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NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY UPPER MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION
LAUREL SPRINGS, NC
In 1877 the first board of agriculture was established in North Carolina in response
to farmers’ desire for an independent agriculture department.
At the same time, the state legislation provided for the establishment of
“Experiment Stations” as a division of the department.
After that, the creation of our research station system started and
had evolved into the 18 statewide locations we know today.
Tracy Taylor is the Superintendent at the Upper Mountain Research Station in Laurel Springs, NC where he has been since 2006. The main focus of this station is on supporting the Christmas tree industry to make production profitable and sustainable by improving tree quality. Tracy is responsible for the station’s research programs, its 465 acres and its seven employees.
Interviewing Tracy is Maggie Kane, of A Place at the Table, the first pay-what-you-can cafe in downtown Raleigh. Through her work with people on the streets, she realized the power of community and the beauty in bringing people together over incredible food. She serves only fresh, chef prepared foods, and partners with local farms and local vendors to provide the freshest ingredients because everyone should have access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food.
Tracy, in my earlier interview with the Horticultural Crops Research Station in Castle Hayne, I learned that because our state is so geographically diverse, the idea was to see what grows best where, and how to make things more productive, and that is why our18 statewide research stations were formed. To begin, can you tell us why Laurel Springs in Ashe County was selected for the location of your Upper Mountain Research Station?
At one time, the research station in Swannanoa was the only one in the mountains. But then the Federal government wanted to build a VA hospital on that site, so the land was sold to them with the proceeds being used to purchase land for two stations in the mountains. One of the new stations is the Upper Mountain in Laurel Springs where I am, and the other is in Waynesville.
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Our Upper Mountain one is actually the highest elevation of any research station on the East Coast which allows us to do things that other mountain stations cannot.
And for those of us that are not familiar with the entire statewide research station system, what would you say is the general mission here?
To manage crop and livestock facilities that serve as a platform for agriculture research to make farming more efficient, productive, and profitable, while maintaining a sound environment and providing consumers with safe and affordable products.
What kinds of research is done here due to the higher elevation?
Our elevation is the number one reason we are a preferred site for Fraser fir Christmas tree research. And in addition to Christmas tree research, we have other programs that take advantage of the higher elevation and cooler climate here as well.
For example, we participate in the warm season turfgrass breeding program that focuses on developing warm season grasses that are more tolerant to cold weather. The Blue Ridge mountains also produce some of the best native forages for livestock in the state.
The livestock system at our station takes advantage of these abundant high-quality forages in the summertime by sending animals from multiple stations here to enjoy our grasses. We like to say that the animals are going to Summer Camp.
Anything else that is important due to your high elevation?
The geographical diversity of North Carolina gives our Upper Mountain station and the entire research system a lot of flexibility in conducting research.
​As an example, so while we might use our Upper Mountain Station to conduct cold tolerance trials, our station in the Sandhills might conduct drought tolerance trials during the same season. This gives NC State researchers we work with lots of options when selecting appropriate sites to conduct their trials.
All of your research stations have ECONet towers that collect weather data and transmits it to the State Climate Office in Raleigh. Can you please give an example of how data from your tower might be used to benefit agriculture in our state?
We calculate what we call "growing degree days,” which give us an indication of when plants should be at certain stages of growth. For example, if we have a cooler than normal spring, NC Christmas trees could break bud later, and conversely, if it is a warmer than normal spring they could break bud earlier.
This is important as the date of bud break is important to tree producers because it has a significant impact on the timing of when herbicides should be applied to the trees in their fields. We can also use these ECONet towers to monitor soil temperature, rainfall, and other environmental conditions that do not actually occur at the physical site of our stations.
Do you report your data to any other agencies?
Yes we do.
The Upper Mountain Research Station is a cooperator with the National Weather Service out of Blacksburg, VA.
We monitor daily weather conditions using equipment provided by them. The data we collect is continuously reported to them, and they use it to look at weather patterns and then make more accurate predictions and forecasts for the future.
That is certainly interesting information about your collection and transmission of weather statistics. Let us move on to your ongoing programs and educational events. How does one find out about these?
Most of our events are advertised and organized by our station in coordination with the NC State Cooperative Extension.
We host a wide range of events each year such as grafting workshops, cattle working, Trees for Troops and more.
The best way to learn about these events is through your county’s extension agents or through advertisements from NC State University.
Tracy, can you give us some examples of events at your facility?
Maggie, we have a lot of events here, probably too many to really cover now. There are Fraser fir grafting workshops for growers, and we also have a High School Cattle Working Competition which is a hands-on cattle working competition.
There are several others and I have provided details on some of these after the conclusion of this interview.
Thank you for doing this. Now I also understand you have some new facilities either recently completed or still under construction. What can you share about these with us?
Yes, we do have a couple of new buildings, the first being a recently constructed cattle feeding barn. This barn enables our cattle to stay dry when eating and everything is on a concrete pad. What is really unique is that this structure is next to a perimeter fenceline. We actually call it a “fenceline” barn because it allows us to feed the animals without opening a gate and driving them into the field with a tractor every day.
And you also indicated that you have something that is under construction as well.
Our new seed processing facility is currently still under construction.
When completed, seed that is harvested from our orchard will be stored inside this new facility’s climate-controlled room in order to cure the cones and dry the seed.
Once this process has been completed and the cones are ready, seed will be extracted from the cones, and then processed and tested.
What is the significance of this process?
Maggie, this facility will give NC Christmas tree producers access to the best Fraser fir seed in the world, and help maintain NC as the leader in Christmas tree research and production. We expect the facility to be completed buy the end of the 2025 calendar year and seed first available to growers around 2028.
I understand that an important seed orchard was established at your research station in 2018. What can you tell us about seed orchards and the one at your site? Does this help commercial growers?
The existence of our orchard is a direct result of our relationship with the NC State Christmas Tree Genetics Program.
Improving Fraser fir is a very slow process, and the trees at our station today are the result of roughly 30 years of research and development. These trees represent some of the best Fraser firs in the world. This is the only orchard that we know of that has been screened for needle retention and the other important traits we look for in Christmas trees.
We have also laid the framework for seed from our orchard to have been awarded the “Blue Tag Certification” by the NC Crop Improvement Association.
What does this certification imply?
Well this is the highest level of certification that can be achieved for seed, and this will be a tremendous asset for Christmas tree producers. This certification means that our seed will grow more desirable trees faster and these trees will exhibit much better needle retention.
We anticipate that the commercial harvest time from trees produced from this seed can be reduced by at least one year which will allow growers to turn the trees around faster and get the field back in new production.
Also, better needle retention will pay big dividends to greenery producers as well as give NC growers a marketing advantage over out-of-state Christmas trees.
That is wonderful to hear. Tracy, anything else before we move on?
I want to also mention that our orchard may be the only “certified” Fraser fir seed orchard in the world. This is an extra step taken to add value to the seed. Certifying our seed means that our seed has been inspected by a recognized third party and that it meets specific standards. This certification ensures that our seed is the product of a special breeding program and that our seed will perform exactly as specified.
And who is this third party?
In this case, the certifying agency (third party) is the NC Crop Improvement Association. It reviews our breeding records, and conducted an on-site inspection on the day the trees were first grafted into the orchard.
Going forward, it will inspect us during harvest and processing each year to ensure that its standards are adhered to. And then once the seed is ready for marketing it will be blue tag certified.
Tracy, earlier you mentioned that you recently added a cattle feeding barn at your station. Why do you have livestock here?
We are one of the stations that participate in the “NC Beef” system.
We have a registered herd of Black Angus cattle that live here year-round. All the NC Beef stations produce calves of the same genetics, and the calves go into the research programs as needed. This allows researchers to use calves from multiple beef stations that are all of the same age, genetics, and same herd health status, so they really are comparing apples to apples in their research.
In addition to cattle, we have a relatively new flock of sheep at Upper Mountain. Our research team is building a statewide flock of sheep that will operate the same way as our NC Beef system. The participating stations will produce lambs that will be available for research as needed.
This is very interesting, anything else here?
One more thing I want to mention - “Vytelle” feeding systems feeding systems are in the process of being added at three other stations, and we should get one of these installed here soon. These Vytelle feeding systems will allow us to collect individual feed and water intake on our beef and sheep herds. This will be a tremendous asset to researchers not only in NC but in other parts of our country as well.
I know that you work closely with Dr. Justin Whitehill of the Christmas Tree Genetics Program, at NC State University. Can you explain this relationship and why it is beneficial?
Dr. Whitehill is the Christmas Tree Genetics Program Director for NC State, and is also the Principal Investigator for all our Christmas tree improvement projects.
He provides expertise in project design, data collection and data analysis, and our research station is where many of his projects are implemented.
We are responsible for implementation and continued maintenance until these projects are completed.
Can you give us an example of how you help with these projects?
Upper Mountain provides the manpower, land, buildings, tractors, sprayers, mowers, and whatever else may be needed to make each project a success.
We are actually the “playground” for all things related to Christmas tree improvement, and we manage these projects for Dr. Whitehill. This includes growing and maintaining his research plants through project completion.
In an earlier interview with Dr. Whitehill that one can see here, we learned that there is a serious root disease called Phytophthora root rot, which is a big concern of NC Fraser fir growers. What can you tell us about this problem?
Phytophthora root rot or PRR is really a major pest for our Christmas tree farms today, with no known cure and with limited management methods.
While some other firs, such as Turkish fir, Trojan fir, and Momi fir, may have some degree of resistance to PRR, Fraser firs do not and are very sensitive to PRR.
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​One of the things we are doing is to study the other firs that have exhibited some degree of natural resistance to PRR. Right now, our best approach is to graft a Fraser fir on top of one of the more resistant types of firs. This is very expensive, but with no known cure for this disease it’s all we can do at this time.
We hope to learn what makes some types of firs “resistant” to PRR and why Fraser fir is so sensitive to the disease. If we could learn more, we might have a better chance of developing a line of Fraser fir that has resistance to PRR.
I understand that you are also trying to lengthen the amount of time a Christmas tree remains fresh. Can you explain how this works?
Over a period of many years we have conducted many studies related to the post-harvest qualities of Fraser fir.
Some of our efforts have centered around post-harvest needle retention. We have found that needle retention can be influenced by many environmental factors such as how trees are stored from the time they are harvested until they go into your living room.
And what are you doing to improve this needle retention?
Well to start with, the single biggest influencer of needle retention is still the genetic make-up of our trees. The Christmas Tree Genetics program at NC State has identified trees that naturally hold their needles better than others, and these trees were used to establish our “elite” seed orchard at Upper Mountain.
Our Fraser fir orchard was the first to incorporate needle retention as part of the selection criteria. And while it remains important for needle retention to handle and store trees correctly after harvest, and give them clean fresh water once inside your house, the “trees of the future” should give consumers and growers alike a much better experience when it comes to needle retention.
The trees selected for our orchard have been screened for things tree growers want such as accelerated growth rates. We also have screened for other things that consumers want as well, such as greater tree density.
Tracy, Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and information about Fraser firs and the work that is being done at the Upper Mountain Research Station. Your efforts, along with the efforts of NC State University, will allow us to continue to enjoy our Fraser firs for many years to come.
Upper Mountain Research Station 8004 NC Highway. 88 E Laurel Springs, NC 28644-8631
ONLINE RESOURCES​
Upper Mountain Research Station All NCDA Research Stations
Research Stations - About The Division A Place at the Table
ONGOING PROGRAMS AND EDUCATIONAL EVENTS AT THE UPPER MOUNTAIN RESEARCH STATION
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Fraser fir grafting workshops– We have hosted this event a couple of times, this is where growers and their staff can visit and learn grafting techniques from industry professionals and take that knowledge back to their respective farms.
High School Cattle Working Competition- This event is relatively new to high school agriculture students. This is a hands-on cattle working competition. High school teachers assemble a team and their students compete regionally with other high schools in their area. Students must weigh the animals and administer the appropriate amount of medicine (normally a placebo) and they are judged on their accuracy and how well they handle the animals. After the regional competitions, the winners all visit Upper Mountain for the state finals. The winner at Upper Mountain is crowned the state champion for one year and then we start a new cycle with new students.
Trees For Troops – This event is sponsored by FedEx and the NC Christmas Tree Association and Upper Mountain is the hosting location for one of their stops. At this event Christmas tree producers donate trees, and the trees are staged at UMRS until the big event. During the event FedEx sends a tractor trailer, local high school ROTC and agriculture students attend and load the trees onto the trailer. Each tree is tagged with a special message from our local elementary school kids and then FedEx delivers the trees to a military base. The trees are free to our service men and women and gives them and their families the opportunity to have a fresh Christmas tree for the holidays.
High School Safety Day – High school students from our surrounding counties visit the station and are trained on a variety of safety topics. Professionals from around the state visit and help us conduct training on anything from tractor rollover to pesticide safety and many more.
Farm Safety for Agricultural Workers – this is an event where growers can send their workers and they receive safety training specific to their jobs. For instance, before Christmas tree harvest season the topics could be chainsaw safety and Christmas tree baler operation and safety. The overarching goal is to make sure everyone gets to go home to their families in one piece every night.
Agriculture Rescue Training – This is an event for our local emergency services. A research station has a variety of agricultural and construction equipment which is a good place for our fire and rescue personnel to train in case of a farm related accident. The students are given “scenarios” which are accidents that are staged using the equipment and manikins. The students must approach the “staged” emergency scene and safely rescue the manikin. Topics for this event include pesticide spills, PTO entanglement, confined space rescue and more.