Historic Temple

BLACKLAND
AND
GRASSLAND
RESEARCH
❖
Texas AgriLife Research-Blackland
Research and Extension Center, 2000
to present.
Created in 1909, Blackland Research &
Extension Center is a part of Texas AgriLife
Research (formerly Texas Agricultural
Experiment Station), a state agricultural
research agency affiliated with the Texas A&M
System. Originally located between Temple and
Belton, the center was moved to its present
location two miles south of Temple in 1928. The
property is one of thirteen off-campus research
and extension centers that, along with faculty
from Texas A&M University, perform research
and deliver education programs for the citizens
of Texas to ensure a safe and affordable food
supply, save and restore the environment, and
strengthen the economy.
At the heart of the program are a group of
scientists working to improve the region’s water
and soil quality by conducting research and
developing new technologies facilitating farmers
and ranchers to make improved decisions
regarding land and water management
practices. Scientists today use state-of-the art
computer simulation models, remote sensing
and satellite information to solve the complex
water, environmental, natural resource issues in
Texas and our nation.
Blackland Research & Extension Center
shares research facilities with the Grassland,
Soil, and Water Research Laboratory of the
USDA/Agricultural Research Service. Texas
AgriLife Research and Agricultural Research
Service scientists have worked cooperatively at
Temple for over eighty years, and also work
with scientists from the National Resources
Conservation Service and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, who are
co-located at the lab. The synergism between
Blackland and Grassland scientists is a
principal reason for the success of the Temple
laboratory. Research programs from both
agencies are closely linked and scientists
are able to capitalize on the strengths of each
other. Resources (i.e. equipment, personnel,
financial) are shared and joint research is
planned and conducted.
People learn by seeing and the great number
of visitors, often a couple of hundred in a single
day, is evidence of an interest in the work being
done at Blackland/Grassland Research &
Extension Center. Many of the visitors go back
to their individual communities as missionaries
of better farming as a result of what they learn.
106 ✦ HISTORIC TEMPLE