Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center

Beltsville Agricultural Research Center main building
Aerial view of BARC's Dairy Research Facility

The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) is a unit of the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. It is located at 39°02′N 76°53′W / 39.033°N 76.883°W / 39.033; -76.883Coordinates: 39°02′N 76°53′W / 39.033°N 76.883°W / 39.033; -76.883 in Beltsville, Maryland, and is named for Henry A. Wallace, former United States vice president and secretary of agriculture. BARC houses the Abraham Lincoln Building of the National Agricultural Library.

Among its research programs are Air Quality; Animal Health; Crop Production; Crop Protection and Quarantine; Food Animal Production; Food Safety; Global Change; Human Nutrition; Integrated Farming Systems; Manure and Byproduct Utilization; Methyl Bromide Alternatives; Plant Biological and Molecular Processes; Plant Diseases; Plant Genetic Resources, Genomics, and Genetic Improvement; Quality and Utilization of Agricultural Products; Rangeland, Pasture, and Forages; Soil Resource Management; Veterinary, Medical, and Urban Entomology; and Water Quality and Management.

The center's Harvest for the Hungry program donates about 75,000 pounds (34 metric tons) of fruits and vegetables each year for distribution to local charities, in conjunction with volunteers from the community who do much of the labor of harvesting.

Each February, BARC hosts the Washington's Birthday Marathon, the eighth oldest marathon in the United States.

During the September 24, 2001 tornado outbreak, the BARC facilities sustained extensive damage as the result of an F3 tornado.[1]

References

  1. ↑ USDA research center severely damaged in tornado. (press release) United States Department of Agriculture, September 25, 2001. Retrieved on 2008-12-22.

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