Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - 10:30 AM
149-5
History, Trends and Trade-offs for Agricultural Experiment Station Acreages.
C. J. Poehlmann, University of Missouri, 3600 East New Haven Road, 3600 East New Haven Road, Columbia, MO 65201-9608, United States of America
The Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) began in 1870 with an act of the State legislature, donation of a section of land and the donation of $30,000 from local government. With fields surrounding University buildings, it was appropriate to expand non-agricultural programs onto these acres because the new facilities were of benefit to the agricultural college as well. As acreage dropped below a critical mass, other acres were added within close proximity, with acreage being displaced from agriculture to academics, athletics, memorials and scientific development. These needs continue and now aesthetics, liability and odors from agricultural research have become as much a factor as University and community growth. A policy is under development to account for acreages close to campus that are displaced to guarantee “no net loss” for research, replacement land and facilities and adjustment for the inconvenience of greater distances. This paper will examine the origin of AES land at the University of Missouri , realignment of these acres over the years and current policy for displaced land.