Research and Outreach Centers
(Minnesota's Branch Experiment Stations)
The Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station has operated branch facilities in various regions of the state for more than 100 years. The first was established at Crookston, in northwestern Minnesota, in 1895. A second branch was established at Grand Rapids, in north central Minnesota, the following year.
Additional MAES branches were subsequently added at Waseca (southern Minnesota), Duluth (northeastern), Morris (west central) and Lamberton (southwest), though the Duluth location was later closed (in 1912). Other facilities including the Horticultural Research Center and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (both near Chaska, Minnesota), the Sand Plain Experimental Farm near Becker, and the Cloquet Forestry Center (north central Minnesota) are also used extensively by scientists affiliated with the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station.
Experiment station researchers also work on fields and in facilities associated with the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota. These include extensive laboratory and greenhouse facilities on and adjacent to that campus, and at a large satellite location in Rosemount, Minnesota. Additional research is also done on actual fields of cooperating farmers at locations across Minnesota, particularly for the experiment station's annual variety trials performace testing program on seed varieties of field crops grown commercially in Minnesota.
Expanded Outreach Mission
The branch stations have expanded their missions in recent years. They have become primary contacts with the University of Minnesota for citizens within their regions of the state. Consistent with this growth, the branch experiment stations have been rechristened as "Research and Outreach" centers.
MAES Branch Facilities
- Crookston, Northwest Research and Outreach Center
- Grand Rapids, North Central Research and Outreach Center
- Lamberton, Southwest Research and Outreach Center
- Morris, West Central Research and Outreach Center
- Waseca, Southern Research and Outreach Center
Cooperating Facilities
- Cloquet Forestry Center
- Horticultural Research Center (Excelsior)
- Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (Chanhassen)