This month, two research stations operated in partnership between the department, N.C. State University and N.C. A&T State University celebrate a centennial. The Tidewater Research Station in Plymouth celebrated 100 years last week, and the Oxford Tobacco Research Station will hold its celebration this week. In honor of these accomplishments, we pulled some photos and information about the stations from the 1940 Biennial Report.
Blackland Test Farm, 1940, the original site of the Tidewater Research Station.
The Blackland Test Farm in Wenona was the original location of the Tidewater Research Station. The photo above depicts the superintendent’s house and office building there. In 1940, the test farm provided valuable information for farmers looking to balance livestock and crop production.
“It is gratifying to report that the Station is becoming more useful each year and that the farmers of this section are taking advantage of the opportunity to put into practice the facts that have been found at the Station.” – 1940 Biennial Report
Newly completed laboratory buliding at Oxford Tobacco Research Station in 1940.
The report also outlined the objective of the Oxford Tobacco Research Station in 1940, “to improve the tobacco crop by better cultural methods, better methods of applying fertilizers, crop rotations, varieties, disease control and better curing methods.” Moving forward, the station will continue to conduct research to support the state’s tobacco farmers. It also is instrumental in the future of agricultural research as the location of the N.C. Biofuels Campus.
Since 1877, the Research Stations Division, or Experiment Stations Division as it was originally called, has been providing research-based results to improve farming quality across the state. Each facility has unique climate and soil conditions, giving researchers a living laboratory that can be applied to different regions of the state.
The department partners with researchers at N.C. State University and N.C. A&T State University to investigate a variety of regional crops, forestry concerns, livestock, poultry and aquaculture. Each station holds field days, which are open to the public, to present findings from its test plots. Follow the link to learn more about the Research Stations Division.