The Northwest Research and Education Center (NWREC) is one of eight off-campus research centers in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).
The NWREC consists of 905 acres and is well-equipped with modern field and research-scale equipment. The NWREC is located in Rome, Georgia.
Local agriculture includes cow/calf and hay operations, with corn and soybeans being the predominant row crops.
-
USDA zone 7B with an annual precipitation of 50-60 inches. The average date of the first frost is October 15.
-
The Oostanula River and Woodward Creek serve as the southern farm boundary, resulting in a soil series with a high percentage of silt loam, specifically of the Cedarbluff series. Etowah loam is the prevalent series on the slopes.
-
Total acreage: 905
- Dryland acres (pasture and hay) - 574
- Irrigated acres - 30
Irrigation capabilities:
- Ponds/lakes – 2
- Rivers/creeks - 2
- 1 linear move with VRI capabilities. Area covered: 30 acres
Production systems:- Conventional/no-till – 30 acres
- Pasture/hay - 574
- Cattle (head) - 260
-
- Office - 500 sq.ft. (located in Calhoun)
- Storage/pesticide building - 4,383 sq.ft.
- Maintenance shop - 12,869 sq.ft.
- Hay Barns – 3 (4875, 3176, 4964)
- Equipment storage barn – 2 (5000, 5800)
- Cattle working facilities – 2 (4718, 19167)
- Feed mill facility - 4,500 sq.ft.
- Northwest Georgia Livestock Pavilion in Calhoun – 5,165 enclosed and 10,703 covered
-
- Tractors: AGCO 5680, New Holland TN60A, Challenger ML74B, New Holland T6030, New Holland T4030, Kubota M7040, New Holland T6.175
- Fertilizer Spreaders: Chandler 9 PT
- Planters: Great Plains 10’ no-till drill, Deutz Allis Quadra-Disk
- Sprayers: John Deere self-propelled, Demco tandem axle tag-along
- Tillage: Athens Plow harrow
- Harvesters: Carter flail forager
- Haying: 3 Vermeer balers, Class disk mower conditioner, 2 Kuhn tedders, Vermeer twin rake, Kuhn disc mower
- Cattle: 1 hydraulic head catch/squeeze chute, 1 manual head catch
- Skid steers – 2
- Feed wagons – 2 mixer/feeder
- Hay bale wrapper - Tubeline
- Hay bale processor – Haybuster
- Trailers – 2 livestock, 2 hay haulers, 2 flatbed
-
- Weather station - UGA Weather Network
- Plant dryer
History
In 1951, 100 northwest Georgia farmers each donated $250 to buy land for an agricultural experiment station. Their efforts led to the development of what is now the Northwest Research and Education Center in Calhoun.
The original unit had 28 acres of land and houses the main office building with a large conference room and a large multi-use livestock pavilion located in Calhoun. To better serve the needs in Calhoun and the surrounding areas, the office building also houses animal and dairy science, poultry science, office of information technology, 4-H, and UGA Extension offices.
The Floyd County unit, located near Rome, was transferred to the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 1966 from the state health department. It has 905 acres of land and is used primarily for beef cattle breeding research and some row crop research.
The Calhoun Bull Evaluation Center was established at this farm to evaluate the performance, growth potential, and breeding soundness of bulls to help identify the best genetics and improve the beef industry. The Calhoun Herd Heifers are also tested at this facility. The herd program, which is similar to the bull evaluation program, evaluates heifers for reproductive soundness and disposition.
The Gordon County unit, located in the Red Bud community, was purchased in 1996 and has 653 acres used for beef cattle research, forages, and organic waste recycling. This farm has about 225 cows, 100 replacement heifers, and several stocker calves. These cattle are used to research creep grazing, fat supplementation, heifer replacement development, collect and evaluate carcass data, and evaluate forages. Forage projects include legume varieties, cool and warm-season varieties, and Bermuda variety testing. Other projects conducted have tested the effects of poultry litter on fescue, and the effects that recycled waste products have on water quality.
