In Washington County east of Plymouth, the Tidewater Research Station is part of a unique place in North Carolina’s agricultural research landscape. As the easternmost of the state’s 18 research stations operated by the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS), Tidewater provides a research platform unlike anywhere else in the state. It is indeed a fine example of the diverse geography and climate found across the state’s various locations for research stations.
The Tidewater Research Station was established in 1943, replacing the earlier Blackland Test Farm near Wenona that was established in 1912. The station now encompasses roughly 1,550 acres, including cropland, pasture, woodland, ponds and research facilities. Collins often summarizes it more simply.
“There are about 650 acres between field crops and pastures, and about 50 acres in buildings and facilities, and around 800 acres of timber,” explained Rusty Collins, superintendent of the Tidewater Research Station since 2019.
What truly sets Tidewater apart, however, is its soils — some of the most fertile, but also most challenging, soils in the state.
“We’re at the edge of the Blackland soils of North Carolina,” Collins said. “That’s why this station was put here — to do research and help farmers learn more about Blackland soils.”
Those soils, high in organic matter and paired with shallow water tables, once baffled early farmers. According to the station’s webpage on the NCDA&CS website, “this region of North Carolina has expanded rapidly in agricultural enterprises during the past 35 years. Extensive land clearing and drainage occurred in this region from the early 1960s to the 1980s, and the need for research grew with increased crop acreage.”
“Especially when it was created [as the test farm in 1912] they were trying to figure out how to actually grow something in these soils because they were so rich, they’d end up with corn 11-foot tall with just a little nub of an ear on it,” Collins said.
Over time, research into drainage, fertility and crop management has transformed the region into one of the state’s most productive agricultural areas.
Signature Research Programs
Although the Tidewater Research Station supports a wide range of projects, Collins pointed to two programs that most clearly define the station’s identity.
“One thing that sticks out for us is we have an Irish potato breeding program,” he said. “A lot of folks don’t realize that we grow Irish potatoes in the state of North Carolina. Everybody thinks about sweet potatoes.”
The program focuses on potatoes bred specifically for the chipping industry, supplying raw material for potato chips. The station’s location and infrastructure make it ideally suited for this work, and it’s something you won’t find much of in other regions of the state.
The second defining feature is livestock research — particularly swine.
“The other thing [that is significant at Tidewater] would be the swine unit,” Collins said. “I think we’re the only station now that has a swine unit.”
Currently, the station operates a 200-sow farrow-to-finish research facility dedicated to genetic research in pigs. Plans are underway to replace the existing facility, and the very first on-site work for the project began less than two weeks into the new year.
“It’s an updated replacement because the facility we’re in now, the majority of the facility dates back to the 1970s,” Collins said.Tidwater Research Station
Field Crops and Large-Scale Research
Beyond potatoes and swine, Tidewater is heavily engaged in field crop research, reflecting the surrounding agricultural economy.
“The other thing that’s probably the most prevalent locally is field crop research,” Collins said. “We do cotton, corn, soybeans, wheat and even a little bit of sage.”
Unlike some stations that focus on small, intensive plot work, Tidewater’s research often happens at in large scale fields.
“We get a lot of larger projects, I would say, and when I say that, we don’t do a lot of plots,” Collins said. “You go to some stations, and they may have 15 plots in a two-acre area. Most of our plots are bigger.”
The station has also supported limited rice research in the past, though Collins was clear about its scope.
“We’ve done dry land rice,” he said. “We do not actually flood the rice like they do at Tidewater Grain Company [further south in Pamlico County].”
A Partnership Supporting Producers Today and Tomorrow
One of Tidewater’s most distinctive features is the presence of the Vernon G. James Research and Extension Center, located directly on the station. The 32,000-square-foot facility houses N.C. State University faculty and extension specialists working in disciplines ranging from entomology and plant pathology to soils, livestock and aquaculture.
Collins views Tidewater’s role as consistent with the broader mission of North Carolina’s research stations: delivering practical, field-tested knowledge directly to producers.
“We’re here to advance ag research and to be based so that the research can go back to the people that need it the most, which are the producers,” he said.
Recent investments in equipment and infrastructure have strengthened that role.
“In the last four to five years, with the inputs from the legislature we’ve been able to modernize a lot of our equipment,” Collins said. “That has put us back on top, as far as a great research platform to carry forward in the future.
“We should be in the forefront, and producers should be watching to see what we’re doing,” he said. “To be able to go back and help them become better producers.”
With roughly 20 full- and part-time employees and a steady presence of researchers, the Tidewater Research Station continues to evolve. It’s grounded in its unique soils, shaped by collaboration and focused on practical solutions for North Carolina agriculture.