Ag News
PREC to celebrate centennial in 2010
Published Friday, October 30, 2009 at 12:22 PM
By David Ostdiek Communications Specialist Panhandle Research and Extension Center It’s been said that the variation in climate between Lincoln and Scottsbluff is greater than between Lincoln and the East Coast. That’s why the Scotts Bluff Experimental Substation was established in 1910 – so agricultural research could be conducted under local conditions, not those of eastern Nebraska. Starting with 160 acres and a couple buildings, the station has changed, expanded and moved, eventually becoming the Panhandle Research and Extension Center, which is preparing to celebrate its centennial in 2010. Agriculture in western Nebraska is vastly different – the crops that can be raised; the bugs, weeds, and diseases that challenge the crops; and the tillage, fertilization and irrigation needed to sustain them. Scottsbluff receives about half as much annual precipitation as southeast Nebraska, the elevation is several thousand feet higher, and the growing season shorter. Another thing that sets the Scottsbluff area apart is the presence of a large-scale irrigation system, the North Platte Project, completed in 1909 by the Bureau of Reclamation. The Bureau provided land for the experimental substation and turned it over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1910 construction began at the original location 6 miles east of Mitchell (about 4 miles north of Scottsbluff on Highway 71, then 1 mile west on Experiment Farm Road). The plots were managed by the USDA until 1948, when the land and management were turned over to the state, and subsequently the university. In 1975 the station moved to its current location, the former site of Hiram Scott College. But the original site – now known as the Mitchell Station – is still an integral part of the research program. The Mitchell Station now consists of 210 acres of research plots, including the Knorr-Holden plots, planted to corn continuously since 1912. The Panhandle Research Feedlot also is located there. The name also has changed. The UNL complex is now known as the Panhandle Research and Extension Center, reflecting a mission that includes not only research, but also extension – sharing with the public what is learned through research. The centennial will be celebrated with a daylong open house on Saturday, July 24. The event will feature tours and displays with an emphasis on change and progress, showing how research and extension has played a part in the adoption of today’s farming methods, compared to the way things were done decades ago. Dean Yonts, co-chairman of the centennial committee, says this celebration will be much different than past field days and tours. “Rather than focusing on current research and programs, we plan to share thorough living history demonstrations how things have changed over the past 100 years,” Yonts said. “It should be a fun day for all. Adults can visualize the changes that they might have gone through and even the kids will have the opportunity to play some of those early day games.” Demonstrations will include topics such as farm equipment, canning and preserving food, 4-H projects, sugarbeet and dry bean production, and more. From the earliest days to the present, much of the work done at the Scotts Bluff Station/Panhandle Research and Extension Center has been related to irrigated agriculture. (Dryland agricultural research is performed at another unit administered by UNL in the Panhandle, the High Plains Ag Lab near Sidney.) The book “The University of Nebraska Lincoln College of Agriculture: The first Century” includes a chapter about the Panhandle Center, which mentions this report issued by the first superintendent, Frederick “Fritz” Knorr: “Knorr’s first Station publication, dated May 1, 1914, dealt with irrigated crops, reporting on work started in 1910. The studies had to do primarily with soils, crops and crop varieties, and irrigation practices and management. Field crops included in these initial studies were alfalfa, sugar beets, wheat, oats, barley, corn and potatoes.” Following Knorr, the superintendents and directors have included James A. Holden, Lionel Harris, John Weihing, Robert D. Fritschen, Burton A. Weichenthal (acting director), Chuck Hibberd, and the current director, Linda Boeckner. Said Boeckner: “We're excited to be able to celebrate our history in 2010 as well as prepare ourselves for the next 100 years. It has been a privilege to serve the agricultural, family and community needs of our clientele over the years through agricultural research and farm visits, 4-H and extension clubs. Moving ourselves into the 21st century with technological changes and emerging national and global agricultural and food production needs and issues is a unique and important challenge for our University of Nebraska researchers and extension faculty. At the same time, we are well-positioned to continue to address the local needs of our rural high plains and sandhills region.” Today the Panhandle Research and Extension Center has 14 faculty members, most with joint research and extension appointments, representing the following disciplines: ag economics, beef nutrition and feedlot management, cow-calf production and range management, entomology, weed science, irrigation management, machinery systems, plant pathology, soil and nutrient management, alternative crops breeding, dry bean breeding, potato production, crop physiology, hydrogeology, nutrition and wellness, and dryland cropping systems. The building is equipped with high-tech laboratories and adjoining well-tended research plots. The city of Scottsbluff has grown out to the very edge of the Panhandle Center, placing it almost in an urban setting. But one can imagine the contrasting scene a century ago by reading the handwritten captions from an old photo album kept by the first superintendent’s wife: “On March 17, 1910, we drove out to the Experiment Farm and found 160 acres without fence or buildings; two lumber piles and three foundation and a pump was the outfit. We saw plenty of work ahead of us and got busy.” And later: “May 20 found us with a number of buildings and considerable of the virgin sod torn up. We did lack some accomadations – the barn was but a poor shelter at the best – the grain bin and machine shed were no better.” “July 4, 1910 found most of the trees in a growing condition and a permanent road leading to the buildings. The telephone line was the only thing that reminded us of nearby civilization, for looking to the south we could see the bluffs where Scott had perished of thirst and hunger. The bluffs were named after him. Thru these bluffs led the Oregon and the Mormon Trail.” The Panhandle Research and Extension Center is on the World Wide Web at panhandle.unl.edu .
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