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Northeast-Purdue Agricultural Center (NEPAC)
NEPAC is a modest-sized research facility made up of three parcels
of land, totaling 440 acres. The land, with its unique rolling,
glaciated soils, is typical of farmland in northeast Indiana.
This corner of the state is unlike any other part of Indiana,
so agricultural research conducted in this area transfers more
readily to local producers than that conducted at other locations
in the state. Farmers want to know how a practice is going to
work on their soil.
Of the 440 acres that make up the center, 360 acres are tillable,
and about half of these acres are devoted to research annually.
Field research got fully under way in the spring of 1992. Since
then, more than 80 researchers and technicians have worked at
NEPAC. They come from five different departments at Purdue as
well as the Whitley County SWCD, NRCS, the Clean Water Indiana
program, CES educators and industry.
Today, researchers
from Purdue's Departments of Agronomy, Agricultural and Biological
Engineering, Botany and Plant Pathology, and Entomology conduct
research at NEPAC in the following areas:
- Soil Fertility
- Insect, weed and disease control
- Corn, soybean and canola production trials
- Alfalfa and canola variety trials
- Tillage systems
NEPAC, under the direction of Area extension educators, serves
the local community several ways.
Annual Field Day
- Researchers share
results of their trials with the public
- Special guests
present topics of current interest
.
Crop Diagnostic Training Clinic
- Center
staff and extension educators prepare plots of corn and soybeans
to simulate crop problems
- University
specialists and extension educators use these plots to train
professional
crop consultants, fertilizer and chemical dealers, seedsmen
and farmers to recognize and diagnose problems they might see
in their fields.
Informational meetings
- Strip tillage demonstration
- Planter upgrades
- Pond clinics
- Woodland and wetland management
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