The 1,044-acre Piedmont Research Station hosts scientists and scholars who push research and results forward in poultry, nutrition and reproduction for dairy cows, horticulture and industrial hemp. A 22,500-square foot greenhouse and on-site lab give researchers the ability to expand their horticulture experiments year-round and collect data on site.
What We Do
Dairy
Piedmont Research Station is home to a 150-cow milking herd that is the subject of research in nutrition, heat-stress management, herd health, calf and heifer development and reproduction. A state-of-the art robotic calf feeding barn individually feeds the calves based on an algorithm. Researchers collect data for each cow including their daily weight, milking duration time, activity, conductivity of milk produced and temperature.
Poultry
The poultry research program evaluates feeding and incubation programs on a size and scale comparable to a commercial poultry operation. Projects include ongoing work with natural feed supplements and rearing of poultry in alternative housing environments. The station hosts more than 15,000 commercial layers and 8,000 broiler breeders; and can incubate and hatch more than 52,000 eggs at one time.
Crops
Crops including hemp, corn, soybeans, small grain and forages are produced in a continuous no-till cropping system. This includes breeding work, evaluating new genetics for existing and potential market and applied production systems research. The field crops are also produced as feed for the dairy cows.
Researchers also study strawberries, blueberries and brambles, such as raspberries and blackberries. They conduct trials for fruit production in non-traditional seasons in the greenhouse and develop production systems for small fruits that will adapt to the mineral soils in the Piedmont area.
Small Grains Field Day Goes Virtual
The Small Grains Field Day was supposed to happen on Wednesday, March 18, at the Piedmont Research Station in Salisbury. Everything that would have been presented in-person, was instead recorded and published in videos — creating the Small Grains Virtual Field Day.
For more than 75 years, the Research Stations Division has worked with the National Weather Service (NWS) to provide accurate, statewide weather data. When you hear and see local and national weather reports, you can be sure meteorologists and climatologists are using information gathered from our stations.
Everything that would have been presented in-person, was instead recorded and published in videos for a virtual experience.
Industrial Hemp Field Day
Industrial Hemp Field Day includes tours of the Piedmont Research Station, lunch and networking with vendors, and demonstrations from NC State and NCDA specialists on various subjects such as industrial hemp nutrition, open vs. closed bed production systems, and pest and disease scouting. Annually in August.
Corn and Soybean Field Day
This event includes station tours and presentations on various topics such as soybean fertility management, early maturing soybean varieties, soybean disease, NC soybean breeding, and soybean nematodes in Piedmont.
Contact Us
Piedmont Research Station Teresa Herman, Station Superintendent 8350 Sherrills Ford Rd Salisbury, NC 28147-7579 (704) 278-2624 Teresa.Herman@ncagr.gov
