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Wye Research & Education Center

Wye Research & Education Center

WyeREC is situated on 1,000 acres on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  The Center's location makes it an ideal site for research focusing on preserving the health and vitality of the Chesapeake Bay, sustaining agricultural productivity, product diversity, and maintaining Maryland's valued quality of life.

The Center currently houses several Regional Extension Specialists and Research Scientists.  Faculty from the Departments of Animal Science, Agriculture and Resource Economics, Environmental Science and Technology, Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, and Entomology use the Center. In addition, Extension faculty serving the statewide LEAD Maryland Program are housed at WyeREC.  

In the Spotlight:

Major Land Donation Bolsters Livestock Research at WREC

The Aspen Institute recently donated 330 acres of land to the Wye Research and Education Center, home to the Wye Angus Program and the heavily studied herd of Angus cattle. In addition, the University of Maryland purchased an adjacent 233 acres from Aspen, bringing the total land acquisition to 563 acres. The land originally belonged to the late Arthur A. Houghton Jr., CEO of Steuben Glass Works, and his wife, Nina Houghton before ownership by the Aspen Institute.  University research on the Angus herd has been conducted since the 1950's

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Center History

WREC farm

The Wye Institute, the Wye Plantation, and the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) have been cooperating, both formally and informally, in agricultural research and related activities for nearly 50 years. 

WREC History

The Wye Institute, the Wye Plantation, and the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) have been cooperating, both formally and informally, in agricultural research and related activities for nearly 50 years.  Cooperation with the Wye Angus herd, which began in 1954, has been a tremendous resource for MAES scientists.  Crop research has been conducted by MAES scientists since 1966 when Wye Institute made available, without charge, 100 acres of Institute land for use by MAES.

In 1973, arrangements were completed which enabled the University of Maryland to purchase, for use by MAES, 123 acres of Wye Institute land.  In 1978, the Wye Plantation donated the Wye Angus herd, together with a substantial cash endowment, to the University of Maryland Foundation for use in the related activities at Wye.  The plan provided a blueprint for the future development of the Experiment Station's field unit at Wye and a sound basis to Wye Institute and Wye Plantation for planning the most efficient use of their resources. 

In December, 1979, the proposed plan was completed.  The plan envisioned Wye to be an innovative multidisciplinary research, extension and education center with the following six major foci:  Cattle Breeding and Genetics; Integrated Pest Management; Plant Breeding and Genetics; Energy Development; Usage and Conservation; Quality of Life; and Interaction of Land and Water Agriculture-Aquaculture.

In 1982, the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, once located at Wye Plantation, offered the use of its facilities and 450 acres of land to support the research programs of MAES.  Also in 1982, MAES formally established the Wye Research and Education Center (WREC).  Two years later, following acceptance of MAES plans for WREC, Wye Institute agreed to donate an additional 35 acres of land for MAES use.

In 1991, MAES marked the official opening of the 16,000 square foot Arthur A. Houghton, Jr. Laboratory.  This valuable addition greatly enhanced the scope of scientific inquiry at the center.

Extension Programs and Resources at WyeREC

Extension Programs

University of Maryland Extension maintains a strong presence at the Wye Research and Education Center. The Center is home to a variety of Extension programs, resources, faculty, and staff.

Extension Program Areas

Extension Expertise at WREC:

 

Strawberry Twilight Tours
Bay Area Fruit Schools

Research

Image of flume outside of WREC field.

There are a vast array of research projects that take place out of the Wye Research and Education Center. 

Research at the Wye

Agricultural Experiment Station, On-site Faculty Expertise

Ristvey, Andrew - Commercial Horticulture
Extension Specialist for Commercial Horticulture at Wye Research and Education Center at Queenstown, MD and affiliate faculty with the Plant Science and Landscape Architecture Department at the University of Maryland, College Park. Education:  Master of Science degree in 1993 from the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore in the MEES program; Doctorate in Horticulture, University of Maryland College Park.  Present extension and research interests are plant nutrition, specialty crop production and green roof systems.

Staver, Ken - Nutrient Cycling/Biofuels
Primary research interest is the development of agricultural production systems that maximize nutrient and energy use efficiency and minimize environmental degradation at the field and system level. His academic training is in systems ecology (B.A.; Cornell), marine science (M.S.; U. MD), and engineering (Ph.D.; U.MD). Dr. Staver has worked at the Wye Research and Education Center since 1984, focusing initially on nutrient transport patterns in Coastal Plain watersheds and the development of practices that reduce nutrient losses from cropland at the field level. More recently, his research focus has shifted to development of multi-discipline approaches to regional environmental problems. HIs current research activities include: 1. assessment of nutrient flow patterns in grain/poultry production systems at field, watershed, and regional scales;  2. assessment of  cover crop strategies to reduce phosphorus losses in field drainage climate resiliency of production systems; 3. development of land placement options for sediment dredged from Chesapeake Bay shipping lanes; 4. assessment of the nutrient uptake and retention, and biofuel potential of native warm season grasses; and 5. incorporation of research findings into large scale watershed nutrient transport models.

Programs with Research at Wye

Animal and Avian Sciences

Slattery, Rachael 
Song, Jiuzhou
Xiao, Zhenggou

Entomology

Dively, Galen - Integrated Pest Management

Espindola, Anahi - Evolutionary Ecology and Inter-Species Interactions
Hamby, Kelly - Integrated Pest Management
Lamp, William - Integrated Pest Management

Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture

Everts, Kate - Vegetable Plant Pathology

Fiorellino, Nicole - Assistant Professor and Extension Agronomist

Hu, Mengjun - Small Fruits Pathologist
Lea-Cox, John - Nursery Research
Micallef, Shirley - Vegetables
Rawat, Nidhi - Plant Pathology
Tiwari, Vijay - Genetics and genomics of small grain crops
 

Other UME Faculty with Research at WyeREC
Fiola, Joseph - Viticulture and Small Fruits
Kness, Andrew - Agronomy, Plant Pathology, Pasture Management, Diseases of Field Crops, and Soils
Macaulay, Luke - Wildlife Specialist
Nichols, Kelly - Commercial Crop Production

Sater, Haley - Fruit and Vegetable Production
Vollmer, Kurt - Weed Specialist 

 

Current Research Projects being conducted at our Center

For Researchers

Interested in conducting research at WyeREC?

Please be sure to complete our new and improved Resource Request Form! The form can be accessed on the MAES website underneath the tab for "Resource Requests." All information is entered into a Qualtrics survey and automatically emailed to all parties (P.I., Farm Manager, MAES Admin., and Center Director). There is also an option for file uploads. If you have plot plans, spray schedules, or detailed procedures to accompany your RRF information, they can be uploaded directly through Qualtrics.

Weather Data

picture of weather station
Wye weather station - Summer - photo by D. Poet

The Wye weather station is located at:

38 54' 46.15"N

76 09' 06.75"W

*Note: the rain gauge on the Live Weather Data link is temporarily out of order.

Live Weather Data

Wye Weather Data Today's Local Weather

2024 Bay Area Fruit School

Address, Directions & Contact

Address

Wye Research and Education Center
124 Wye Narrows Drive
Queenstown, MD 21658
Phone: 410.827.8056

GPS Addresses

  • Houghton Lab (offices & meeting rooms):  124 Wye Narrows Drive, Queenstown MD 21658
     
  • Farm Shop, Agronomic and Horticultural Programs:  211 Farm Lane, Queenstown MD 21658
     
  • Wye Angus:  2016 Carmichael Road, Queenstown MD 21658

Contact

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