Research Stations - UCPRS - Brochure
Station Facts
The Upper Coastal Plain Research Station is the oldest of the state’s 18 research stations, established on a trial basis in 1902 on 201 acres of rented land eight miles southeast of Rocky Mount, on the Old Tarboro Road (now Noble’s Mill Pond Road). The option on the land was exercised in 1903 when the station officially became a state research facility. An adjacent tract of 240 acres was purchased in 1937, for a total of 441 acres. In 1990, Fountain Farm on Highway 97, just east of Rocky Mount about 10 miles north of the station, was turned over to the station. More than 200 acres of cultivated land are used for research.
The station hosts an ECONET tower weather reporting station that feeds onsite data to the State Climatology Office headquartered at the Raleigh campus of NC State University and to the National Weather Service offices in the region.
Infrastructure
There are 28 structures on the station that provide for each area of research being conducted. Station facilities used to support crop research include crop drying and storage facilities, six tobacco curing barns, tobacco packhouse, fertilizer and pesticide storage buildings, maintenance shop, several storage sheds and buildings, carpenter’s shop, two dwellings, and an office.
Events
The UCPRS hosts many tours each year depicting the latest research, including the Tobacco Variety Tour, Tobacco Tour, Weed Management Tour, Soil Classification Classes, Extension Agent Training, Insect Practicum (every 2 years).
The station hosts the Cotton Field Day every 2 years.
Research Programs
Peanuts
Peanut research programs include: evaluation of breeding lines and varieties for higher yield and CBR resistance, better quality and disease resistance; development of improved cultural practices; evaluation of experimental fungicides for foliar disease control; effect of weeds on overwintering of pathogens; evaluation of pathogen density on Sclerotinia blight development; crop rotation studies; evaluation of plant growth regulators; variety verification of certified seed; and development of weed management strategies in conventional till, strip-till and cover crop systems. Transgenic peanut breeding lines are being evaluated for their resistance to Sclerotinia.
Tobacco
A major tobacco research effort focuses on breeding and development for better yield and quality of flue-cured and burley varieties for Black Shank and Granville Wilt resistance. Other research efforts are in disease control; evaluation of chemicals for protection from tomato spotted wilt; evaluation of fungicides and nematicides for pest control; development of black shank and nematode management strategies; variety development; breeding line and variety yield, quality and disease evaluations; and evaluation of cultural practices on quality and chemical composition.
Cotton
Projects include: herbicide evaluations and development of conventional and strip-till weed management strategies for conventional and herbicide tolerant cottons in conventional tillage, no-till till and cover crop systems; insecticide evaluations and development of insect management strategies for conventional and insect resistant cottons in conventional tillage, no-till till and cover crop systems; biological and ecological studies of insects and development of insect management systems; pesticide interactions involving insecticides, herbicides, nematicides and other pesticide types and yield and quality trials of commercial varieties and advanced breeding lines.
Corn
Research projects include the development of no-till and conventional weed management strategies in conventional and transgenic corns; development of herbicide recommendations based on soil type; evaluation of herbicide-insecticide interactions; evaluation of herbicides in herbicide-tolerant corn prior to release; development of cultural practices for enhanced yield and quality; crop rotation systems, and official variety testing for yield and quality.
Soybeans
Soybean work focuses on development of improved cultural practices, weed control, herbicide evaluations and development of conventional and no-till weed management strategies, herbicide-adjuvant studies, herbicide-insecticide interactions, development of herbicide recommendations based on soil type, official variety testing, variety verification of certified seed and crop rotation systems.
Community Partnership
For the last 100 years, research at the Upper Coastal Plain Research Station has continued to produce many advances in agricultural production technology for the growers in this region of the state, which has benefited all of our citizens throughout the state. The current research program at the UCPRS is centered around agronomic crops: corn, cotton, peanuts, soybeans and tobacco. These crops are of great economic importance to eastern North Carolina. Average cash receipts for North Carolina farmers in 2006 from these five agronomic crops totaled $1.31 billion, about 45 percent of all crop cash receipts.
This station, with soils, climate and pest pressures representative of this region of the state, is ideally suited for experimental work with the agronomic crops. Tobacco and peanut soil-borne diseases are very prevalent here. Long time tobacco black shank nurseries as well as CBR and microplot peanut disease nurseries provide excellent evaluation tools for development of resistance cultivars. Our tobacco black shank nursery is perhaps the best in the world, and without the continued breeding and screening research done here for the development of black shank-resistant flue cured and burley tobacco varieties, the tobacco industry could be devastated.
The location is close enough to NCSU for project leaders to closely monitor their research projects, apply treatments and collect data within a workday.
Mission
To manage crop and livestock facilities that serve as a platform for agriculture research to make farming more efficient, productive, and profitable, while maintaining a sound environment and providing consumers with safe and affordable products.
Partnership
Agriculture research in North Carolina dates back to 1877, when state legislation established the N.C. Department of Agriculture along with “Experiment Stations” as a division of the department. Since that time, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Research Stations Division, in partnership with N.C. State University, has established 18 statewide locations. Each facility has unique climate and soil conditions, giving researchers a living laboratory in which to investigate a variety of regional crops, forestry concerns, livestock, poultry, and aquaculture. The Division supports these studies by providing land, water, equipment, buildings, and staff who work around the clock to help build a stronger foundation for the future of agriculture.