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Southern Indiana-Purdue Agricultural Center (SIPAC)
At SIPAC in Dubois County, researchers serve needs of farmers who
work the sandstone-shale soils of the area. SIPAC researchers have a history
of intense research in production and utilization of forages and agronomic
crops, management of beef and dairy cattle, and catfish production. Current
research concentrates on beef cattle management, grazing trials, forage
and crop production, and forest management.
The Southern Indiana Disease Diagnostic Laboratory located here serves
the poultry and livestock industry in this part of the state.
The original 1136 acres of the farm was bought by farmers and businessmen
in 40 southern Indiana counties and presented to the Agricultural Experiment
Station (now the Office of Agricultural Research Programs) in 1952. Today
SIPAC is the largest of Purdue's outlying research centers.Ý
Did you know?
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Sheep and cattle don't mix according to traditional wisdom. But Mike Neary
from Purdue's Animal Sciences Department,
working with Keith Johnson, Department
of Agronomy, and Purdue Cooperative Extension Educator Dave Trotter,
are proving traditional wisdom wrong. They're ending up with healthier
pasture and 15 to 18 percent greater meat production by grazing the two
types of animals together. It's a mixed grazing system that may prove ideal
for highly erodable land removed from crop production. The three-year study,
begun in 1991, found that sheep and cow thrive on the same pasture because
they tend to eat different plants in different places. Sheep prefer weeds
and legumes; cattle like mature grasses. Sheep graze on hillsides; cattle
prefer lowlands. "Their diets overlap by only 30 to 35 percent, " said
Neary. They're a good combination, despite tradition.
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The forestry industry in southern Indiana is the fifth largest industry
in the state. It produces some of the highest quality timber in the world.
And about 90 percent of the timber for industrial use comes from privately
owned land. "That's why we have both research and extension programs for
private landowners," said Dennis LeMaster, department head of Forestry
and Natural Resources. At SIPAC, extension forester Ron Rathfon studies
methods of harvesting trees and underplanting new seedlings to help reestablish
good-quality trees after forests are logged. "We want to make landowners
more aware of the value of what they own," said Rathfon, "and help them
become better stewards of their resources."
For more information about the Southern Indiana-Purdue Agricultural
Center, contact:
11371 E Purdue Farm Rd
Dubois IN 47527
Voice: 812-678-3401
Purdue University is an equal access/equal opportunity institution