Stewart Duncan grew up on a small farm in Osage County, Kansas. He earned a BS in production agronomy from Kansas State University in 1977, and after graduating, he served as the Jackson County Extension Agricultural Agent based in Holton. In 1986, he returned to K-State and earned an MS in agronomy, investigating relay intercropping soybeans into wheat. While finishing his MS, Stu pursued a PhD to further investigate plant responses and growth habits, canopy architecture, row direction, and irrigation regime in a relay intercropped environment. He earned his doctorate in 1991 and immediately began working as the South Central Area Extension Agronomist for K-State based out of Hutchinson. While stationed in Hutchinson, Stu was introduced to cotton production in 1995. The SC Area Office was closed in 2004, and Stu relocated to Westmoreland, from which he commutes to the main campus or to one of the 27 counties in the Northeast Extension Region. His main purpose is to help build and reinforce regional, county, and district Extension agronomic educational programs by generating and disseminating practical information through sound, research-based agronomic practices with emphases on establishing both large and small on-farm strip and/or replicated plots, as well as on experiment fields.
