Sanborn Field is an
agricultural
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
experiment field, located on the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
campus in
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...
. Established in 1888, it was the first facility in the United States intended to measure
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...
and
run-off for differing
crops
A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, fibre, or fuel.
When plants of the same species a ...
and agricultural practices. Work at Sanborn Field was influential in the establishment of
soil conservation
Soil conservation is the prevention of loss of the topmost layer of the soil from erosion or prevention of reduced fertility caused by over usage, Soil acidification, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination
Slash-and-b ...
policy in the United States. The field was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 1964.
The field is currently managed as part of the Agricultural Extension Station under the university's School of Natural Resources.
Description
Sanborn Field is located on the east side of the University of Missouri campus, on land purchased by the state for the university campus during the 1870s. It is roughly in size, and is bounded by Bouchelle Avenue, Connaway Hall, Rollins Street, and College Avenue.
Once in a rural area, the field is now surrounded by built-up portions of Columbia. It is subdivided into plots measuring .
History
The field was established by Dean J.W. Sanborn, who sought to understand the value of
manure
Manure is organic matter that is used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Most manure consists of animal feces; other sources include compost and green manure. Manures contribute to the fertility of soil by adding organic matter and nut ...
as a fertilizer, and the use of
crop rotation
Crop rotation is the practice of growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons. This practice reduces the reliance of crops on one set of nutrients, pest and weed pressure, along with the pro ...
. In 1914, emphasis was shifted away from manure and toward chemical
fertilizer
A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...
s. Other experiments focused on the recovery of exhausted soils. The plots continue to be used today for long-term experimentation on differing schemes for the management of agricultural lands.
Chlortetracycline
Chlortetracycline (trade name Aureomycin, Lederle Laboratories) is a tetracycline antibiotic, the first tetracycline to be identified. It was discovered in 1945 at Lederle Laboratories under the supervision of Yellapragada Subbarow and Benjamin ...
, the first
tetracycline
Tetracycline, sold under various brand names, is an antibiotic in the tetracyclines family of medications, used to treat a number of infections, including acne, cholera, brucellosis, plague, malaria, and syphilis. It is available in oral an ...
to be identified, was discovered in a sample of soil collected from plot 23 of Sanborn field in 1945.
See also
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Missouri
The National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in the U.S. state of Missouri represent History of Missouri, Missouri's history from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, through the American Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Space Age. There are 36 ...
*
References
External links
University of Missouri - Sanborn FieldSanborn Field Real-Time Weather Station Conditions
* at the National Park Service's NRHP database
{{Mizzou, campus
National Historic Landmarks in Missouri
University of Missouri buildings and structures
1888 establishments in Missouri
National Register of Historic Places in Boone County, Missouri