Davis Purdue Agricultural Center
Size and Topography
- 703 acres in northwestern Randolph and southwestern Jay Counties, including 522 tillable acres and 100 managed forested acres (known as the Herbert Davis Forestry Farm)
- A variety of soil types but mostly fine-textured, heavy clay soils (Blount/Pewamo) commonly found in east central Indiana - gently rolling, hard to manage, poorly drained, low organic matter
In 1926 forestry professor Burr N. Prentice painstakingly numbered, mapped, described, and tagged every tree at this location. His work, and the work of Purdue foresters after him, have made the Davis-Purdue Research Forest the largest and oldest mapped forest in North America, resulting in its designation as a Registered Natural Landmark.
- Mapped timber stand
- Constructed wetland used for educational programs for landowners and K-12 groups
- 30+-acre field with drainage tile designed specifically for managing the seasonal water table
- GPS technology in use since the 1990s
- Equipment and resources conducive to field-scale work, rather than small-plot research
- National Weather Service Station Data
Field Days & Training Events
Researchers at DPAC study soil fertility, crop diseases, weed control, insect problems, site-specific agriculture, controlled drainage and drainage water analysis, old-growth timber stands/wildlife interactions, and variable-rate fertilizer applications in corn, soybeans, and winter wheat.
The Purdue Agriculture departments involved in research at DPAC include Agronomy, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Agricultural Economics, Forestry and Natural Resources, and Entomology.
Davis-Purdue Agricultural Center (DPAC)
6230 North State Road 1
Farmland, IN 47340-9340