Northwest Research and Outreach Center

Crookston, Minnesota

http://nwes.umn.edu/


On the flat, rich soils of the Red River Valley, the NWROC evaluates hundreds of new varieties of wheat and barley to produce those that are disease resistant and more productive. New technologies such as GPS are used to monitor exactly where in a field a disease or insect outbreak occurs.		Sugarbeet has been a research focus at the Center for many years. New facilities allow plant pathologists to analyze fungal diseases of the crop.

The Research and Outreach Center at Crookston was the first branch outpost of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. James J. Hill, it has an unbroken record of contributions to Minnesota’s base of agricultural knowledge. A school of agriculture, added in 1905, became the University of Minnesota, Crookston, in 1968.

The bountiful prairie and river valley soils of northwest Minnesota have long presented both agricultural promise and a unique set of problems—tiling for drainage was one of the Center’s first projects, and continues today. The latest technology for precision agriculture—including laser land levelers, drainage mapping, satellite imagery, yield monitors and GIS techniques that can predict problems on a 10,000-acre scale—is researched and demonstrated at the Center.

Agriculture’s value to the area’s economy is paramount. Farming and agricultural processing are the main sources of income and employment. The flat, rich soils of the Red River Valley have led to the growth of large crop production operations. A look eastward finds diversified crop and livestock farms. The region leads the state in the production of major crops like barley, dry edible bean, potato, sugarbeet, sunflower, and wheat. Specialty crops such as annual canary grass, bluegrass, buckwheat, canola, flax, mustard, and timothy seed are also significant. Northwest Minnesota also has many cow/calf operations and borders the major dairy regions of the state. A new dairy project at the Center is committed to reproductive management and biology to maximize conception and milk production.

Dairy research focuses on maximizing conception and milk production.

The Center has over a dozen off-site research projects on private farms within 120 miles to address particular agronomic issues under specific soil and climatic field conditions. Here a Center technician cultivates between buckwheat plots on a cooperating farm.

A Large and Productive Research Site

The research and outreach programs of the NWROC focus on these agricultural commodities and enterprises. The Center’s laboratories and staff support more than 140 research projects. There are 1,500 acres of University land, plus 10 other research sites operated in cooperation with area growers. It all supports the work of more than 50 researchers, and an educational program for UMC students enrolled in agriculture and natural resources programs. The Center builds connections with area farmers and demonstrates small plot research on a field-scale basis. It raises feed for the beef and dairy cattle herds and plants more than 220 acres in commercial sugarbeet that compliments the large sugarbeet research program.

Major parts of NWROC research programs focus on wheat, barley, and soybean varietal development and on production management issues such as fertility disease, insect and weed control in sugarbeet, potato, soybean, and small grain. Since 1978, ongoing nitrogen research on sugarbeet has resulted in a decrease in the recommended nitrogen application from 180 pounds per acre to 100 pounds per acre. Some alternative crops that might be suited to the region, such as the popular herb Echinacea, are also being tested.

Students from the U of M help researchers harvest wheat and measure yield of potential new scab resistant varieties. The scab epidemic emerged in the 1990s and by 2000 had caused $1 billion of crop losses in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Fusarium head blight (scab) is a major problem across the wheat and barley growing areas of the upper Midwest. The center focuses on both breeding varieties for scab resistance and disease management strategies. In a “scab nursery” growth of the fungus that causes scab is actively promoted. Potential new varieties are run through their paces in that environment. Foliar diseases of cereal crops are also assessed in it and other nurseries at the Center.

Research on the Local Natural Environment

The Red River Valley Natural History Area encompasses 86 acres of restored prairie, aspen woods and a reclaimed gravel pit. Monitoring the status and welfare of the natural wildlife populations, such as waterfowl in existing and restored wetlands, and natural communities of animals is one research concern. Another is native prairie restoration and management on marginal agricultural lands, including ongoing fire studies since 1971. The Natural History Area’s prairie restoration exhibits, meeting area and walking trails host more than 15,000 elementary and college students annually, as well as providing a training site for natural resources professionals.

prairie restoration after a controlled burn

Students of all ages learn about the local natural environment at the Center. Here a group looks at prairie restoration results following a controlled burn.