Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) is the research institution of the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. The center is home to research projects ranging from plant and animal sciences to human ecology and medicine, and includes branches across the state covering a total of over 7,000 acres (28 km²).

History

The Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station was founded in 1882 in Columbus and moved to Wooster ten years later. The station grew at Wooster, focusing on crops commonly raised in Ohio, such as corn,

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

livestock husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, start ...

and

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient ...

, and expanding into other departments such as entomology. It was renamed the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in 1965 and entered a period in which it thrived with increased funding and new breakthroughs, such as Lowell "Skip" Nault's immensely important discovery of a teosinte in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

that could be crossed with corn to make it more resistant to disease in 1979. This golden age was cut off shortly afterwards, though, as the OARDC suffered from the state's need to cut expenditures and merged with the Ohio State University in 1982 due to funding problems. After a decade of continued financial woes, the OARDC experienced a resurgence in the 1990s with the help of new director, Thomas Payne, and new funding.

Research and projects

The OARDC has pioneered research in aerial pesticide application, round hay bales, new apple cultivars, ''

Phytophthora sojae ''Phytophthora sojae'' is an oomycete and a soil-borne plant pathogen that causes stem and root rot of soybean. This is a prevalent disease in most soybean growing regions, and a major cause of crop loss. In wet conditions the pathogen produces ...

'' oomycete in soybeans, removal of lead contamination in soil, and hundreds of other projects. The center provides information for farmers and an education for graduate students, and also deals with consumer-friendly products, rural and urban communities, environmental stewardship, and many other issues important in and beyond Ohio.

Locations

*Columbus *Wooster *Ashtabula ( Kingsville) *North Central ( Fremont) *Muck Crops ( Celeryville) *Northwest ( Hoytville) *NAEWS & Pomerene Lab ( Coshocton) *Western ( Springfield) *Eastern ( Caldwell) *OSU South Centers ( Piketon) *Southern ( Ripley) (now closed) *

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

External links

Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC)KnowledgeBank of OARDC
{{Authority control Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Education in Wayne County, Ohio 1882 establishments in Ohio