Dr. Edmisten is a Professor of Crop and Soil Sciences and serves as the Extension Cotton Specialist for the NCSU Crop Science & Soil Sciences Department.  Keith received his BS from NCSU in Agronomy, MS from NCSU in Crop Science and PhD from Virginia Tech in Crop Physiology in 1987. He served on the faculty at Mississippi State University and Auburn University prior to joining the Crop Science faculty here at NCSU in 1992. He conducts applied cotton and industrial hemp agronomic research and cotton germplasm evaluation to include evaluation of new events, traits and elite varieties. He  teaches CS224 Seeds, Biotechnology and Society, CS 216 Southern Row Crop Production,  and CS590 Intro to Regulatory Affairs and also advises the Plant and Soil Science biotechnology concentration undergraduate students. He was selected as the Extension Cotton Specialist of the year in 1997 and the Cotton Physiologist of the year in 2015.

The Crop & Soil Sciences cotton extension & applied research program is designed to provide training and support to county faculty, private consultants and cotton producers. The program focuses on using plant monitoring techniques to manage cotton inputs in a way that maximizes the economic value of inputs while minimizing environmental impacts. The program relies on the cooperation of the experiment station, county faculty, industry and cotton producers. Although a majority of the applied research is conducted on experiment stations, on-farm tests provide valuable information and help to train county faculty. The Crop Science cotton extension program cooperates on several applied research projects with faculty within the department and with faculty from Entomology, Plant Pathology, Soil Science and Agriculture Economics. We also evaluate genetically engineered germplasm and varieties and to help producers integrate  varieties and traits into their production systems.

The industrial hemp program is in its infancy, with applied research starting in 2017. Dr. Edmisten works with Dr. Angela Post to conduct applied research aimed at developing recommendations for industrial hemp production in North Carolina.

Results of these tests and other production recommendations are made available to county faculty, consultants and growers utilizing various methods including: a cotton information book, field days, growers meetings, newsletters sent electronically and placed on the internet, agent, industry and consultant training.

NC Cotton Information Portal

NC Industrial Hemp Portal

NC Agbiotech Portal