DAFVM Spotlight Employee: Zack Ivy
Zack Ivy
After growing up on a soybean farm, Zack Ivy knew he wanted to make a career of working with crops. He continues to foster his love for agriculture today in his role as a research technician at the Northeast Mississippi Branch Experiment Station in Lee County.
The work Ivy does ultimately benefits Mississippi farmers. He helps manage research plots for Dr. Normie Buehring, and the data collected there contributes to soybean and cotton variety trial information. He is also working with irrigation studies.
Ivy spends his workdays harvesting and collecting data from corn, cotton, soybeans and rice at the experiment station in Verona. Despite sometimes working in extreme heat, Ivy said he enjoys going to work each day.
“I’ve always had an interest in agriculture, so I really like collecting the crops and analyzing the data,” Ivy said. “Sometimes I pick the crops by hand, and sometimes I use machinery. The most challenging part is just working through the heat, but I don’t really mind it.”
He helps his supervisor, Wesley Bass, in the shop, and is considered a good mechanic. He can operate all of the required farming equipment, including combines and tractors.
Ivy began work at the Verona R&E Center while still a high school student. After graduating early, he became a temporary worker before transitioning to full-time employment in 2012.
When he is not at work, Ivy enjoys fishing, riding 4-wheelers and hunting deer.
Editor's note: The Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine Spotlight Employee profiles are provided by the Office of Agricultural Communications at Mississippi State. For more information, please click here.
