Dennis Hancock
Tenure/Promotion Evaluation
Dennis Hancock
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Appointment: December 1, 2006
75% Extension, 25% Research
Statewide Extension/Applied research responsibilities for
forage-based livestock systems (beef, dairy, horse, small
ruminants)
4 million acres of forages
Gross value of industry ~ $1.2 Billion
Major Achievements - Extension
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Areas of Emphasis
Pasture-based dairy industry
 Sustainability with grazing management
 Commercial hay production
 Mitigating drought effects on forage-based
enterprises
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Major Achievements - Extension
Category
Bulletins
Circulars
Senior
7
5
Junior
9
1
Total
16
6
National Bull.
Websites
Newsletters
0
3
67
2
0
0
2
3
67
Pop. Press - National
Pop. Press – Regional
eNewsletters
Image sets - Agents
10
50
26
74
0
6
0
0
10
56
26
74
Podcasts
TV/Radio
Total
30
8
280
12
0
30
42
8
310
Dairy
Grazing Management
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Evaluations for Grazing Schools
Scores (1=poor, 5=excellent)
Event
Program
Organiz.
Hancock
Others
2007
4.6
4.8
4.4
4.3
2008
4.6
4.7
4.0
4.0
2009
4.5
4.6
4.4
4.3
2010
4.3
4.8
4.2
4.1
2011
4.6
4.7
4.4
4.2
Grazing School
Commercial Hay Production
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Evaluations for Hay Convention
Scores (1=poor, 5=excellent)
Event
Program
Organiz.
Hancock
Others
2008
4.3
4.6
4.4
4.3
2009
4.2
4.8
4.2
4.3
2010
4.4
4.7
4.2
4.2
2011
4.5
4.9
4.6
4.5
Grazing School
Drought Mitigation
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Two Severe Droughts – 2007 and 2011
Organized Team (CRSS, ADS, Applied Econ)
Organized 8 regional meetings around the state
Focus: Avoid livestock selloff and preserve pasture resource
Means:
Nitrate poisoning
Prussic acid
“Sacrifice” areas
Alternative pasture/feed resources
Results: 430 producers – 78% said they would change
production practices because of training program
Forages Website
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Centerpiece for Extension Activities
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All forage production recommendations (60 species)
Current news
“Hot topics”
Industry news
Podcasts
Webinars
“Sister sites” – MiG, Switchgrass, PowerPoint
presentations for County Agent delivery
Major Achievements - Research
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Areas of Emphasis
Enhanced Efficiency N Fertilizers
 Summer Annual Systems for Supplementation
 Bermudagrass management
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Research Publications
 7 since coming to Georgia (peer reviewed)
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Senior author on 4
Graduate Education
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Nathan Eason* – Crop and Soil Sciences
Jeremy Connell* – Crop and Soil Sciences (Major Prof)
Josh Egenolf** – Ecology
Jarrod Barlow* – Animal and Dairy Sciences
Jeff Bellflower* – Engineering
Mark Freeman* – Crop and Soil Sciences
* MS
** PhD
Grants
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Competitive – $192,000 (PI), $754,000 (CI)
Agreements - $67,000 (PI), $300,000 (CI)
Industry - $127,000
Extemporaneous Comments
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Monte Roquette – Texas A&M
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Impressed by 2 things: 1) new wave forage agronomist in that his communication
abilities combine traditional with electronic media. “I have admired his forages
webpage and the fact that he not only puts traditional bulletin-type links on the
page, but the podcasts and webinars are useful to a broader clientele than that of
just Georgia. Dennis’ on-site grazing school is the best I have ever seen. I thought
y’all were in trouble when Dennis’ predecessor left, but Dennis has raised the bar to
an entirely new level.” 2) “Dennis is tireless and persistent. He is very productive
compared to his peers, regardless of the stage of their career and animal/plant
discipline.” (Nick’s assessment, We can compare Dennis to anybody in
forage/pasture/animal sciences and he will be as good as them? Monte: Yes!!)
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“Dennis engages both the traditional and conventional clientele.” Monte was aware
of Dennis’ work with pasture-based dairies, and thought “Dennis was mature
beyond his years when he embraced and provided relevant extension efforts to
support their system. That will be a much stronger political force down the road
than the beef cattle industry.”
Extemporaneous Comments
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Rob Kallenbach – University of MO
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Interacted with Dennis at AFGC, ASA, and MO Grazing Conference Meetings.
Presentations are very logical, right amount and type of information so producers
understand the message.
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VERY credible. Doesn’t make things better or worse than the reality of the
situation. Producers trust and respect Dennis. They obviously have a comfort level
with him when in their presence.
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Diplomatic. Saw Dennis working with a contentious producer who was obviously
making big mistakes. Dennis provided some relevant information to correct the
problem and it turned into a situation where the farmer expressed gratitude.
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Grant application (NIFA) joint with MO/GA. Grant did not get funded but was
impressed with the thought process put forth, getting his portion turned in on time.
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Considered Dennis multi-talented and well-rounded.