Cell – 919-616-6775
Twitter: @NCSUsoybeans

Dr. Rachel Vann provides leadership for the NC State Soybean Extension Program focused on providing soybean stakeholders across North Carolina with agronomic information that will aid in maximizing soybean yields.

Rachel directs her extension efforts towards general soybean agronomic management. The focus of her research program includes appropriate soybean maturity group selection, ideal planting windows, rotational effects on soybean production, maximizing cover crop benefits to increase soybean yields, product evaluation, and grain pea production. She teaches the agricultural institute and undergraduate course on soybean production in the spring.

Rachel grew up in Geneseo, Illinois and completed her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign studying Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences with a minor in Crop and Soil Science (B.S. 2012). She completed her graduate degrees at NC State University. Her Master’s degree focused on cover crop management in organic corn production and organic canola production (M.S. 2015). Between her Master’s and Ph.D. she completed a U.S. Borlaug Fellowship in Costa Rica. Her Ph.D. focused on cover crop breeding and management and weed control in cotton (Ph.D. 2017). Prior to beginning her position at NC State as the Soybean Extension Specialist, Rachel was an Postdoc in the Organic Grains Program.