Roy Roberson

Associate Editor
Southeast Farm Press

James R. (Roy) Roberson began his career in agricultural communications as an assistant editor of agricultural research and teaching in Auburn University’s College of Agriculture and Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. When he retired from Auburn University in 2004, he was head of the agricultural communications program at Auburn and assistant director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. Between stints at Auburn University, Roberson worked for several years as an account manager for Fletcher/Mayo and Associates, which at that time was the largest agricultural marketing and public relations company in the U.S. He also worked for nearly five years as Southeast marketing and public relations coordinator for Swanson-Rollheiser-Holland, an Omaha, Nebraska-based agricultural advertising and public relations company. In addition to his current position on the editorial staff of Southeast Farm Press, Roberson is former editor and publisher of Southern Pulp and Paper Magazine and was part of the team that created the Atlanta-based Southeast edition of Ad Week. Roberson grew up in rural east Alabama and earned bachelor and masters degrees in journalism and mass communication from Auburn University.

Articles by Roy Roberson
South, Carolina, soybeans, Dectis, stem, borer, damage, rare
Rare insect problem cut 2012 yield for top South Carolina soybean grower
Jason Carter says he found the rare Dectes stem borer in his soybeans and finding out what was killing his beans proved to be about as frustrating as dealing with the problem.
Is irrigation the answer for building Southeast grain yields?
The biggest cause for the lack of growth in grain yields is clearly highly fluctuating weather patterns over the past decade or so.
tobacco, transplants, 2,4-D, damage, float, houses
North Carolina tobacco grower dodges 2,4-D bullet
Eddie Johnson has grown tobacco a long time and he knows the crop doesn’t mix with 2,4-D.
ethanol, plant, Hopewell, Va., barley, England
Virginia ethanol plant apparently headed to England
To say the future of the giant Hopewell, Va., ethanol plant is uncertain is a big under-statement.
North Carolina looks to be heading for another bumper strawberry crop
A number of days with temperatures below 50 degrees in March delayed the beginning of North Carolina’s strawberry season by 10 days or so.
North, Carolina, water, management, project, Swan, Quarter, Dike, farmland
Water management project saves North Carolina farmland
Though the newly finished Swan Quarter Dike protects only about 7,000 acres of farmland, there is plenty more valuable farmland that is at risk from salt water intrusion.
South, Carolina, peanut, variety, choices, Bailey, fungicide, savings
South Carolina peanut growers questioning variety selection
Under some circumstances planting the right peanut variety can save a grower $30 to $50 per acre, especially on fungicide costs.
Virginia, resistant, pigweed, herbicide, rotation
Virginia's Ray Davis keeping resistant weeds at bay
Virginia grower Ray Davis wants no part of fighting the battle against herbicide-resistant pigweed.
Sorghum seed shortage developing in Upper Southeast
Most of the distributors are out of inventory at their main warehouses, but have limited sorghum seed available at retail locations.
Carolina livestock industry needs a ‘corn dynasty’
Putting all the pieces of the puzzle together can pay off big time over a long period of time for corn growers.
Variety, timing major factors in cotton’s response to irrigation
Cotton is considered to be among the most drought tolerant crops grown in the Southeast.
Target spot severity varies among cotton varieties
Target spot began showing up in cotton fields in the Carolinas and Virginia for the first time last year.
Award winning corn growers talk production practices during Commodity Classic
Virginia grower David Hula made big news with his 429 bushel per acre corn yield in 2011 and Missouri grower Kip Cullers made similar headlines by producing 161 bushels of soybeans.
USDA’s planting intentions for Southeast held some surprises
The annual USDA Planting Intentions Survey was released March 28, and it included some surprises for the Southeast.
Saving 2012 grape crop a big boost for Carolina wine industry 1
RagApple Lassie Vineyard is one of 38 Yadkin Valley, N.C., wineries.

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