Dr. Rocky Lemus

Extension/Research Professor, Extension Forage Specialist

Mississippi State University, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences

32 Creelman St
256 Dorman Hall
Mississippi State, MS 39762

(w) (662) 325-7718

About

Dr. Rocky Lemus is an Extension/Research Professor and the Extension Forage Specialist at Mississippi State University in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. He joined the MSU faculty in July of 2007. He obtained a PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 2004. Before joining MSU, he was an assistant professor at Texas A&M-Commerce. Dr. Lemus has a good record of both refereed journal and extension publications. He also provides monthly radio programs throughout the Mississippi Extension Service. His newsletters and popular articles are usually published in national forage and livestock magazines. He is an active member in national societies such as the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science, and Soil Science, American Forage and Grassland Council, and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He serves as peer reviewer for different journals including Agronomy Journal, Crop Science, Crop, Forage and Turf Management, Bionergy Research, Global Change Biology Bioenergy, and the National 4-H Program of Distinction. Dr. Lemus also has a good tract of securing external funding with over 2.5 M in grants and contracts. His areas of expertise include bioenergy crops, carbon sequestration, nutrient management, hay quality and utilization, grazing systems, pasture management and clover utilization. Dr. Lemus has a vast knowledge of the forages that can be grown in the northern, transition, and southern zones of the US with both cool-season and warm-season grasses. He has received several wards including Mississippi Agronomist of the Year (2018), Crop, Forage and Turf Management Outstanding Associate Editor (2017), National Association of Agricultural County Agent Achievement Award (2017), Extension/Outreach Superior Faculty Award (2014), American Forage & Grassland Council Merit of Award (2014), Mark E. Keenum Outstanding Extension Faculty Award (2012). Early Career Award in Technology Transfer from the American Society of Agronomy-Southern Branch (2012), Wesley Award in Extension (2012) among others. He serves in a diverse number of leadership positions such as the Technical Editor for the Journal of Crop, Forage and Turf Management, Vice-president of the National Forage Testing Association, and the past president of the NIRS Forage and Feed Testing Consortium. He has developed international reputation for his collaborative work in South and Central America with USAID's Farmer to Farmer’ Program and his research collaboration with the University of Costa Rice and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Nicaragua.