For Immediate Release

Story Contact:

Jim Freeburn: (307) 837-2000

Contact: Steven L. Miller, Senior Editor

Phone: (307) 766-6342

E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu

Archived News Site www.uwyo.edu/agadmin/news/news.htm

Date: July 5, 2006

Field day showcases new facilities at UW’s SAREC          

            A field day emphasizing the new feedlot facilities and row crop research at the University of Wyoming’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center (SAREC) near Lingle is Aug. 4, and official dedication ceremonies are Sept. 7.

            The public got the first glimpse of the many new facilities during a field day June 21. SAREC Director Jim Freeburn said he was pleased with the turnout. “It wasn’t monstrous, but it was a respectable group,” he said. “After 30 to 40 people left, I counted 68 here. It was a good group of people, and they were from a pretty diverse geographic area.”

            The dedication ceremonies in September will cap a process that started in 1999. A review team of farmers, ranchers, agribusiness representatives, a county commissioner, a former legislator and UW faculty members recommended in 2000 the university build the SAREC facility to replace the existing Archer and Torrington centers to complement research and extension (R&E) centers in Powell and Sheridan.

The trustees in 2003 approved the purchase of the former ranch and also approved the sale of the UW Archer, near Cheyenne, and Torrington R&E centers, with proceeds used to purchase property for SAREC.

Former Agricultural Experiment Station director Jim Jacobs was involved with the process from the beginning until August of last year. He stepped down to return to the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Stephen D. Miller, then-head of the Department of Plant Sciences in the College of Agriculture, became the director.

“It’s a set of land and facilities that provides UW faculty members a field lab in one location to do cross-disciplinary research,” said Jacobs. The other R&E stations are either solely irrigated or dry land.

“None had the size that would provide the set of facilities or acreage to do the cross-disciplinary research,” he noted. “I think SAREC is a set of resources the college hasn’t had before. As I tell everybody, how well it does and how well it is used is still up in the air.”

            A 5,700-plus square-foot building is the cornerstone of the facilities and includes 10 offices, a research preparation room and a seed laboratory. 

            The office has two meeting rooms – one with a capacity of 65 for community education and another for small groups of up to 15.  

            Also built were a livestock research building, a shop, a hazardous materials facility and a feedlot.   

            The livestock facility has an office and a small laboratory along with a processing area for taking research data from cattle and sheep.  The shop will be used to support research efforts at SAREC and will enable UW employees to complete work on plot equipment and more. 

            The hazardous materials facility houses pesticides and fuels. Construction on the feedlot began earlier this year and features 28 pens.

            “We should be implementing some additional construction at the center late this fall, adding a wet lab and dormitory facilities with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development money acquired by our congressional delegation to Washington, D.C.,” said Miller

            Event details for the SAREC dedication are still being finalized.

            On the Web: http://www.uwyo.edu/uwexpstn/Centers/SAREC.asp