Dr. Kathryn Payne has accepted the position to become the Applied Forage Systems Specialist at the Virginia Tech Southern Piedmont Agricultural Research and Extension Center (SPAREC).  Katie’s appointment was effective July 1, 2019.

Dr. Payne completed a BS degree in Soil Science, with an emphasis in Watershed Management, from West Virginia University.  She earned a MS degree in Crop and Soil Science from the University of Georgia where her research focused on the effect of environmentally smart nitrogen fertilizer on bermudagrass forage production.  She recently earned a PhD in Integrated Plant and Soil Sciences from the University of Kentucky where her research focused on the effect of urea formulation on mixed species pasture production, clover persistence, and forage nutritive value.  Dr. Payne is a member of several professional organizations including American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, and American Forage and Grassland Council.  She is a certified Forage and Grassland Apprentice.

Dr. Payne is from Century, WV, where she grew up raising and showing beef cattle.  She has experience in grazing management, cover crop utilization, and incorporation of novel forage species into livestock systems.  Dr. Payne’s goal is to provide unbiased information and support that will lead to an improvement of a forage livestock producers’ production efficiency and increase profitability of their operations.  Her knowledge, experience, and skills will enable her to build an exceptional applied research program with a producer-driven focus.

Dr. Payne can be contacted at 434-818-5542 and her email is kathrynpayne@vt.edu