Wyoming

Irrigated row crop research and a West Nile virus study are part of an open house July 26 at the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center (SAREC) near Lingle.

Participants will begin gathering at 9:30 a.m., and the tour starts at 10 a.m. at the center two miles south and west of Lingle on Highway 157, said Jim Freeburn, SAREC director.

A free lunch will be served at noon for tour participants.

The featured tour stops include brown mustards and oilseeds for biofuels, sugar beet and potato diseases, corn, beet and bean weed control, dry bean variety trials and the West Nile virus study.

The 3,800-acre farm and livestock facility is the result of the efforts of a review team from Platte, Laramie and Goshen counties that began studying the research and extension centers in southeast Wyoming in 1999. The 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 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 and Torrington R&E centers, with proceeds used to purchase property for SAREC.

Freeburn will give an update on construction at SAREC and the transition to the site from the former R&E center in Torrington.

For more information, contact Freeburn at 307-532-7126.

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

Date: 7/20/05