Released June 15, 2007
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Tom Barber is bringing a wealth of knowledge and work with cotton to Arkansas as new cotton specialist for the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
Barber replaces Bill Robertson, who accepted a position with the National Cotton Council of America.
Barber, a native of McCaskill in Hempstead County, received a B.S. in Agronomy and M.S. in weed science from the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. in weed science from Mississippi State University. He said part of his research work for the Ph.D. was in the area of applied science and remote sensing in cotton.
He has done considerable work with flex cotton varieties, growth regulators, defoliation timing and precision agriculture, Barber said.
He was hired in 2004 as Mississippi’s extension cotton specialist and spent three years in that position before accepting the Arkansas post in April.
“This was an opportunity to get the family closer to home,” Barber said. “We really like the growers of Mississippi. It was a tough decision, but I wanted my kids to know their grandparents and go fishing with them.”
Barber has a wife Scharidi and two sons, Haeden and Kohlton and a baby on the way.
Barber is amazed at the differences in farming in Arkansas and neighboring Mississippi. He said soil types, weeds and management practices are different. “One other big difference is that about 85 percent of the cotton in Arkansas is irrigated, compared to about 40 percent in Mississippi,” he said.
Barber likes that Arkansas’ extension service still has a system of county agents. He said Mississippi has recently gone to an area agent concept.
“Here, we still have a good strong presence in the county, and I’m excited about that and working with the county agents and extension’s verification coordinator,” he said.
Barber said he is sympathetic with farmers, who are suffering from financial stress.
“We’re getting to a time where farmers are spreading out as much fixed costs such as equipment and labor over a lot more land,” he said. “Farmers are looking for something to cut, and they’ve cut just about everything they can.”
Barber said he likes to think outside the box on occasion, and he hopes that will help him devise innovative solutions to problems.
The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.
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http://www.uaex.edu/news/june2007/0615barber.htm
Contact: Lamar James, (501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207, ljames@uaex.edu
