Ted McAvoy

Ted McAvoy is an Assistant Professor and Vegetable Extension Specialist in the Horticulture Department at the University of Georgia (UGA), Tifton Campus. His research focuses on vegetable variety trials, soil amendments, cover crops, fertility management and variable rate plant spacing. The main crops that he researches are watermelon, bell pepper, sweet corn and Vidalia sweet onion. His variety trials focus on resistance to viral, bacterial, and fungal diseases as well as adaptability and field performance in South Georgia. The soil amendment research investigates the effect of biochar and poultry litter on improving sandy soils, plant growth and vegetable yields under plastic and bare ground production systems.
Dr. McAvoy is a regular contributor to the Specialty Crop Grower Magazine, the annual Southeastern US Vegetable Crop Handbook and the UGA Vegetable Extension and Research Annual Reports. In addition, he organizes and presents talks for the vegetable education sessions at the yearly Southeastern Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference in Savannah, Georgia. Research and extension details are available for Dr. McAvoy on his UGA Horticulture Department faculty profile and the UGA Cooperative Extension websites, his publications are highlighted on his Google Scholar profile, his lab research efforts are emphasized on his South Georgia Vegetables website and the UGA vegetable team extension efforts are displayed at the UGA Vegetables website.
Prior to joining the University of Georgia in 2021, Dr. McAvoy conducted field variety trials for Syngenta Vegetable Seeds in the Eastern US for sweet corn, green bean, tomato, and bell pepper for 6 years. He received his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 2012; investigating methyl bromide alternatives, specifically using safer replacement soil fumigants and grafting with soilborne disease resistant rootstocks. He obtained his M.S. from the University of Florida in 2009; studying fallow weed control in vegetable crops using tillage and systemic herbicides.