“Just to be able to come to work every day and know that in some way what I’m doing makes a difference,” said Dr. Wes Lowe, Mississippi State Extension researcher.

Doctor Wes Lowe is right where he wants to be. He works in the agricultural and biological engineering department at Mississippi State University. And every day, whether with his students or fellow researchers, Lowe gets to make the future of agriculture a little better.

“Not only are we looking at the equipment, we’re also looking at the agronomics side of things as well,” said Lowe.  “We’re also looking at some of the economics and understanding that problem as a whole and how every little piece interconnects, and then from that we get to create a solution or solutions that hopefully change the way that we do things a little bit.”

Even without growing up on a farm, Lowe says there was something about the big farm equipment that peaked his interest, so even from a young age, his dream was to find a way to the farm.

“There’s nothing more that I love than being out in the dirt every day.  I love to be out in the field.  If you give me the choice, there’s not a day I’m going to choose sitting in the office,” said Lowe. “I want to be hands‑on.  I want to be out and engaged with what’s going on in the industry, and so this gives me the ability to do that. “

Lowe’s road to this point was a winding one with several ups and downs. Still, the experience gained along the way has made him better prepared to help his students and Mississippi’s farmers.

“They told me to go home and reevaluate my life and through that I found that I can do anything in the world that I want to do.  I have the capabilities to do that.  All it takes is drive and determination and sometimes that’s all that’s lacking, is just the determination,” said Lowe.  “There’s not a single problem that I’ve ever faced that I felt like that there’s no way in the world for me to navigate it.  There’s always a solution.”

Now, from the workshop to the field, Lowe is living his dream and building relationships that he hopes will ultimately make a difference.

“The work that we do allows me to spend time with growers and really get at what their problems are and, more so than that, to develop a relationship with them to where they feel confident enough that they can contact me and get answers,” said Lowe. “There’s nothing more exciting for me than to see some of the fruit of the labor that we’ve done here in the shop to include students to be able to help them along their way, to learn new skills, to help answer questions, and, ultimately, to be the leaders that we need for tomorrow.”