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CMREC - Beltsville Facility
The Central Maryland Research and Education Center (CMREC) - Beltsville Facility has 287 acres and is located in northern Prince George's County on property owned by USDA-BARC. It is managed by the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) under the guidelines established in a Cooperative Agreement with USDA-BARC. This facility is primarily used for basic and applied agronomic crop related research and Extension projects. Examples of current research projects conducted at Beltsville include the small grain variety improvement project, cover crops and their applications for nutrient management, best management practices for the use of herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers, cropping systems research, and integrated pest management projects.
Beltsville is frequently used by the instructional programs faculty as a field laboratory. The closeness to campus (approximately 15 minutes) easily allows the scheduling of a class for crop, weed and insect identification, an up-close observation of the various pieces of agricultural equipment, a look at the grain handling facilities on the farm, or a session about sprayer calibration.
This facility is used extensively as a "staging area" for AGNR faculty. In that regard, numerous faculty store equipment and supplies that are used to support their research programs at MAES research facilities located further from campus. The technical support crew at Beltsville is well versed in the equipment modifications and repairs necessary to adapt commonly used agricultural equipment to the special requirements of research and are for the research faculty.
This facility's closeness to campus also makes it a regular stop for international visitors who are interested in learning about the unique relationships among instruction, research, and Extension programs at a Land Grant institution.
A total of 27 AGNR faculty use Beltsville on either a regular or periodic basis for their research, instructional, and/or Extension programs. These faculty represent the Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, Department of Environmental Sciences and Technology, Department of Entomology, Maryland Cooperative Extension, Institute of Applied Agriculture, and CMREC. In addition, there are generally 2-3 USDA-BARC research faculty that use the facility annually.
CMREC - Beltsville Facility
12000 Beaver Dam Road
Laurel, MD 20708
301.345.1225
For more information, contact Cindy Mason
Last updated: 05/20/2008
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