Celebrating 125 years of ag research in Wyoming

Like a science fair with an agricultural flair, the University of Wyoming’s Powell Research and Extension Center opened its doors on Tuesday to present what has been growing in its experimental fields.

Farmers are always looking for improved methods and better crops to grow, but experimenting in their own fields is risky business, and a failed crop isn’t a gamble that savvy farmers are willing to take.

This is where the research center comes into play. Ag producers can bring their ideas or questions to the center, and they’ll try out those ideas to figure out what works best. Sometimes it’s planting a new crop, or it’s a new approach to planting, harvesting, or applying herbicide, insecticide or fungicide.

Driving by the station, it’s easy to see some of the fields look pretty rough, and that’s often intentional. Problems farmers face get recreated in the fields so the research teams can try different approaches to solving them to figure out what works best — and this practice has been underway in Wyoming for 125 years.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station and the 76th anniversary for the Powell station.

To go along with the 125th anniversary, the research stations are fundraising toward creating a $125,000 endowment fund to help future research projects, said John Tanaka, associate director of the ag experiment stations.

“It won’t generate a lot of funds, but it will allow some small pilot studies,” Tanaka said, estimating it will generate about $5,000 to $6,000 per year.

Just like all state agencies, the UW research stations are facing a budget cut, he said.

“We are managing it with minimal impact,” Tanaka said.

Since the Field Day was about looking at the future and history of Wyoming agriculture, guests got a look at some antique equipment, such as Keith Murray’s 1910 steam engine tractor — which weighed in at 420,000 pounds and is one of only three working models left in the United States. One of the three is at the Smithsonian Institution, and it is never run.

“People were impressed with it,” said Jeremiah Vardiman, University of Wyoming Extension educator. “It is neat to see something that old and how they used to do it back then and that it is still functioning. We are fortunate to have that here in Powell.”

Guests also got a look into how drones are used in modern farming practices, courtesy of UW researcher Matt Wallhead.

One of the highlights of the day was the demonstration on honey bees, Vardiman said.

University of Wyoming agricultural liaison librarian Dave Kruger was also at the Field Day to discuss his book, “125 Years of the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station, 1891-2016.”

Guests also got to take a ride on the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources’ renovated sheep wagon, pulled along by UW’s draft-horse team of Pistol and Pete.

In addition to all of this, guests also got a look at Simplot’s SmartFarm technology, 4-H Robotics club demonstrations, the Powell MakerSpace’s 3-D printer and laser engraver, and UW meat science and food technology professor Warrie Means provided advice about meat preparation, selection and cooking.

“It has gone great, with a great turnout and great interaction with the local community,” Tanaka said. “I think we learned as much as the people in the community have learned.”

Field tours explaining what each of the crops were and what was being done to them were led by the Powell station’s farm manager Camby Reynolds and UW research associate Andi Pierson.

There are multiple research stations in Wyoming and Powell’s main focus is on irrigation and variety trials, Pierson said. But, fields can’t just go from one experiment to the next — the previous crop and the chemicals used on it can impact what is planted there next. So to ensure that each field experiment starts with a clean slate, the fields get cycled over for an even start on new experiments, she said.

One factor that can’t be controlled in ag research is the weather, and last year’s long growing season has impacted some of the research, as has insect and weed pressure, Vardiman said.

“We aren’t coming up with questions; we are trying to find the answers,” Tanaka said. “It is always specific to the area. Some of it is not new research, but is applied differently in different places. It is those local questions the research centers can try to answer, as well as finding new methods.”

The center has been hearing about some local interest in soy beans, and with that comes finding a way to control nightshade growth, Reynolds said.

“Everyone wants to know the best way to control weeds,” Reynolds said. “It is nice to see the projects in the field, but there are no results to offer yet.”

It can take multiple years of trial planting before a conclusion can be confidently made, but progress has been promising on multiple projects, which guests got a closer look at during the field tours.

Planting for progress

Many research projects are in the works at the research station. Some are brand new and others are ongoing, such as the cooperative dry bean nursery that’s worked on by Wyoming Seed Certification Manager Mike Moore.

In this project, multiple varieties of beans are planted in the same way that they’re planted at other research farms. From there, the harvest yields and maturity dates are compared, and that information gets shared across the board — taking the guesswork out of deciding what to plant.

Of course, a Powell field station wouldn’t be complete without some malt barley trials. One trial crop has two varieties of barley planted in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture so the American Malt Barley Association can make informed selections for the next year’s varieties, Pierson said.

A sister trial is also in place where a different kind of barley is grown for malting, feeding and food varieties. The information collected in this field gets sent to the USDA office in Aberdeen, Idaho, for a total of 60 varieties of barley compared, Pierson said. This information is particularly useful to local companies such as Briess Malt and Ingredients Co., she said.

To go along with the beer industry, a malting variety of wheat is being looked into for Briess, with three different varieties planted, she said.

“With all the new micro breweries popping up, we’re looking for different types for different tastes,” Pierson said.

Other crops were less familiar to the Field Day guests, such as goji berries that are planted alongside some grape vines near the north end of the field station.

Goji berries are a sweet type of berry that’s often found in health food stores and can be used in drinks such as tea. Thanks to ongoing research in Powell, three varieties of goji berries have been found suitable for growing in similar climates.

“Goji berries are a high-potential, high-value crop,” Pierson said. “They can survive in 20 below zero weather, and they bud and flower early for an earlier fruiting season.”

Also among the research fields are three varieties of potatoes that were part of a local request to find out what kind would grow best in the Powell area for possible sale at the farmers’ market, Pierson said.

The Big Horn Basin is big on beans, and with that comes research into all kinds of beans and legumes. Among the bunch is lupin seed production and figuring out what works for pre- and post-emergent herbicide sprays. That is being researched by Gustavo Sbatella, UW assistant professor of irrigated crop and weed management.

Sbatella is also working on drought tolerance trials on beans to figure out what can be done to increase bean production yields on well water systems, Pierson said. This project was funded partially by the newly formed Wyoming Dry Bean Commission.

Local farmers might also take an interest in a sweet crop that’s facing a not-so-sweet problem. Right now, the research station is conducting a fungicide study for sugar beets with root rot, Pierson said.

These fields were intentionally infected with different severities of root rot so researchers could determine what the most effective remedy is, Pierson said.

For more information on UW’s ag research completed since 2010, go to

wyagresearch.org. The website lists the projects other Wyoming farmers and ranchers wanted researched and what’s being done with them.

“We are starting to chat about some things on new projects, challenges and difficulties and what they are seeing in the fields,” Vardiman said, adding that they are identifying what is needed and if the suggestions are feasible projects.

“We are here as a resource for the public and when they have a question, just stop by and visit with us, we are interested to hear their ideas and if there is a way we can put it into a project — that is what we want to do,” Reynolds said.

As for Powell projects that are underway, look for the upcoming special section in the Powell Tribune on Aug. 11.