Land and Facilities

The NWROC is unique among all of the University of Minnesota Research and Outreach Centers because soils of northwest Minnesota were formed on Lacustrine parent materials (lake bed sediments) and the waters of northwest Minnesota flow north into Canada. NWROC consists of roughly 1,500 acres of land. The rich soil is used for both research and production agriculture to support our operations with the most diverse cropping system within the Research and Outreach system.

NWROC owns 1,456 acres of land and rents 557 acres. 295 acres are dedicated to small plot research and 1,718 acres are dedicated to production ag where we farm 185 acres of beets, 730 acres of soybeans and 730 acres of wheat. An additional 73 acres include buildings, roads, and windbreaks.

NWROC is also home to a nationally renowned misted disease nursery where all released spring wheat and barley varieties are tested for their resistance, tolerance, and susceptibility to leaf and head diseases, especially Fusarium Head Blight.