Central Agricultural Research Center History
The Judith Basin area was a summer resort and favorite hunting ground for the Blackfoot, Nez Perces, Gros Ventres and Crow Indians about 100 years before the Lewis and Clark expedition. Mining camps were the first settlements in the area when silver and lead were discovered in the Little Belt Mountains in the 1870's and 1880's. Livestock was also important during this era and cattlemen moved large herds in from western Montana valleys to graze on the abundant grassland present in the area. The Great Falls - Billings branch of the Great Northern Railway was completed in 1908. Large ranch holdings were subdivided into 160 and 320 acres tracts, which brought in homesteaders who established dryland farming and ranching practices.
The Central Agricultural Research Center began in 1907 when Governor J.K. Toole signed House Bill No. 450 authorizing the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station to establish its first branch station in the Judith Basin. The station has gone through several name changes over the years. From 1907 - 1926 it was the Judith Basin Substation; 1927 - 1944, the Judith Basin Branch Station; and 1945 - 1970, the Central Montana Branch Station. In 1971 the name changed to the present Central Agricultural Research Center.
Currently, 480 acres at the Central Agricultural Research Center are farmed. The remaining land consists of range, roadways, shelter belts, railroad, creek bottom and headquarters area.
Over the years thousands of plots have been seeded and harvested to test varieties, study diseases, insects, weeds, cropping and tillage systems, fertilizers and forages. These trials have helped mold agricultural practices in central Montana. Listed below are some "firsts" achieved by researchers at the Center:
| 1907 | First sod broken on 80 acres |
| 1908 | Dryland crop rotations began, including
summer fallow, continuous cropping, green manure, row cropping and tillage practices. First winter wheat seeded and yields ranged from 35 to 55 bu/a the next year. |
| 1909 | First corn planted. Although the growing season was too short to harvest the grain, researchers found the forage yield was higher than any other crop. |
| 1912 | First alfalfa variety trials began. First shelter belt planted. First caraganas planted in Montana and the first or second in the United States. |
| 1913 | First dynamite trials were conducted to determine if grain yields could be increased by loosening the sub-soil. After four years, no differences in yield were found. |
| 1914 | First fertilizer studies began using rock phosphate on wheat, oats and barley. |
| 1915 | Crested wheatgrass was grown using seed from its native Russia. It is very well adapted to the drylands of central Montana and is credited with saving farms and ranches during the "dirty Thirties". |
| 1922 | Dryland gardening trial started without
much success. Grasshoppers first became a problem. Two tons of poisoned bran was spread to control |
| 1923 | First pasture trials began using hogs and milk cows. |
| 1924 | Experimental orchard established. Caragana and Russian olive ornamentals were found to be well adapted to Montana |
| 1927 | First herbicide trials began with Canada thistle and quackgrass. |
| 1932 | Yogo, one of Montana's first winter hardy winter wheats, was released after testing in central Montana. This variety along with research conducted at the Center during the 1920's which led to development of the first furrow drill, helped move Montana's winter wheat belt northward about 300 miles |
| 1946 | First Montana trials of 2,4-D herbicide began. |