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NISFRC | Strategic Planning Committee
News
For an update on the strategic planning process, contact Donn Thill, Interim Director of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station, 208-885-6214.
Mission
Discuss and develop recommendations for the future program priorities and directions for the UI North Idaho Small Farm Resource Center (formerly the Sandpoint Research and Extension Center) facility.
Goals and Objectives
Facilitate development of a strategic plan with a mission, vision and long-range programmatic goals and objectives for SREC and north Idaho in conjunction with the funding capability of the University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
Background
The University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (UI CALS) state funding for its Agricultural Research and Extension Service enterprise has declined nearly $6 million or more than 20 percent in the last two budget years.
In December, 2009, Hammel drew on college non-state funds to continue operating the Sandpoint center until June 30 while seeking partnerships or other funding sources that could underwrite its continued operations. Although college and community officials have discussed the Sandpoint center's future, no additional funds have yet been committed. As a result, the facility was closed June 30, 2010.
UI CALS Dean John Hammel has asked the College to move ahead with plans to form a committee to evaluate Sandpoint Research and Extension Center's (SREC's) future and prepare a strategic plan for potential future operations and use of the center's land.
History of the Sandpoint Research and Extension Center
The Sandpoint Research and Extension Center was established as the Sandpoint Branch Experiment Station in 1915. T.J. Humbird, president of the Humbird Lumber Company, donated the land comprising the Center. The deed transferring the property to the State Board of Education and Board of Regents of the University of Idaho was dated July 12, 1913 (Hungerford 1960).
The original deed showed a donation of about 170 acres of land, although the records in the county assessor's office showed about 177 acres. About 15 acres of bottomland along Sand Creek was lost through an easement to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and an additional 4.5 acres was deeded to the State Highway Department in 1958 for improvements made to U.S. Highway 95. In 1967, about 17 acres, which included the original station headquarters and buildings, was sold to the Great Northern Railroad. The remaining 63 acres comprises the present Research and Extension Center.
Credit for the establishment of the Sandpoint Research and Extension center should not only be given to the Humbird Lumber Company for the land donation but also to the citizens of the Sandpoint area who gave labor and materials for construction of the Center's first buildings. Citizens of the three northernmost Idaho counties have all strongly supported the Center.
Early agriculture in Idaho's three northern counties consisted primarily of cultivating lands that had been cleared of forests. During this time, considerable interest grew in developing an agricultural industry. Both farmers and lumber companies wanted to increase the value of their cutover lands..
Ten acres of the station was cleared in the fall of 1913 and planted to several varieties of alfalfa and clover. The Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station's 1915 annual report indicated that the alfalfa made good growth its first summer but was winter-killed in the winter of 1914-15. During the following years, more land was cleared and planted to various forage and cereal crops. Most experimentation involved trials with varieties of clovers, alfalfa, cereals, field peas and root crops.
The soils staff from the U of I Moscow campus worked extensively on the station with rotation and fertilizer trials. Research was also conducted with livestock, including dairy, sheep and swine. A dairy herd was established to use the extensive pasture area bordering Sand Creek. Sprinkler irrigation was introduced to the station in 1950. Subsequently, irrigation was used primarily on forage crops and in later years the production of fruits and ornamentals.
In general, research at the Sandpoint Research and Extension Center was directed toward practical agriculture in the northern Idaho area. Most of the area in the Center's vicinity has been used for forage-livestock enterprises. Because of this, much of the station's research was directed toward evaluation of adapted forage crops for the unique climate and soil of the area.
Although cereal production is not a major crop in Bonner County, the Center has been used extensively for testing varieties adapted to other northern Idaho counties. Center personnel have also been involved in off-station testing. In the past few years, interest has grown in small fruits, ornamentals and Christmas trees as the number of small, family farms has increased in Idaho's three northern counties.
(Source: McDole, R., Maxwell, H. and Fosberg, M., 1981. Soil Survey of the University of Idaho Sandpoint Research and Extension Center, Bulleting No. 600.)
Since 1981, SREC has focused research in the areas of small fruit, nursery and Christmas trees. North Idaho's fledgling small fruit industry supported research on raspberries and strawberries in the late 1980s. In the 1990s and 2000s, extensive work has been completed on nursery and huckleberry varietal selections, as well as growing requirements of minor fruit crops such as haskaps and honeyberries. The Sandpoint research and Extension Center closed its doors June 30, 2010 in response to state budget cuts to the UI College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
For an update on the strategic planning process, contact Donn Thill, Interim Director of the Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station, 208-885-6214.
Mission
Discuss and develop recommendations for the future program priorities and directions for the UI North Idaho Small Farm Resource Center (formerly the Sandpoint Research and Extension Center) facility.
Goals and Objectives
Facilitate development of a strategic plan with a mission, vision and long-range programmatic goals and objectives for SREC and north Idaho in conjunction with the funding capability of the University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
Background
The University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (UI CALS) state funding for its Agricultural Research and Extension Service enterprise has declined nearly $6 million or more than 20 percent in the last two budget years.
In December, 2009, Hammel drew on college non-state funds to continue operating the Sandpoint center until June 30 while seeking partnerships or other funding sources that could underwrite its continued operations. Although college and community officials have discussed the Sandpoint center's future, no additional funds have yet been committed. As a result, the facility was closed June 30, 2010.
UI CALS Dean John Hammel has asked the College to move ahead with plans to form a committee to evaluate Sandpoint Research and Extension Center's (SREC's) future and prepare a strategic plan for potential future operations and use of the center's land.
History of the Sandpoint Research and Extension Center
The Sandpoint Research and Extension Center was established as the Sandpoint Branch Experiment Station in 1915. T.J. Humbird, president of the Humbird Lumber Company, donated the land comprising the Center. The deed transferring the property to the State Board of Education and Board of Regents of the University of Idaho was dated July 12, 1913 (Hungerford 1960).
The original deed showed a donation of about 170 acres of land, although the records in the county assessor's office showed about 177 acres. About 15 acres of bottomland along Sand Creek was lost through an easement to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and an additional 4.5 acres was deeded to the State Highway Department in 1958 for improvements made to U.S. Highway 95. In 1967, about 17 acres, which included the original station headquarters and buildings, was sold to the Great Northern Railroad. The remaining 63 acres comprises the present Research and Extension Center.
Credit for the establishment of the Sandpoint Research and Extension center should not only be given to the Humbird Lumber Company for the land donation but also to the citizens of the Sandpoint area who gave labor and materials for construction of the Center's first buildings. Citizens of the three northernmost Idaho counties have all strongly supported the Center.
Early agriculture in Idaho's three northern counties consisted primarily of cultivating lands that had been cleared of forests. During this time, considerable interest grew in developing an agricultural industry. Both farmers and lumber companies wanted to increase the value of their cutover lands..
Ten acres of the station was cleared in the fall of 1913 and planted to several varieties of alfalfa and clover. The Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station's 1915 annual report indicated that the alfalfa made good growth its first summer but was winter-killed in the winter of 1914-15. During the following years, more land was cleared and planted to various forage and cereal crops. Most experimentation involved trials with varieties of clovers, alfalfa, cereals, field peas and root crops.
The soils staff from the U of I Moscow campus worked extensively on the station with rotation and fertilizer trials. Research was also conducted with livestock, including dairy, sheep and swine. A dairy herd was established to use the extensive pasture area bordering Sand Creek. Sprinkler irrigation was introduced to the station in 1950. Subsequently, irrigation was used primarily on forage crops and in later years the production of fruits and ornamentals.
In general, research at the Sandpoint Research and Extension Center was directed toward practical agriculture in the northern Idaho area. Most of the area in the Center's vicinity has been used for forage-livestock enterprises. Because of this, much of the station's research was directed toward evaluation of adapted forage crops for the unique climate and soil of the area.
Although cereal production is not a major crop in Bonner County, the Center has been used extensively for testing varieties adapted to other northern Idaho counties. Center personnel have also been involved in off-station testing. In the past few years, interest has grown in small fruits, ornamentals and Christmas trees as the number of small, family farms has increased in Idaho's three northern counties.
(Source: McDole, R., Maxwell, H. and Fosberg, M., 1981. Soil Survey of the University of Idaho Sandpoint Research and Extension Center, Bulleting No. 600.)
Since 1981, SREC has focused research in the areas of small fruit, nursery and Christmas trees. North Idaho's fledgling small fruit industry supported research on raspberries and strawberries in the late 1980s. In the 1990s and 2000s, extensive work has been completed on nursery and huckleberry varietal selections, as well as growing requirements of minor fruit crops such as haskaps and honeyberries. The Sandpoint research and Extension Center closed its doors June 30, 2010 in response to state budget cuts to the UI College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.