History of ARS at Mississippi State Location

ARS research at the Mississippi State Location was under way in the 1950’s or earlier with 3 or 4 ARS scientists working in forages and corn. These early scientists, called agricultural agents, were housed in Mississippi State University facilities. In 1961 a great expansion of research and construction began with the building of the ARS Boll Weevil Research Laboratory and the addition of about 10 young ARS scientists in multiple disciplines working as a team under the direction of Dr. T. B. Davich. Their mission was to develop technology to eradicate the boll weevil from the US. They succeeded, and the boll weevil is now eradicated in states east of the Mississippi River and eradication is underway in states west of the river. By the late 1970’s eradication technology was proven and many boll weevil scientists expanded their research to new research areas. Since the beginning of the expansion in 1961, ARS has continued to grow in number of scientists and breadth of research. Early on, the scientists of the South Central Poultry Research Lab were added, research in forages was expanded and former boll weevil scientists expanded their research to solve other cotton problems. Corn research was expanded, forage research expanded and changed to forages and waste management. The Crop Science Research Laboratory was organized and included research in three research units in cotton, corn, and forages. Currently there are two research units in the Crop Science Research Laboratory which continue to focus on (a) cotton genetics, precision agriculture, and waste management; and (b) corn genetics and plant resistance to aflatoxin. Today, there are three major research units at the location with 86 ARS employees and the ARS campus occupies 20 acres and some 37 buildings. Johnie N. Jenkins was one of the first ARS employees in the Boll Weevil Research Laboratory in 1961 and today he leads ARS research in Cotton Genetics and Precision Agriculture, is Director of the Crop Science Research Laboratory and Location Coordinator for the Mississippi State Location. ARS research contributions by those no longer active, continue to be valuable to agriculture and the general population today. ARS and agricultural organizations currently employ many scientists who spent a part of their career working with ARS scientists at the Mississippi State Location. Scientists and support personnel at this Location continue to expand the horizons of science and provide solutions for important problems in US agriculture. From the beginning, ARS research has been a partnership with Mississippi State University and this partnership continues today.