The 80-member San Joaquin Valley Quality Cotton Growers Association has leased the 80-acre Shafter research station from Kern County, recruited University of California researchers and initiated talks with the Kern Community College District and a number of private groups to bring cotton research back to the historic facility, reported John Cox in the Bakersfield Californian.
In addition, ag companies are expressing interest in using some of the station's vacant greenhouses, labs, storage sheds and land to conduct their own research on crops ranging from potatoes to grapes.
The Shafter Cotton Research Station was established by USDA in 1922. In 1996, the station was deeded to Kern County and management of the station shifted to the University of California, according to a retrospective compiled by former station director Lyle Carter.
The station closed in 2009, but UC Cooperative Extension in Kern County leased a 40-acre plot to continue research in almonds and vegetables, according to Brian Marsh, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Kern County.
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