ARS celebrates 50 years of farmland work

By MANDY SPIKES | Central Texas Edition

Hyrum Johnson, ARS ecologist, evaluates the water balance of plants grown on the test plots located at ARS in Temple. -Staff photo by Spikes

November 13, 2003 -- The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) department, a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Located in more than 100 locations throughout the U.S., the ARS uses three major components - plants, animals, and natural resources - to help improve the land around them.

At the Temple ARS, called the Blackland Experiment Station (BES), more than 8,000 employees work on research and experiments to help im-prove cropland and rangeland in the Central Texas area. Clarence Richardson is the laboratory director of the ARS in Temple. "The Agricultural

Research

Service was officially created on Nov. 2, 1953," explained Richardson. "Our agency is the research agency for the USDA."

The tubes are used to measure the moisture at the different levels in the soil. -Staff photo by Spikes

But the research goes further back than fifty years, he said. "In 1861, Abraham Lincoln began the USDA as an organization to help with research of the farmland throughout the country.

"Lincoln's objective was to have better research results in order to grow better food and fiber in the U.S. As time went on, the USDA went on to become a larger agency."

With this expansion, which continued during the Eisenhower era, came more bureaus and agencies, he added. "Eisenhower and the Secretary of Agriculture at the time, Ezra Benson, decided that they needed to restructure the USDA. They took all the scattered groups that were doing research and formed one agency, the ARS."

Richardson said that the Temple ARS, the BES, was authorized by the Texas Legislature in 1909. "The main reason that the BES was created was to address the unique situation of managing soils."

The BES was actually established in 1913. Known as Substation 5, it was an entity of Texas A&M University and was located on a site that was half way between Temple and Belton, in the community of Midway.

"The BES moved to its current location in 1927. In 1929, the USDA brought its research program here. It was part of several agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management and the Soil Conservation Service. We finally became known as the ARS in 1953."

In the early 1970's, funds were appropriated for a larger ARS center in Temple, thanks to congressman Bob Poage, Richardson explained.

"This building was completed in 1973. Because our building was larger, we were given more help with funding for research."

Another test being done is seeing if certain insects will help destroy salt cedar. -Staff photo by Spikes

The original effort of the BES was to look at ways to conserve soil and get better productivity with that soil. "In 1973, we took on a new dimension. We began to work on rangelands to re-vegetate and make the lands more productive.

"We also worked on controlling brush and woody species and through this rangeland tried to find ways to produce more forages for beef cattle."

He added that the BES also has a program that looks at global change based on vegetation and one that deals with drinking water quality.

"We are looking at ways to work with the land with less negative effects on the environment," he said.

There are two research units located inside the ARS, the Natural Resources Systems Research Unit (NRSRU) and the Grassland Protection Research Unit (GPRU). "The NRSRU deals with soil and water conservation issues," Richardson said. "They do this by developing computer models to check what will happen to the land if we run a certain test.

"The GPRU has a two-fold focus. This first is that it deals with global change and the effect of the vegetation compositions on rangelands if the carbon dioxide is increased. They also work with biological control, which means identifying insects to feed on unwanted plants in a rangeland area."

One such plant is the salt cedar. The problem with this plant is it invades many streams, using a lot of water and putting too much salt in the soil.

"The salt cedar originated in Central Asia. We are looking at insects that are natural enemies to the plant.

"What we will do next is we will go into areas of Central Asia and find these insects. We will then test them and bring them here and release them in a controlled environment to help get rid of salt cedar."