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture
  • 8:45pm Bus returns to Hilton Garden Inn in Tifton (201 Boo Drive, Tifton Georgia) and SpringHill Suites-Tifton (401 Boo Dr, Tifton, GA)

Fri, Sept 5th

  • 7:30am Bus leaves from Hilton Garden Inn for the tour
  • 8:00am Tour State Seed Testing Lab, Georgia Department of Agriculture (3150 U.S. Hwy. 41 South, Tifton, GA (30 min)
  • 8:45am Tour Bayer’s Soybean Plots – Sam McDonald (GPS, 31.3936303, -83.5559607) (30 min)
  • 9:45am Tour UGA Lang Farm (276 Rigdon Aultman Road, Tifton, GA)(60 min total)
    • Soybean irrigation SMART app – George Vellidis
    • Robotics for Phenotyping and Other Ag Technologies – Luan Oliveira
    • GA State Variety Tests – Danial Mailhot 
    • Soybean Advanced Yield Trials – Zenglu Li
  • 11:15am Bus returns to Hilton Garden Inn and box lunch (Chick-fil-a) to go