USDA’s Agricultural Research Service broke ground in Auburn, Alabama, Monday for its new research facility housing the National Soil Dynamics Laboratory.
The four new buildings – two at Auburn University's Research Park and two more at a site near the university's campus – will house research on conservation cropping systems, environmentally sound animal waste management and climate change. Research efforts will also focus on improved poultry production practices, cotton disease control, improved forage production and the use of biochar in agriculture, ARS said.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., joined several Auburn university officials to speak at the groundbreaking event including Auburn University President Christopher Roberts, Dean of Auburn University’s College of Agriculture and Director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Paul Patterson; Bill Dean, executive director of the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation and James Sanford, who serves as the president of the foundation.