Central Ag Research Center

10/29/2025

The Central Agricultural Research Center (CARC) will be having an Open House as part of the Celebrate Ag Week at Montana State University. Come and join us from 8:30 to 11:30 AM on Wednesday, November 5th, at CARC headquarters two miles west of Moccasin. Staff will be available to discuss ongoing research at CARC and, weather permitting, show and describe research equipment used to plant and harvest small-plot trials at the center. Read about the many other events being held in Bozeman during the week by going to https://agriculture.montana.edu/celebrateag/

06/26/2025

A huge THANK YOU to everyone that joined us for field day yesterday! We had excellent speakers, wonderful weather, and best of all a great turnout!

06/25/2025

Tomorrow is the big day!! Join us for field day 8:30-noon to see all our trials and field crops and hear from experts! Lunch is provided and everyone is welcome!

06/25/2025

Our mustard and sainfoin fields are putting on a show just in time for field day!

06/23/2025

While field day prep keeps us fairly busy, regular data collection season is deep underway! Crews are out every day taking heading and flowering notes, vine length measurements, and soil and biomass samples. Pictured here is Superintendent Pat Carr driving the self-propelled forage harvester to gather alfalfa biomass samples. While this machine is useful in the large plots of this study, most of our forage harvest samples are taken by hand. More info on that in coming weeks!

06/11/2025

Look for more posts from us in the upcoming weeks as we ramp up summer fieldwork and preparations for Field Day!

Below is a view from today of several winter barley trials visible from Highway 87. If you've driven by and wondered about the barley you see heading out early, here it is! Learn more from Joe Jensen, MSU-NWARC Assistant Professor of Cropping Systems and winter barley trial coordinator at our public field day on June 25, 8:30-noon!

06/09/2025

03/03/2025

POSITION FILLED

Program Lead, Variety Testing & Agronomy - Central Ag Research Center, Moccasin, MT

Duties include directing the crop variety testing program at MSU Central Agricultural Research Center (CARC) and at associated off- station locations, and providing educational leadership on crop variety selection to farmers and other stakeholders in central Montana. This is a full-time, 12-month, position with excellent benefits.

Montana State University is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Veterans/Disabled

For complete job announcement and application procedures, click on:

This position is located two miles west of Moccasin, MT. This is a 12-month full-time position funded by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station. There are opportunities to secure extramural funding from state, regional, and/or national sources in partial support of the program

01/13/2025

CANCELED!!

09/25/2024

This afternoon we had the pleasure of hosting the final stop on Lewistown Area Chamber of Commerce's 2024 Ag Tour! About 25 attendees braved the hot September sun to join us on a tour of the station fields and greenhouse, along with a demonstration of the plot-sized combine and planter and seed processing lab equipment. They were an attentive group and had lots of great questions for us!

07/03/2024

We had a great turnout for field day last week! Nearly 80 people, plus CARC staff, went on fun tours and listened to great speakers before enjoying a fabulous lunch arranged by Central MT Cattlewomen! We partnered with some great industry folks this year to make it happen: Montana Grain Growers Association sponsored the lunch, Torgerson's Equipment and Hoven Equipment brought tractors and drivers to help with the tours, and Frontline Ag had a shiny new tractor and drills on display. There were also informational booths from MSU Student Ambassadors and USDA-NIFA Organic Transitions Program. Despite hail the week before, there was still plenty to see and we had good producer attendance. Love to see it! Thank you all!