Tuesday, November 14, 2006 - 9:30 AM
149-1
Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center: More Neighbors More Challenges.
In general most Agricultural Experiment Stations in Arkansas and other states were established in rural areas. Of the 13 Agricultural Research Stations in Arkansas one is faced with a continued rapid increase in the local population and the challenges that come with many new neighbors. The Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Fayetteville was established in the early 1920’s in a location that was then two miles north of the University of Arkansas campus. Field research was conducted on campus until that time. Over the years the city of Fayetteville has advanced on and surrounded the station. With the increased population has come highway development, requests for utility infrastructure easements, land around the station zoned as high density residential, people’s perception that the station is a public park to be used by people and their animals, pressure by developers to get station property and administrators looking for space for more buildings. Solutions for many of the challenges of an increase in population can be over come by good communication with the city, land owners around the station and the community. Other solutions include being a good neighbor when applying fertilizer and pesticide treatments that may affect land next to the station and communicating the benefit of continued station research to the community.
Recorded presentation