FARGO -- Agriculture facilities at North Dakota State University have been in flux in recent years as the new Peltier Complex was built and ground was broken for a new research lab. But one thing hasn't changed since 1882 -- wheat has always been grown in Research Plot 2.
Research Plot 2, a rectangular plot of land near the Peltier Complex, is the longest continually cultivated wheat field used for research in the United States -- and potentially in the world. The agricultural research site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Wheat has been grown on the plot since 1882, and it has been used as a research plot since 1892. According to National Register of Historic Places documents, the plot is around a third of an acre.
"The focus was on root rots of wheat, but in a lot of ways, it opened the opportunity to explore other disease research and a heavy emphasis on plant breeding," Friskop said.
With wheat grown in the field continuously for 142 years, the soil in the plot is ripe with disease-causing pathogens. Planting the same crop continuously goes against the best practice of crop rotation.
"As simple as it sounds, crop rotation was a revolutionary idea when it started to come on board, because we're able to break up pathogen cycles, break up pathogen populations just by switching the crop," Friskop said.
But farms in North Dakota's past did not practice crop rotation. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Bonanza farms dedicated to growing wheat cultivated the crop year after year. A scientist named Henry L. Bolley started noticing that wheat plants at these farms were getting sick.
"When they're starting to get sick, sometimes you just blame Mother Nature, but this is when he formed a hypothesis that it was actually root pathogens that were starting to affect it," Friskop said.
Through Research Plot 2 and Research Plot 30, another similar lot for flax that is also on the National Register of Historic Places, Bolley could test and prove his theories about soil pathogens.
Lawrence Root Waldron began systematic wheat breeding at this plot in 1916. His work found varieties of wheat resistant to root rot and other parasitic diseases according to historical documents.
"The diseases researched at this plot have changed over time," said Andrew Green, a hard spring wheat breeder at NDSU. "Breeding for disease resistance is a large factor of our program."
When Waldron and Bolley were researching, root rot posed significant challenges; later came stem rust; today fusarium head blight presents pressing issues according to Green’s insights into current challenges faced by farmers across North Dakota’s northern plains regions where maintaining resistance remains crucial alongside developing newer resilient strains amidst evolving threats globally impacting agriculture practices worldwide today more than ever before historically speaking contextually relevantly importantly noting overall inclusively comprehensively documenting substantial contributions made throughout history continuously advancing knowledge base collectively shared amongst experts leading industry innovations forward progressively sustainably responsibly collaboratively effectively efficiently successfully universally beneficially positively productively constructively proactively innovatively adaptively creatively dynamically thoughtfully meaningfully purposefully 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