Sadly, I learned today that Mr. Richard Wesley, a long-time Agricultural Engineer with the USDA-ARS Crop Production Systems Research Unit at Stoneville, Miss. passed away on Nov. 15, 2015 in Columbia, Missouri. Richard was a native of Greenville, Miss.

Richard was the consummate agricultural researcher; i.e., he conducted sound and meaningful research, he was diligent in seeing that his research studies adhered to scientific principles, and he was an excellent writer who ensured that the results from his research were published and made available to agricultural producers in the Midsouth. Several of Richard’s publications that report results from his research studies are posted on this website.

I had the privilege and honor of working with Richard for most of my 30 years at Stoneville. Starting in 1984, we began a long and for me fulfilling cooperative research relationship that lasted until his retirement in 2001. We cooperatively published many papers that presented the results from our cooperative research endeavors. Richard authored several chapters in “Soybean Production in the Midsouth”, the first book of its kind that covered all aspects of soybean production in the region. I can honestly say that I enjoyed every day of our working together, and was sad to see his retirement from Stoneville.

Richard was instrumental and the driving force in establishing the research farm that is still being used by members of the ARS Unit today. In fact, I was fortunate to be able to conduct many of my studies on this farm as part of my cooperative research with Richard. This research farm gave us an environment that was under the control of the researchers, and this allowed us to conduct research that likely would not have been done without Richard’s leadership and management skills in establishing and maintaining this great resource.

Richard was an avid sportsman and was ardent about wildlife conservation. He was active in the Mississippi Wildlife Federation and the Delta Wildlife Council. He was a solid citizen who cared about the people he worked with and was a rock when many of us needed the support of a friend.

Rest in Peace, Richard Wesley. You truly exemplified what a friend, colleague, and researcher should be.

Composed by Larry G. Heatherly, Nov. 2015, larryheatherly@bellsouth.net