At the Subtropical
Agricultural Research Station, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary,
research leader Samuel Coleman estimates forage quality by using a
hyperspectral spectroradiometer to measure light reflectance from the forage
canopy. Photo courtesy
Samuel
Coleman.
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USDA's Florida Research Station Celebrates 75
Years of Excellence
By
Alfredo Flores
May 25, 2007
BROOKSVILLE, Fla., May 25The
Subtropical
Agricultural Research Station in Brooksville, Fla., operated by
USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), today celebrated 75 years of research
accomplishments. The Brooksville station has served as the national center for
characterization, evaluation and preservation of tropically adapted beef cattle
germplasm.
"Scientists here have advanced the genetics, physiology and nutrition
of beef cattle, as well as forage production and water quality," said
Ronnie
D. Green, ARS' national program leader for
food
animal production.
Among the scientists' accomplishments are the creation of a
three-breed cross of Angus, Brahman and Romosinuano cattle; the use of DNA to
screen beef cattle populations for better breeding; identification of gene
markers responsible for slick or longer hair coats in Senepol cattle and their
crossbreeds; and screening bahiagrass for cold tolerance and quality.
The Brooksville station's study pertaining to water quality in lakes
showed that properly managed cow-calf operations should not be major
contributors to excess loads of phosphorus in surface water. Readings over a
15-year period, from 1988-2002, revealed a declining trend for all levels of
phosphorus and other crop nutrients in lake waters, relieving concerns in west
central Florida about runoff from nearby cow pastures.
Another recent project at the station concluded the perennial peanut
(Arachis glabrata) adapts well to the upland soils and climate of the
coastal plain, where it improves the quality of pastures and hay in subtropical
U.S. areas.
The Brooksville station began in 1932 with 2,100 acres of rolling
timber and pastureland donated to the federal government by Col. Raymond
Robins. Today it has 20 full-time federal and state employees. It covers about
3,800 acres, with nearly 85 percent of that land in permanent pasture to
support approximately 500 head of breeding cows in a herd of 1,000 cows, bulls
and calves.
The facility is operated by ARS in cooperation with the
University of Florida's
Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences. ARS is the chief intramural scientific research agency of USDA.