PENDLETON â Experimental plots of wheat unfold across the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center like a patchwork quilt of amber and gold.
Christina Hagerty, an assistant professor of cereal pathology at the station 7 miles north of Pendleton, walked through the fields on an early July morning pointing out various trials â everything from tests of new wheat varieties to new techniques for managing weeds and diseases.
Each trial could ultimately impact farmersâ bottom lines. âAs researchers, we need to lose our shirt before the farmer does,â Hagerty said.
The purpose of the center, commonly known as CBARC, is to improve dryland farming practices in a region that receives little precipitation.