Dr. Wesley Porter Precision Ag Researcher Of The Year
Dr. Wesley Porter, Associate Professor and Extension Precision Ag and Irrigation Specialist, University of Georgia (UGA), has been named the 2025 Precision Ag Researcher of the Year at the 28th Annual National Conservation Systems Cotton & Rice Conference, Southern Soybean & Corn Conference, Delta States Irrigation Conference and the Southern Precision Ag Conference.
Dr. Porter is from Pickens County, South Carolina. He attended Clemson University from 2004 to 2010 where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Mechanization and Business and his master’s degree in Agricultural Engineering. Porter began his involvement with precision agriculture during his master’s research in the coastal plains of South Carolina. He then had the opportunity to attend Oklahoma State University for his Ph.D. from 2010 to 2013, where he was the first agriculture engineering student to receive a Cotton Incorporated Fellowship.
In his tenure as the state’s Irrigation and Precision Agriculture Specialist at UGA, Dr. Porter has completely transformed the way producers interact with precision agriculture. He has been responsible for a widespread adoption of soil moisture sensors for irrigation management and increased grower knowledge on proper planter settings and considerations for optimizing field performance. With a 75% Extension and 20% Research appointment, Dr. Porter has strategically chosen research topics that are timely and informative for producers. Regarding his focus on precision irrigation management, planter systems and technology, and the use of unmanned aerial systems in agriculture, Dr. Porter has used his position as a state scientist to directly meet the needs of the producers that he serves.
Dr. Porter has proven himself as a productive and successful scientist with nearly 30 peer reviewed manuscripts plus numerous conference proceedings and Extension publications. However, perhaps his most notable achievement has been his effective communication of his research to students, producers and stakeholders statewide and beyond. Dr. Porter has conducted 80 Extension agent training courses and has been invited to give over 200 presentations. He has also presented information through many television and radio interviews.
Dr. Porter has been instrumental in helping cotton farmers address challenges in getting good plant stands as the newest cotton varieties have small, less vigorous seed. He has helped them understand the latest in down force controls and other precision planting tools. Furthermore, he helped growers also achieve good plant stands in heavy cover crop residues that are beneficial for weed suppression and improving soil health.
Dr. Porter has also been helping to bridge the data gap between the field and cotton gin. The new cotton harvesters from John Deere create cotton modules that have four RFID tags embedded in the plastic wrap that uniquely identifies the module. That RFID also makes it possible to associate the module with data collected by the harvester such as weight, moisture, and area of the field the cotton was harvested from. Unfortunately, no company has emerged to help cotton gins implement the hardware and software needed to capture the value from this technology. Dr. Porter has been successful in working with local gins to help them install RFID readers and this is also serving as a demonstration of the value of RFID data to other gins in the region.
A colleague of Dr. Porter from Kansas State University stated, “Dr. Porter has established himself as one of the premier precision agriculture experts in the World”.