CMREC - Clarksville Facility

This 925 acre facility, located in Howard County, is the largest research facility owned and operated by MAES. It is home to the University's dairy cattle research herd. The nearly completed renovation and construction program coupled with the addition of two new Dairy Science faculty members, bringing to six the total representing the Animal and Avian Sciences Department, has led to nearly continuous use of the 110 cow milking herd for research projects. The dairy research focus has been primarily in the areas of nutrition, reproduction, physiology, herd health, animal behavior, and the effects of herd management practices upon overall farm nutrient management.

Numerous research and Extension faculty from the Department of Entomology and the Department of Natural Resource Sciences and Landscape Architecture regularly use the facility. Among the programs supported are forage production, alfalfa and corn variety trials, small grains and soybean varietal improvement programs, forage related insect pest management projects, and nutrient management projects utilizing dairy farm wastes.

A constructed wetlands was established during 1997 for a member of the Biological Resources Engineering Department to support a project investigating the effectiveness of a wetlands as a method to utilize dairy waste nutrients. A grant was recently received by a team of scientists representing Environmental Science and Technology, Biological Resouces Engineering, Maryland Cooperative Extension, and CMREC to investigate methods of composting different animal wastes and the potential marketability of the finished compost.

During 1998, the facility became the site of a 45 acre habitat restoration site including some restored wetlands along the banks of the Middle Patuxent River, which flows through the farm. This project received collaborative support and funding from two USDA agencies (Natural Resource Conservation Service and Farm Services Agency), Howard County Soil Conservation District, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the University of Maryland. It is a project that directly supports former Governor Glendening's efforts to re-establish wetlands as part of the Chesapeake Bay quality improvement program.

In the early 1990's, the facility became home to a prototype automated milking system (AMS). Though there is no current research activity with the AMS, the utilization of electronic technology to manage a dairy herd continues to be a focus of research attention. The most recent emphasis is on the use of a foot scale to electronically monitor various cow health and performance factors. This is a collaborative effort involving research faculty from the Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, USDA-BARC, and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

A total of 51 AGNR faculty use Clarksville on either a regular or a periodic basis for their research, instructional, and/or Extension programs. These faculty represent the Departments of Animal and Avian Sciences, Natural Resource Sciences and Landscape Architecture, Entomology, Biological Resources Engineering, Maryland Cooperative Extension, and CMREC. The facility also has on-going projects with individuals representing the federal agencies of the Natural Resources Conservation Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, research has been conducted with the privately owned pest management company, Orkin.

For more information, contact Cindy Mason

Last updated: 05/20/2008

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