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Celebrating 50 Years
With a new lab/office building complex
completed in Summer 2002, a doubling of its professional staff, and an
ever-expanding research scope, the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural
Research Laboratory (NPARL) in Sidney, Montana prepares to celebrate its
parent agency’s 50th anniversary on a high note.
The 1950's: The Beginning
It's all a welcome addition and natural
extension to a station that traces its humble origins back to the 1950s
when local soil conservation districts, ag producers and main street
businessmen joined together to push for construction of an ARS unit in
Sidney. Recognizing the unique growing conditions of the cool, semi-arid
region surrounding the Sidney site and its convenient location near both
glaciated and unglaciated soils, the local contingent presented its case
to Congress. Proponents pointed to the need for agricultural research
tailored to specific climatic and topographic regions and how the Sidney
location would be ideally suited to meet that need. Nestled in the
center of the high quality hard spring wheat and durum growing region of
eastern Montana and western North Dakota, the Sidney location also
included the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers and their
largely untapped irrigation potential.
Also integral to the appeal was the
20-year record of support for agricultural research by local soil
conservation districts. Soil districts in Roosevelt and Sheridan
counties were especially active in putting up money and land for
research efforts, but strong support also came from Richland, Daniels,
Valley and McCone County districts.
While attempts in the 1950s to launch a
new lab in Sidney were initially unproductive, ARS did establish a
presence in Sidney in 1955 when two ARS soil scientists, Dr. James Power
and Mr. Gilbert Schumaker, were assigned to work with Glenn Hartman at
the Eastern Montana Branch Station on dryland soils research.
Cooperation between the two agencies helped to expand existing
facilities, equipment and the research program conducted at the station,
a cooperative alliance that continues to this day.
The 1960's: Establishing the Facility
Despite being rebuffed in their earlier
attempts, local supporters continued to
advocate for the establishment
of an ARS research facility in Sidney. Their persistence was ultimately
rewarded in 1963
 when funding for a new station was approved and ARS
soil scientist Francis Siddoway hired as lab director. The original
building was erected on a 10-acre site donated by Montana State
University’s Eastern Montana Experiment Station.
The original ARS structure, dedicated in
June 1965, was named the Northern Plains Soil and Water Field Station.
Professional staff included Siddoway and fellow ARS scientist Alfred
Black, who together pioneered the use of grass row barriers for wind
erosion control.
Throughout the 60s, the Center continued
to grow, its research efforts targeting crop, range and soil management
issues, including studies in: rangeland hydrology and production
potential; water infiltration characteristics of dryland crop and range
soils; the hydrologic properties of “frail” soils; the soil/crop canopy
environment, and early work in the use of remote sensing in making
management decisions.
The 1970's: National Attention
In mid-1971, soil chemist Ardell Halvorson
joined the lab and focused his research on sugar beet nitrogen levels
and saline seep remediation. The latter topic attracted national
attention in the 70s and early 80s, with the Sidney lab among the first
to develop ways for combating saline seep using intensive, flexible
cropping and tall wheat grass barriers.
The 1980's: Trying Times
With the completion of that successful
research effort in the mid 1980s, national ARS officials called for the
closure of the Sidney facility as a cost saving measure. Strong local
support, however, ultimately led to a compromise wherein the station
remained open, but its research was largely limited to two areas:
conservation tillage and leafy spurge control.
The 1990's: A Promising Future
But the seeds for its future growth had
been sown. Control of leafy spurge and later grasshoppers became pivotal
research areas and harbingers of what was to come. In 1996 the Range
Weed and Range Insect Laboratories located in Bozeman, MT were moved to
Sidney and a new name bestowed: the Northern Plains Agricultural
Research Laboratory. There's been no looking back since.
In 1997, TEAM Leafy Spurge -- a six-year,
Integrated Pest Management research and demonstration project funded by
ARS -- was centered at the Sidney lab. Its subsequent success has helped
solidify the lab’s reputation as a leader in the burgeoning biocontrol
field. The lab also includes the largest ARS grasshopper research
program in the nation.
Nearing the Millenium: Staying Strong
Soil and water management research also
remain critical elements of NPARL’s mission. In 1999, a new irrigation
research program was initiated, with an emphasis on high value crops and
disease prevention in sugar beets. Already, one patent has been filed in
connection with sugar beet research into the foliar disease, Cercospora
leaf spot. Other research looks at alternative crops, crop rotations,
no-till management and precision agriculture for both dryland and
irrigated systems, along with unique studies in soil quality that have
identified soil-aggregating fungi contributing to enhanced water
infiltration and plant root growth.
The New Millenium (2000): Expanded
Horizons
The rapid expansion of the lab in recent
years led to its division into two separate research units in February
2000: the Agricultural Systems Research Unit, which focuses on research
to increase productivity and economic viability of diverse, integrated
dryland and irrigated cropping systems, and the Pest Management Research
Unit, which studies new ways of dealing with the age-old problems of
insect and weed pests, with an emphasis on biological control. Weed
research targets currently include saltcedar, knapweeds, hoary cress and
leafy spurge. Insect pest targets include grasshoppers, Mormon crickets,
wheat stem sawfly, sugarbeet root maggot, and orange blossom wheat
midge.
Today NPARL employs more than 40 full-time
staff and several more part-time and student aides, with the number
increasing to more than 60 during the busy summer months.
And the Sidney lab continues to thrive as
it looks to the future, prepared to address the concerns of ag producers
in this unique region for years to come.
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