Bouton is Progressive Farmer's Man of the Year

Dr. Joe Bouton ('70, '72), professor of crop and soil sciences at the University of Georgia in Athens, has received a major honor from Progressive Farmer magazine.

The nation's premier agricultural publication in February named Bouton its Man of the Year in Service to Southeastern Agriculture.

Noting that "the history of forage production in the Southeast has been rewritten, thanks to Joe Bouton," the magazine made special mention of Bouton's work in developing Georgia 5 tall fescue and the Alfagraze alfalfa varieties. Georgia 5 fills an important niche in the Coastal Plain, where previous fescue varieties have not done well. Its adaptability has expanded fescue's range by millions of acres, and currently is the only fescue recommended in that area.

Bouton is trying now to breed a new fescue variety with even greater adaptability than Georgia 5.

Alfagraze alfalfa, another Bouton success that was 12 years in developing, has an advantage over other varieties because of its ability to withstand intensive, continuous grazing. It has performed well in tests outside the South, as far north as Iowa.

Bouton, who has spent most of his career at the University of Georgia, grew up on a Mississippi Delta farm. He has received the prestigious Inventor's Award from the University of Georgia Research Foundation and has been named a fellow in the American Society of Agronomy.

In recognizing Bouton, Progressive Farmer also paid tribute to his fellow co-workers at the University of Georgia, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, who played significant roles in the development of Georgia 5 and Alfagraze.

Incidentally, Bouton's wife, Mary Jeanne, also is a Mississippi State graduate.