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By Caron Jones of Carolina One Realty
ORIGINALLY A DAIRY FARM UTILIZED TO FEED PATIENTS AT THE JOHN UMSTEAD HOSPITAL, THE UMSTEAD RESEARCH FARM IS NOW PRIMARILY A RESEARCH SITE FOR BEEF CATTLE
Established in the 1940s, this research station was originally part of the John Umstead Hospital and was known as the Umstead State Farm. the initial two-fold mission of this farm was to provide food for the hospital and opportunities for some of the patients to work. At that time, the farm included agriculture enterprises related to poultry production of eggs and broilers, vegetable production, beef production, and a dairy operation.
THE NC DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE’S UMSTEAD RESEARCH STATION
History of this research station.
The property that the Umstead Research Station occupies today was actually developed back in the 1940s as part of the John Umstead Hospital, also known as the Umstead State Farm.
At that time, its mission was to provide food for the hospital and also opportunities for some of the patients to work. The farm agriculture included poultry production of eggs and broilers, vegetable production, beef production, and a dairy operation that became part of the N.C. State University research program in 1949.
During the 1980s the 1,250 acre beef operation was transferred to NCSU for what is now the Butner Beef Field Lab. The farm continued to participate in dairy research until the summer of 2004 when the dairy research program was consolidated to other research locations.
State of the Umstead Station today.
Today it is primarily a research site for crops, Biofuels, Forestry, and support for the NC Beef System.
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The 4,800-acre site’s cropland and pastures regularly host research plots to study invasive weeds and cattle, and produce hay for other research stations, including nearby Butner Beef Cattle Field Laboratory and the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine.
Forestry is a big part of the Umstead Research Station as we partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on multiple research studies, including studies on pine genetics, timber management, watersheds, and biofuels. The station also works with the NCSU Department of Applied Ecology on ponds and aquaculture research.
More about this 4,800-acre site.
It includes about 400 acres of cropland, 250 acres of pastureland and 3,450 acres of timber. Buildings on this station are consistent with a farm that has been established for several decades and include a centrally located office/shop, a multi-purpose building, numerous storage sheds for equipment and crops.
Why this site was selected.
This station is located here in large part because of its original proximity to the John Umstead Hospital. As for the terrain, there are rolling hills here that are typical to those found in the piedmont area of the state. There are also several streams that are occasionally flooded and there are numerous fields adjacent to these streams. Forestry lands include both pines and hardwoods.
Programs for education and community groups.
In addition to agriculture research, the station is also utilized by educational and community groups. Some examples of past events would be a test site for autonomous vehicles, regional field trials for tracking dogs, and a campsite for a statewide bow hunters’ club.
It also hosts NC State University students that come there for classes and graduate research projects including animal science, soil science, crop science, entomology, ag engineering, applied ecology, aerospace engineering, as well as the AG institute.
It works with federal and state agencies like the USDA, the Soil and Water Conservation, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, the North Carolina Extension Service, and the North Carolina Wildlife Service.
About herbicide research there
Researchers also come there to conduct studies related to nutrition, physiology, and breeding in beef cattle. These help the researchers better understand how to produce high-quality, marketable beef.
They employ forage management for cattle grazing so that the cattle harvest the forage themselves, reducing the need for dedicated hay production.
Forage management.
This is generally a range of practices designed to optimize the growth of plants that are eaten by livestock, thus ensuring a sustainable feed supply for livestock. It includes things like grazing management, fertilization, and pest control.
The GrowSafe feed efficiency platform.
The Vytelle Growsafe System is used to feed cattle using water intake and daily weight technology. This feed system runs off cattle RFID ear tags and is monitored through a computer system.
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Cattle are able to eat out of feeders that are positioned on scales so that the feed for each cow can be weighed both before and after animal eats.
This system actually calculates the feed intake for each cow which in turn is correlated back to the health of each cow. The system also has a water measurement function as well. It can record the amount of water that each cow consumes and it can also weigh the animal as it drinks water. At this time, there are 16 feeders and 8 waterer systems included in this system.
Wildflower research at this facility.
300 acres of the Umstead Research Station are preserved as a protection area for the endangered smooth coneflower and a 1,600-acre tract around Lake Holt is preserved under a conservation easement.
Conservation and forestry management practices.
In order to promote the preservation of land and green space, there are two large sites that have been set aside for conservation.
One of these is about 300 acre and is strictly used for the study of and the protection of the federally endangered smooth coneflower.
The other site is a 1,600 acre area around Lake Holt, the water supply source for the town of Butner. This tract is under a conservation easement so that future development there would be prohibited.
About its forested land.
There are two separate tracts of forested land that are being used in a comparative study to determine Best Management Practices related to surface runoff following logging.
There are also several current watershed research projects that with the USDA and also with researchers at NCSU.
These researchers have ongoing projects that look at things like specific bird populations, wildlife, water runoff, gas emissions. soil temperatures, soil health, and native grasses
Recent Improvements.
The GrowSafe Feed system was an interesting improvement.
There have also been the acquiring of field equipment needed for installation of plot research, the upgrading of forage equipment to better manage the production of hay for other stations, and the improvements necessary to designate two forest tracts for long term BMP study.
Why this station was established at this location.
In large part, it was primarily the consistent Piedmont heat that was the reason that this station is located here. It is this heat factor that allows it to complete fescue and heat tolerance research on the beef herd.
About the ECONet towers that all of the stations have.
All of these towers collect weather data at the research stations and transmit this information to the State Climate Office on the NCSU campus in Raleigh for its state-wide use.
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And each research station uses this same data to make management decisions and better understand the effect that weather has on our research projects.
Ongoing programs and educational events.
NC State Extension routinely does events about grazing, crop production, and forage production. One can find information about these events by going to the NC Extension web site.
Examples of specific events that are held at this research station.
State Beef Field Day, Reproduction field day, and Variety Trial field day are just a few examples of events held at this facility.
Volunteers.
Most of the volunteers are undergrad college students - Animal Science majors. They help collect data, record animal weights, process feed samples and help us with general farm duties including cleaning, and mowing.
Staff.
There is a cow/calf manager that maintains the cow herd, and is responsible for breeding, calving, and daily care. There is a nutrition and physiology manager that performs nutrition studies, and a shop supervisor that take care of things like crop and hay production.
Future potential developments and uses.
A future contribution is related to the availability of water for both development and agriculture. With the demand for water constantly increasing, fields located adjacent to creeks are ideal for studying plastic-culture on various specialties.
Plasticulture.
Plasticulture is the application of plastic materials in agriculture, and offers significant benefits across different farming and horticultural specialties.
Potential benefits can range from increased yields to earlier and extended harvests. There can also be increases in water conservation, better weed and pest control, and even improved crop quality.
This blog courtesy of your Pittsboro area RPP Volunteer Caron Jones of Carolina One Realty