10/28/1996

Old Rotation Centennial Celebration Highlights Need for Long-Term Research

"The best inheritance we can give our children and grandchildren is a good data base from which they can make hypotheses and decisions."

Those were the words of A.E. Johnston, Lawes Trust Senior Fellow from Harpenden, England, as he helped celebrate the 100th anniversary of Auburn University's Old Rotation experiment.

Johnston was among numerous speakers who helped commemorate the centennial of the Old Rotation, a long-term cotton rotation study that was established in 1896 by J.F. Duggar.

Charles Mitchell, professor of agronomy and soils at AU and chairman of the Old Rotation's Centennial Committee, explained that the Old Rotation is a one-acre plot of land located on the Auburn campus that for the past century has provided indispensable data for Alabama farmers.

"The Old Rotation," said Mitchell, "is the oldest cotton experiment in the world and the third oldest field crop experiment in the world at the same location. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 and continues to be a productive and informative research site."

Duggar established the Old Rotation in an effort to show that cotton production in Alabama could be sustained if farmers would rotate crops and protect soil. According to Mitchell, Alabama's economy and its culture were heavily reliant on cotton in the late 1800s, but yields had been dropping because years of continuous cotton production on the same land had depleted soil fertility and productivity.

The 100th anniversary celebration was held in early October to highlight the history of the site and also emphasize the importance of long-term research. Mitchell explained that it is rare in this modern age for a research project to last more than a few years, much less a century. However the mixture of historical data and current data that such long-term studies provide is priceless. His point was echoed by other speakers during the centennial celebration, which included a symposium, a technical lecture and tours of the Old Rotation site.

Johnston, who has worked for many years with the Rothamsted Experiment Station in England, the oldest field crop study in the world (c. 1843), discussed results from his experiment's research and also noted that its historical data allow researchers to evaluate environmental changes through many years.

"All the debate we have today about global warming would be much easier if we had (weather and atmospheric) data such as these long-term soil experiments offer," Johnston noted.

In addition to Johnston's lecture, the celebration included presentations by AU faculty members and caretakers of other long-term experiments in the United States. Among the speakers were Ted Peck of the University of Illinois' Morrow Plots (c. 1876), Jim Brown of the University of Missouri-Columbia's Sandborn Field (c. 1888) and Bob Westerman of Oklahoma State University's Magruder Plots (c. 1892).

These speakers also presented research results from their respective experiments and talked about he value of historical data.

"We need to continue plots such as these," noted Brown. "To do so we need the dedication of scientists, administrators and most especially young scientists." He noted that involving new faculty in these studies will help ensure that the research continues well into the future.

Other speakers at the symposium included AU faculty who have been involved in Old Rotation studies. Jim Novak, professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology at AU, provided a historical perspective on the Old Rotation plot.

Novak noted that in 1896 (the same year that the first modern Olympics were held and the year of F. Scott Fitzgerald's birth), cotton yields were dropping, yet the state was reliant on cotton and agricultural production for its survival. At the time, he said, two-thirds of the people in the United States lived in rural areas and relied on farming and agriculture for their livelihoods. In Alabama, 87 percent of the population was living and working in rural areas, which underscored the need for a sustainable agricultural production system. Novak said that the information provided by the Old Rotation has helped farmers survive the onslaught of the boll weevil and the Great Depression.

Novak and other speakers commented that the recent resurgence in cotton production illustrates the need for and value of Duggar's experiment. They noted that at least some of the credit for today's good cotton yields must go to Duggar and preceding scientists. The research they conducted and continue to conduct at the Old Rotation site has helped provide information on sustainability that will last well into the next century.

Greg Traxler, associate professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology, also noted that the exceptional historical base of yield and production information gathered from the Old Rotation allows economists to track trends and evaluate risk in farming, as well as predict future trends.

In his research, Traxler has used the Old Rotation's historical data to develop prediction models for farmers. The models suggest that cotton remains a valuable and viable crop for Alabama when it is managed in a responsible method and rotated with other crops. The use of crop rotation not only protects the soil from depletion and erosion, but also provides farmers with alternative sources of income if weather and other environmental factors affect cotton yields.

Mitchell, who also spoke during the Old Rotation celebration, noted that the Old Rotation today provides not only valuable data, but also a valuable teaching site for professors and students. He added that the Old Rotation is moving into the future. In coming years the research conducted on those plots will look at conservation tillage practices in addition to traditional farming methods.
Much of the information provided by the Old Rotation has been consolidated into a special publication, The Old Rotation- 1896-1996: 100 Years of Sustainable Cropping Research. This and other publication's concerning the Old Rotation study are available free by contacting the Office of Research Information, 110 Comer Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849 (334-844-4877).

During the celebration, a commemorative painting of the Old Rotation was unveiled. The original painting, created by Auburn artist Cindy Mask, will hang in the office of the director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station. Numbered and signed prints also are available for purchase, as are miniature cotton bales made from the Old Rotation's 100th cotton crop. Proceeds from the sale of these items will be used to offset the costs of the Old Rotation centennial celebration. The items may be purchased through AU's Department of Agronomy and Soils at Funchess Hall, Auburn University, AL 36849 (334-844-4100).

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Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
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Auburn, AL 36849
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Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu