Gregory Pate - profile information

Short Bio

Pate grew up in a small farming community near Boaz. Following graduation from Boaz High School in 1986, he attended Snead State Community College before transferring to Auburn University. There he earned a B.S. (‘91) and M.S. (‘96) in Agronomy and Soils. His career in agricultural research began as an agricultural science technician with the USDA-ARS, National Soil Dynamics Laboratory in Auburn. Pate eventually transitioned to the cotton industry in 1998 working as a regional agronomist for Deltapine Seed Company. Later he managed the state-of-the-art cotton gin operation, Milstead Farm Group, Inc., until 2006, when he returned to AU as associate director of the Farm Services Unit at the EV Smith Research Center (EVSRC). Work there focused upon precision agriculture and irrigation technology. In 2008 he was named the Director of the EVSRC, a multi-unit station engaged in row crop, plant breeding, horticulture, beef cattle, and biosystems engineering research. In 2020 Pate was named the Director of Experiment Station Research Operations to oversee research operations for all Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station (AAES) outlying units.