The University of Georgia Extension would like to welcome John McLemore as the Agricultural and Natural Resource agent in Coffee County. John is from Hattiesburg, Mississippi where he was raised on a small commercial beef cattle farm. As a youth he was involved in FFA, 4-H, Beta Club, and was an Eagle Scout. As a member of FFA and 4-H he participated in many career development programs which inspired him to pursue a career in Extension.
John earned a Bachelor in Agriculture and Information Science and Master of Science degree in Plant and Soil Sciences from Mississippi State University. John’s thesis project to obtain his master’s degree was to develop heat tolerant cool-season legume species (balansa clover, berseem clover, crimson clover, and hairy vetch) for implementations in early-planted corn in southern Mississippi. His project stemmed from Mississippi farmers’ interest in early-planted corn to avoid heat stress typically between July and October. Cool-season species that are able to germinate immediately following corn harvest are able to sequester residual soil nitrogen from the prior commodity crop. While conducting his research project he learned valuable practices and lessons that will help him better serve the community of Coffee County.
John has been an advocate of agriculture who is eager to teach, serve, reach, and present non-biased research-based information to the community of Coffee County. As a youth and young adult, he has experiences with animals, FFA, 4-H, horticulture, commodity crop production, and collaborating with various organizations. John can be reached by phone (912-384-1402) or at john.mclemore@uga.edu. He began his new role on December 1.