Rich in history and promise for the future, the McCaull Research and Demonstration Farm is nestled in the shortgrass prairie of the Oklahoma Panhandle.
At this new facility, professors and students in the Oklahoma State University Department of Plant and Soil Sciences have dedicated their time and effort to provide groundbreaking crop research.
J.R. McCaull was a farmer from Goodwell, Oklahoma, who left his property in the Ruth McCaull Irrevocable Trust, named after his late wife. McCaull directed his gift to be used for crop research by OSU faculty and students.
The McCaull Research and Demonstration farm consists of about 1,000 acres in Texas County with four crop production circles, spanning 122 acres each and irrigated by center pivots. Darren Buck, a local farmer contracted by OSU to plant and harvest the crops on the property, has two circles of corn, one of wheat and one of sorghum, he said.
“This farm is important because it gives OSU a big opportunity to have a larger cooperative extension presence in the Oklahoma Panhandle,” Buck said. “Agriculture in the Panhandle is more diverse because farmers need to irrigate more and have different cropping systems.
“I want to see the McCaull farm develop into a truly commercial-scale research farm,” Buck said, “so it can directly benefit farmers and create research that can improve management of our farms.”
Buck, who also serves as a representative for Pioneer Seed, said more than 75 percent of the seed he planted this year was donated or discounted to OSU for commercial research purposes.
Pioneer, DeKalb, Fontanelle Hybrids, Channel Seed, Hoegemeyer Hybrids and Nutrien Ag Solutions donated seed because OSU gives these companies the results of the research being done, said Cameron Murley, senior station superintendent of the Oklahoma Panhandle Research Extension Center and the McCaull Research and Demonstration Farm.
“Researchers at the McCaull Farm are taking real-world agronomical applications to a non-biased environment, which is sponsored by different industry professionals,” Murley said.
Along with other agronomic studies, the research allows companies and producers know which seed variety produces a higher yield or works better in different climates or regions, he said.
These research-based cropping systems give OSU a foothold with the right kind of property to research irrigation, cropping and fertilization strategies that can make a difference to the farmers of the Panhandle, Murley said.
Jason Warren, associate professor of plant and soil sciences, has spearheaded the McCaull project. Warren and post-doctorate fellow Sumit Sharma work to provide real results from the rough topography in the Panhandle, Warren said.
Buck said farmers in the Panhandle will be more willing to rely on OSU for results and help because the university now has a research station dedicated to this part of the state.
“This property provides tremendous opportunity to do large-scale research in a highly intensive agriculture system that hasn’t been thoroughly studied before,” Warren said. “We can do things on a scale that allows us to climb to the tip of the sword to help producers achieve production goals.”
Sharma, who received his undergraduate degree in India and a soil sciences master’s degree from OSU, said Indian agriculture is focused on horticulture crops, like fruits or vegetables, along with other annual plants. However, the irrigation practices being researched at the McCaull farm have the potential to help worldwide, including places like India, he said.
“The Panhandle region of Oklahoma and surrounding states only receives 16 inches of average annual rainfall per year, while the rest of the state gets 55 inches of rain annually,” according to the Oklahoma Climatology Survey.
The McCaull Research and Demonstration Farm lies above the Southern High Plains, or Ogallala, aquifer that supplies irrigation water to crops in the Panhandle, Sharma said. With the threat of this aquifer drying up and the water table going down, new and improved irrigation methods must be explored to sustain agricultural crops, he said.
With the research being conducted at the McCaull Demonstration and Research Farm, departmental professors and students hope to provide other irrigation methods and a way to prolong the use of the aquifer for farmers in this region, Buck said.
As Oklahoma State University alumni, Buck, Warren, Murley and Sharma are dedicated to putting OSU on the map and making an impact on the agricultural industry by helping the McCaull Research and Demonstration Farm succeed, Buck added.
“We need research to help us extend the life of this aquifer while maintaining economic viability,” Buck said. “This is a very tall order.”
Buck and his family have lived in the Oklahoma Panhandle their entire lives, he said. He runs a successful business and thoroughly enjoys being a part of the research being done by OSU.
“My family’s livelihood, like many others in this region, depends on this,” Buck said. “Researchers need to think outside the box for more irrigation strategies to give OSU an opportunity to lead in this area for the first time.”
Despite the lack of rainfall, Texas County is the No.1 agriculture-producing county in the state as well as No. 1 in individual sorghum, corn, swine and cattle production.
Texas County’s productivity and efficiency makes it imperative to provide large-scale results to farmers who need it, Murley said.
Now, OSU can provide real, commercial-scale results to farmers who harvest considerable acreage, Warren said, offering promise for the future.
“We’re the only university doing anything like it,” Murley said. “That’s what makes it unique.”