Hayden Godwin

Hayden Godwin

Hayden Godwin is a master’s degree student at the University of Georgia (UGA) from Bainbridge, Georgia. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Crop Production from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC). While attending ABAC, Godwin took a student worker job at UGA under Dr. Scott Tubbs completing peanut research. This job is what sparked his interest in attending graduate school and opened many opportunities for him.

Godwin chose to pursue graduate school because he wanted a deeper understanding of the research and extension aspects of the agriculture industry. Coming from a farming background has allowed him to see the importance of keeping growers informed; this has become his reason to further his education.

Godwin recently presented one of his projects at the Crop Science Society of America Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, funded by the National Crop Insurance Services. He won first place in this national competition for the C-3 Division of the Society. He used a weed eater to simulate hail damage to see how well peanuts could respond to physical injury to vegetive parts of the canopy. This process was applied at different growth stages and intensities.

An additional project Godwin is working on is planter speed and downforce, which is a supplemental load in addition to the planting unit that aids in maintaining uniform seed depth placement across differences in soil type, moisture, or other factors that can vary within a field. They use four different planting speeds and downforces. The purpose of this project is to determine an optimal planting speed and downforce setting to achieve uniform seed spacing and depth.

From these different projects, Godwin has gained a multitude of knowledge. Some of the takeaways he recognizes the most are being able to work efficiently and teamwork. From his experience, he has learned to become a better writer, make informed management decisions, and become well-versed in both bench and field work.

After completion of his master’s degree, Godwin plans to work for an industry corporation. His interests are in sales, crop consulting, and areas surrounding the buying point. Godwin explained that his family’s farm is still very important to him, and he spends most of his weekends back home helping. Further in the future, he hopes to return closer to home and conduct private research on the family farm.

by Caraline Coombs, student assistant, UGA Peanut Team Media