03/05/1997

Emmett Carden Retires from Gulf Coast Ag Research Station

FAIRHOPE, Ala. - Emmett Carden, superintendent of the Gulf Coast Substation since 1978, recently announced his retirement from the 800-acre Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station (AAES) facility in Fairhope.

During his tenure as superintendent, Carden has seen some good and not-so-good changes. The continual encroachment of urban development around the substation has made some research more difficult, but it has also brought greater visibility to agriculture, he said.

"In the early 1980s we did some tea research in cooperation with Lipton Tea Company. While this research didn't generate a big influx of tea production in Baldwin County, it did demonstrate that the crop can be grown along Alabama's Gulf Coast," Carden remembered. Similar tests with fajoa and kiwi, imports from New Zealand, generated a great deal of interest and publicity for the station, but more importantly demonstrated for Gulf Coast area farmers that neither crop is ideally suited for their area.

One of Carden's more memorable events at the AU research facility was dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Frederic. Along with this devastation came new opportunities, providing the impetus to re-establish pecan orchards and further solidify the station's reputation as one of the top pecan research facilities in the world.

In addition to pecans, the Gulf Coast Substation under Carden's leadership has continually turned out meaningful research on row crops and livestock. Of particular value has been the soybean research done with nematode resistant varieties.

In recent years, the Gulf Coast Substation has spearheaded a drive to regenerate interest in citrus production in the Gulf Coast area. Once a major player in the citrus industry, bouts of extremely cold weather over a 20-year period in the early 1900s all but wiped out production of satsuma oranges in Baldwin and Mobile counties. Recent freeze management studies at the substation indicate that satsuma trees can be saved from all but record breaking cold. While growers are likely to lose a crop from time to time, ongoing research at the substation may provide the technology necessary to save citrus trees.

Carden, a native of Atmore, first came to Auburn University as a student in 1958, earning a bachelor's degree in agronomy and soils. He returned to Auburn in 1965 to pursue a master's degree and to work in the Soil Testing Lab.

In 1966, Carden began working with the forage ecology program and was instrumental in the development of yuchi arrowleaf clover and a number of other popular forage crops developed at Auburn by Carl Hoveland. "I consider working with Carl Hoveland one of the highlights of my career and getting the opportunity to travel all over the state putting in tests and harvesting plots was certainly a big learning experience for me," Carden noted.

In 1970, he was named superintendent of the Brewton and Monroeville Experiment Fields. During his tenure there, Carden finished his master's degree in agronomy and soils.

In 1976, he returned to Auburn to work on the Ph.D. During this stay in Auburn, he worked on the small grain corn variety testing program, again traveling all over the state planting and harvesting plots.

"Emmett Carden brought to the Gulf Coast Substation a wealth of knowledge about a number of crops grown in Alabama and a sound understanding of research procedures. He used these skills wisely in directing the research programs of the station. His knowledge and leadership abilities will be greatly missed by the entire AAES system, and especially so by the agricultural industry in the Gulf Coast," noted Jim Marion, director of the AAES and dean of the College of Agriculture at Auburn. In retirement, Carden plans to travel and spend more time on his favorite hobbies--fishing and hunting.

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Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
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Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
by Roy Roberson

03/05/97