Newlands Research Center
The Nevada
Agricultural Experiment Station’s Newlands Research Center is the location
of a rich legacy of agricultural research. Originally written into the 1902 Newlands
Reclamation Law, the Newlands Research Center is part of Churchill County’s
Irrigation District. The 160 acre farm was started in 1906 and has since been used
for agricultural research for growing crops and raising livestock in the irrigation
district.
Just a few short miles south of Fallon, Nevada on US 95, the farm was first run
by the USDA from 1925 to 1940 in a cooperative agreement with the Experiment Station.
During this period, crop research was conducted on crop rotation, toxicity of alkali
salts, and methods of reclaiming alkali
soils. They also established
experiments in feeding and nutrition of farm livestock, such as dairy cows, swine,
turkeys, beef cattle and sheep.
Today, the Newslands Research Center is being planned to be used by the Great Basin
Plant Materials Center, run by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service,
with 25 of its acres dedicated to research by the Experiment Station. This arrangement
is optimum. The facility will be used to generate plant materials such as native
seed, and land users will benefit from the crop as native seed can be used for land
rehabilitation and restoration after fires.