Southwest Research and Extension Center Near Hope Currently Active With Many Projects
Dr. Daniel Rivera, PhD, PAS is the Director and Associate Professor of Animal Science for the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope. He has served in the capacity for almost two years. Prior to coming to Hope, Dr. Rivera was a research scientist for Mississippi State University, working off-site in Poplarville. Originally from Belen, NM he has a PhD in Animal Science -: Ruminant Nutrition from NM Sta
The SWREC has struggled to fill positions in support of the scientists that come from elsewhere – mostly Little Rock. They are advertising for a horticultural position but have a total of 4 vacant positions including two research field techs in horticulture, forestry and animal science as well as a program technician in animal science.
The challenge is finding people who are qualified to not only work in the subject but who have an open mind to do things with the research that sometimes may not make sense to the average producer. The challenge is to adhere to the research protocols. The ideal person, Dr. Rivera stated, needs to have an open mind and a willingness to learn.
On a tour of the facility, Dr. Rivera talked about the high tunnels located to the southwest of the office building. These tunnels were defunct for the past few years but are now being re-skinned and put back together. Two studies will take place in them. The first one will be about pests on blackberries. The other will be different study on blackberries.
Across from the high tunnels, Dr. Hannah Wright Smith will be studying turf and weeds. The system is being prepared for each plot for seperate watering. From a practical standpoint, it would be easiest to simply water everything at once but for research purposes it has to be done individually.
Dr. Aaron Cato is focused on cover crop projects, tomatoes, cucumbers, blackberries and blueberries. His projects will be conducted at the High Tunnels and at the plot area at the south end of the station.
There will be a horticultural field day on the 28th of June with specialists already mentioned. Additionally, Dr Amanda McWhirt and Dr. Matt Bertucci will also be present. Dr. Bertucci will be conducting a watermelon and cantaloupe variety test to determine which variety will grow best at the center. He will have a companion project at the Kibler Research Station in Alma, AR.
Next stop was the nematode lab, to the west of the office building. Here producers will send seeds to be tested and different companies will try to come up with nematode resistant plants. Amanda Greer is in charge of this project.
The following stop was the Stocker Unit where a current study is examining the management of growth promoting implants in beef cattle. They just completed renovations of the old “Bull Barn” which has 12 pens that can be used for research purposes.
On a further field past the Bull Barn, Dr. Rivera pointed out steers not yet in a project but noted there will be a graduate student working on a project to examine the merits of finishing cattle on pasture with grain and by product supplementation. The cattle will be fattened and compared to a group fed in a traditional feedlot. Once slaughtered, carcasses and certain cuts of meat will be tested. They will look at taste, tenderness, and color to see if finishing cattle on pasture has an effect on meat quality. With the advent of the “farm to table movement”, many questions exist regarding the logistics of finishing Cattle on pasture as well as how it might affect the quality of the final product. Hopefully this project can shed light on that topic.
The area across Highway 67 is the Cow Calf Unit. Right now there are no projects involving the cows and the staff is preparing to synchronize the herd for artificial insemination in the next few weeks. There will be a survey for ticks in the cow herd when the cows are being brought up to breed.
When asked if there has been any talk of other animals being studied. Dr. Rivera said that there had been discussion about using goats as they would not compete with the cattle for forage as sheep would. Additionally, the goats would also serve as weed control.
The complication in bringing in another species such as goats into the research area is they would need new infrastructure such as different working facilities and scales. Different fencing would have to be installed to hold them in each pasture. The fact they would be used for research just makes things much more complicated.
Next the tour moved on to one of the forestry tracts which was supposed to be thinned last summer in order to allow the trees to grow. The complication was an area had to be clearcut as it was infested with imp beetles, which is also an issue in timber tracts in surrounding counties.
At the moment, the trees are simply being managed as timber stands with no current research being down. The University of Arkansas at Monticello is the center of the forestry research and as part of an agreement with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture the researchers at UAM utilize research stations within the Division of Ag.
The SWREC is meant for provide opportunities to do research in climactic and growing conditions of SW Arkansas and to focus on research needs for the region. In addition to the research needs, SWREC provides an avenue for Extension personnel to conduct demonstrations, as well as to get training on a variety of topics.