SWREC director accepts Morehead State University position
Contact Information:Howell Medders, Division of Agriculture Communications, 479-575-5647, hmedders@uark.edu
Dr. J. Mike Phillips, Southwest Research and Extension Center, Hope, 870-777-9702
HOPE, Ark. — Dr. J. Mike Phillips, director of the Southwest Research & Extension Center (SWREC) in Hope, has accepted a position as the new head of the Department of Agriculture and Human Sciences at Morehead State University in Morehead, Ky.
Phillips has been director of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture’s center at Hope since 1994. He joined the SWREC faculty in 1985 as an assistant professor of agronomy and extension forage specialist.
Phillips has worked closely with U of A Community College at Hope to help assure a seamless transfer of agricultural course credits to four-year colleges in the University System. He and other center faculty members have taught courses at UACCH and distance education courses at SWREC.
“One of the biggest challenges has been the diversity of programs, equipment and expertise needed to meet the needs of a very diverse agricultural sector in Southwest Arkansas,” Phillips said. “Thanks to our excellent faculty and staff, the involvement of scientists from other campuses, and support from the Division of Agriculture and the community, I think we are doing a good job in several diverse areas.”
Beef cattle and forage research, conducted by Dr. Stacey Gunter, Dr. Paul Beck, Phillips, and specialists David Shockey and Brandon Stewart is getting a boost from a project funded entirely by private donations for construction of a storage facility for byproduct feed ingredients.
Phillip said the feed storage building is being made possible by a cornerstone gift from Ned Ray Purtle and other major gifts from several county farm bureaus, Warren Plyler, First National Bank, Bancorp South, Summit Bank, Diamond State Bank, CMC Steel Products, Farm Credit of Western Arkansas, Southwest Arkansas Equipment, Anthony Wood Products, Hope Concrete and others.
The center conducts research on the costs and benefits of using byproduct ingredients such as soy hulls, rice bran, corn gluten feed, distillers grain, hominy and malt sprout pellets in cattle feed. Other areas of beef cattle and forage research are feed formulation, forage management, no-till and minimum till forage crops and production systems for cow-calf and stocker operations.
The SWREC faculty and staff initiated and hosts the annual Arkansas Cattle Growers Conference at Arkadelphia, which brings in national experts to discuss “cutting edge” beef production systems and practices, Phillips said.
“Our forestry research has really increased,” Phillips said, thanks to extension forester Dr. Jon Barry and Bob Colvin working with the Division’s Arkansas Forest Resources Center faculty at Monticello.
In addition to long-term pine management research, newer projects include nutrient management of forestland and rejuvenation of old row crop fields with hardwoods for timber and wildlife. One study is evaluating costs and benefits of poultry litter as fertilizer for forestland.
“Our horticulture program has changed by participating in the ornamental plant evaluation program conducted by Dr. Jim Robbins in addition to the small fruit research plots of Dr. John Clark,” Phillips said. SWREC is one of three primary locations for evaluating small fruits and ornamental plants under the diverse environmental conditions found in Arkansas.
“Manjula Carter manages the horticulture projects and, among other things, has helped us really improve our landscaping as part of the ornamental program,” Phillips said. “The public is very interested in this work. We get a lot of visits from Master Gardener groups, homeowners and people interested in commercial production.”
The Division’s Nematode Diagnostic Clinic and a soybean plant disease screening program located at the center, “are very important statewide programs,” Phillips said. They are directed by Dr. Terry Kirkpatrick with Ronnie Bateman and Kim Hurst.
Nematodes that can reduce yields of soybean, cotton and other crops are present in most soils. Samples from all over Arkansas are tested at SWREC to diagnose nematode populations as the basis for an effective management program.
The fact that few soybeans are grown locally makes SWREC an excellent location for the soybean disease nursery used to screen existing and experimental varieties for disease resistance, Phillips said.
Other row crop projects managed by J.D. Barham, working with scientists from other locations, are now conducted mainly in cooperation with farmers in the Red River Valley.
“It was a very hard decision to make this career change. My family and I love Arkansas and Hope and the University,” said Phillips, a native of Salem in Saline County with a B.S. degree in agricultural business from UA-Monticello and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from UA-Fayetteville.
His wife, Tammy, has taught special education classes for 24 years in Springdale, Nevada, Prescott and Texarkana and is pursuing related career opportunities at Morehead State and the local schools.
Phillips said a factor in his decision was a desire to move to the next level of his academic career. “I feel like I have gained a lot of knowledge and have a lot to share in the classroom.”
Morehead State University, in the eastern coalfield of Kentucky, has about 9,500 students. The Department of Agriculture and Human Sciences has a 350-acre teaching farm and diverse programs that range from coal mine reclamation to equine veterinary technology.
“One of their goals is to expand the research component of their academic programs, and I think I will be able to help with that process,” Phillips said.
SWREC, one of five regional Division of Agriculture research and extension centers, was founded in 1926 as the Fruit and Truck Substation. It was one of the first three branch experiment stations of the University of Arkansas. It later became the Southwest Branch Station and then the Southwest Research and Extension Center in 1981. Previous directors have been George W. Ware, Aubrey Enoch (interim during World War II), Cecil M. Bittle and Dr. William C. Loe.