Gale Buchanan

Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame

Gale Buchanan, who served as dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences from 1995 until 2005, was inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame in honor of his multiple contributions to agricultural research, both as a peanut researcher and administrator.

Buchanan grew up on a peanut farm in Madison County, Fla., where he spent many days hoeing weeds out of his parents' peanut rows. As a young scientist, he focused on researching ways of reducing weed pressure on peanuts, using both herbicides and improved planting methods.

His groundbreaking development of twin row planting in peanuts led to a dramatic decrease in the amount of herbicide farmers needed to use and a 10 to 15 percent increase in plant yield.

He served as director of the UGA Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton from 1986 to 1994 before coming to Athens to oversee the entire college.