Hopeful for increased crop yields and advancement of the state’s agricultural economy, the Corn Growers Association of North Carolina and NC State University are equally committed to the agronomy industry’s future. 

This partnership is united through the research of Ronnie Heiniger, an NC State professor of corn production and management and the state’s sole corn Extension specialist since 1994. And the new Ronnie W. Heiniger Distinguished Chair in Corn Extension Agronomy in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences will continue Heiniger’s research and Extension efforts following his retirement in 2025.

“[Dr. Heiniger] really created that position from whole cloth,” says Rhonda Garrison, executive director of the Corn Growers Association of North Carolina. “We thought an endowment would be the best way to ensure that that position was filled in perpetuity by someone that would carry his vision forward.”

Throughout his career, Heiniger has performed field trials and farm visits to educate North Carolina growers and businesses on the latest industry innovations to increase corn yields. He was a member of the first USDA-funded international think tank on site-specific agriculture in 1995, and his applied research programs in precision agriculture and remote sensing have garnered national recognition.