Summer Site Visits Showcase Checkoff Research

This summer, MSPB staff and farmer-leaders visited with checkoff-funded researchers to monitor the status of this year’s soybean research projects. Over the course of the three-day event, the group heard updates on all 37 board-funded projects and toured soybean research labs and plots. The group visited the Mississippi Agricultural & Forestry Experiment Station as well as Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service facilities at Stoneville, Verona and Pontotoc. They also met with researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service facility in Stoneville and toured some fields being used for the Soybean Mangement by Application of Research and Technology (SMART) program. 

According to MSPB Chairman Jimmy Sneed, the site visits help the board fully understand the protocols and challenges of each research project and establish a rapport and relationships with all parties involved in conducting checkoff-funded research and extension projects. The site visits also provide researchers, extension agents and MSPB with a forum to discuss and collaborate on projects to make sure all parties are working toward the same goals.