Research agronomist returns home to aid rice and row crop producers
May 21, 2025
By Maddie Johnson
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
Fast facts
- Researcher returns to northeast Arkansas to advise rice and row crop producers
- Justin Chlapecka served as county extension agent before doctoral studies
- Gained mentors, agronomy and crop science Ph.D. in Arkansas
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Editors: Chlapecka pronounced Kluh-petch-kuh
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Justin Chlapecka’s new role as assistant professor of agronomy comes with an office just about 35 miles from where he grew up — a return home he sees as an opportunity to give back to his community through recommendations for enhancing crop production.
Growing up in Newport — located in one of the state’s top rice-producing counties, Jackson County — Chlapecka went to a rural school and remembers being surrounded by agriculture.
Service to farmers
In his new role, Chlapecka will continue his close connection to farming by conducting research through the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station and offering guidance to rice and row crop farmers through the Cooperative Extension Service. He will be based at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center, or NERREC.
Located on 600 acres between Harrisburg and Jonesboro, NERREC’s mission focuses on researching rice production practices that strengthen farm income while promoting sustainability when it comes to resource use.
When he is not in the office writing manuscripts documenting his studies and drafting grant proposals, Chlapecka is in the field conducting rice trials aimed at answering farmers’ rice-related questions to help them optimize their production with research-backed recommendations.
Roots in extension
Chlapecka started his undergraduate career at Arkansas State University with plans to become a pharmacist. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and remained at ASU, but shifted his professional goals back into agriculture with a master’s degree in plant and soil science. He went on to gain a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in agronomy and crop science in 2021.
Before beginning his doctoral work, Chlapecka took a job in Poinsett County, following his father’s footsteps as an extension agent. His father, Randy Chlapecka, retired in 2014 after serving as agent in Randolph County and then extension staff chair in Jackson County. The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service is the unit of the Division of Agriculture that carries out educational outreach and delivers research-based information to Arkansans.
Chlapecka credits his extension background with helping set his path toward a Ph.D.
In his field work as an agent, Chlapecka worked with Jarrod Hardke, professor and rice extension agronomist.
Hardke also served as Chlapecka’s doctoral dissertation adviser. Chlapecka credits Hardke and Trent Roberts, Endowed Chair of Soil Fertility Research, with guidance that prepared him for his role. Roberts has appointments with the Division of Agriculture’s research and extension arms, and with the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas.
Paul DeLaune, head of the crop, soil and environmental sciences department for the Division of Agriculture and Bumpers College, said Chlapecka “exudes a passion for research and extension” that is deepened by the fact he is returning to serve those in his home region. DeLaune noted that Chlapecka has developed a stellar reputation with area producers as a county extension agent and while working as a graduate student on novel furrow irrigation practices in rice.
“We are excited to have Dr. Chlapecka as part of our team and be the first crop, soil and environmental sciences faculty member located at the Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center,” DeLaune said. “I'm sure producers, along with fellow faculty members, are eagerly anticipating the advances in agronomic practices Dr. Chlapecka will bring to the table in years to come.”
Giving back
After earning his Ph.D., Chlapecka served as an assistant research professor and state rice extension specialist for the University of Missouri’s Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center in Portageville.
Even while working in Missouri, he commuted weekly to church in the Jonesboro area and said he looks forward to returning home to northeast Arkansas.
“It’s really cool to come back home and be able to serve the people that helped mentor and raise me,” he said. “It’s really nice to be able to … give back and hopefully shine the light of God wherever I can in this position.”
To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three system campuses.
Pursuant to 7 CFR § 15.3, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
offers all its Extension and Research programs and services (including employment)
without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital
or veteran status, genetic information, sexual preference, pregnancy or any other
legally protected status, and is an equal opportunity institution.
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Media Contact: Maddie Johnson
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station
501-259-3247
mej048@uark.edu