Enhancement of Hundley-Whaley Research Farm
Mission: The Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station is
responsible for conducting problem solving research that helps the
state's citizens make the most effective use possible of the
state's natural resource base, including its people resources, in
competing in an increasingly global economy and meeting our
obligations as global citizens.
The mission of the Hundley-Whaley farm planning committee and
staff is to plan and work cooperatively with Industry, the Missouri
CAFNR and University Outreach and Extension to conduct and extend
the results of applied agronomic research to agriculture producers
and others with the intent that those receiving the information
will utilize it profitably in their business and personal lives.
Program: The program at Hundley-Whaley is one of conducting
applied agronomic research, interpreting the research data and
extending the findings of the research to row crop producers in
north Missouri, southwest Iowa, northeast Kansas and southeast
Nebraska. Emphasis is on soybean and field corn production
research.
The crop protection and seed industries are vital to the
Hundley-Whaley program, both in financial support and educational
outreach. Representatives of industry work with professional
scientists and educators to develop protocols for research at the
farm. Representatives from industry also conduct field stops at
the annual Hundley-Whaley farm tour.
The annual tour is the highlight of the Hundley-Whaley year.
Eleven hundred people attend the tour annually. Data generated by
the research programs is also shared with producers in reports,
crop producer's winter meetings and news releases, columns and
newsletters throughout the year. Data is also shared with weed
scientists in the North Central Region via paper presentations at
the North Central Weed Science Society annual meetings.
Objective: Develop the Hundley-Whaley Research Farm into a
"regional agronomy training center". This will require the
following.
- Construction of a comprehensive office and meeting
facility at the site (Learning Center).
- Development of a full time staff to conduct applied
research, with emphasis on biotechnology.
- Development of a research "network" program that would
encompass research on the farm and on the farms of
selected leading farmers in the counties surrounding the
research farm.
- Development of an outreach and extension program for farm
and non-farm audiences that would encompass all areas of
the food production chain.
Enhancement Needs: The first step in the process of reaching the
stated objective will require the construction of an
office/research/training center building (Learning Center). The
facility would also be equipped to provide telecommunications
resources. This facility would cost approximately $750,000.00.
The UM Board of Curators, with assistance from the CAFNR Dean,
included the facility in the "Capital Improvements" request to the
Governor and Missouri Legislature for 1998. The state authorized
$250,000.00 for construction of the facility in 1998. This and
other (local and federal) funding will be required to construct the
facility.
The second step in the process will be to secure funding for
staffing that would work to provide the environment necessary to
carry out the stated mission for the research farm. Currently
there are no full time staff at the farm. Research is conducted by
two UO&E Regional Agronomists. Support staff are all part-time.
Obtaining a full-time research farm superintendent/facilities
manager would be of highest priority. Funding to employ scientists
in the area of crop protection, corn and soybean genetics and
environmental protection will need to be secured. These scientists
would conduct appropriate applied research, with emphasis on
biotechnology. Campus scientists would also be encouraged and
expected to carry out relevant research at the farm. University
Outreach and Extension would be expected to house appropriate
regional specialists in the Learning Center in order to collaborate
with researchers and to extend applied research results to the end
user. The University of Missouri Board of Curators is expected to
ask the Missouri General Assembly for personnel enhancement funds
in the amount of $250,000 for Hundley-Whaley enhancement during the
1999 legislative session. These moneys would be used to provide a
core staff at the site.
Planning and Public Support: The overall work at the Hundley-Whaley farm is directed by the members of the Hundley-Whaley Farm
Planning Committee. The committee is made up of agriculture
producers and businessmen in northwest Missouri. Members provide
direction for research at the farm. They also provide a core for
public support of research conducted at the site.
General producer support of the efforts at Hundley-Whaley is
most evident at the annual tour of research and demonstrations at
the farm. Attendance at the event is approximately eleven hundred
farmers and other agri-business people.
Resources and History: In late 1978, Lula Hundley Whaley and Jane
Elma Hundley bequeathed 300 acres of land, near Albany, Missouri to
the University of Missouri for agricultural research and
experimentation.
The farm consists of 364 acres of Grand River bottom land in
Gentry county. There are six major soil types making up the
Hundley-Whaley farm. About one-half of the soil is classified as
a Nodaway silt loam, and this land is in timber and wet lands. The
remaining land consists of Grundy, Pershing and Nevin silt loam and
of Bremer and Zook silty clay loam. This land is in row crop
production research.
Four buildings are presently on the grounds of the Hundley-Whaley Farm. All are pole buildings. One is a 40' by 60' totally
enclosed building used for machine storage. This building also
houses a 16' by 34' office and a bathroom. A second building is
an open 64' by 80' structure that serves as machinery storage for
most of the year. It is also used during the annual tour to
shelter farm visitors. The third building is the pesticide storage
and mixing facility constructed during the fall and winter of 1995.
It was built to meet EPA and DNR criteria for pesticide handling.
The fourth building was constructed in the spring of 1996. It is
a completely enclosed 40' by 60' pole and metal building used for
machinery storage.
Equipment on the farm is valued at slightly over $100,000. No
livestock are kept at the Hundley-Whaley farm.
Presently, the Hundley-Whaley Farm is the University of
Missouri's primary applied research site for northwest Missouri
corn and soybean producers. Research centers around crop
protection and variety evaluations. The site was the first
University of Missouri site to evaluate glyphosate tolerant
soybeans. Currently about one-half of the research at the farm
utilizes genetically transformed crops.
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