Barnhart Leads the Station 

Following the death of Dean William Seay in 1969, Charles E. Barnhart assumed the post of dean of the College of Agriculture and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, a position he held until his retirement.   

Under the administration of Dean Barnhart, the number of faculty and staff positions at Princeton increased to 25 during the late 1960s and 1970s, almost exclusively in the Extension area. This action symbolized the importance of western Kentucky agriculture to the state. The fresh talent hired to augment the existing faculty and staff brought several new research efforts and an expanded outreach program, including many new Extension specialist positions. This critical mass of new scientists also led to the initiation of a significant amount of collaborative effort across academic disciplines.    

Curtis Absher and Doug Wood were among the first wave of new talent brought to the substation in 1969 as Extension animal scientists. Lloyd Murdock, Extension soils specialist, soon followed, as did Jim Herbek, Extension grain crops specialist, and forage specialist Jim Kaiser. (Kaiser left in 1972 and was replaced by Garry Lacefield in 1974.) Several other faculty members were added in the early 1970s, including those filling positions in agricultural engineering, agronomy, animal sciences, entomology, forestry, horticulture, plant pathology, and veterinary sciences.

Those hired during the 1970s include (by department):  

• Agricultural Engineering – Doug Overhults, Sam McNeill 
• Agronomy – Jim Kaiser, Jim Herbek, John James, Bill Witt, Garry Lacefield, Monroe Rasnake, Bob Miller, Jim Martin 
• Animal Sciences – Ronnie Edwards, Gary Parker, Ron Parker 
• Community Resource Development – Frank Zerfoss, Tom Price, Ed Jones, Glenn Kreag 
• Entomology – Harley Raney, David Foster 
• Forestry - Ralph Lewis, Don VanOrmer 
• Horticulture – Dudley Martin; Ron Walser, Jerry Brown, Ruth Averitt; Winston Dunwell 
• Veterinary Sciences – Duane Miksch

Although the new Extension faculty focused primarily on educational programs for the western part of the state, their training and orientation, developed through working with farmers, led them to begin conducting applied research at the farm. In addition, many farmers collaborated with scientists to establish research plots on their farms, which served as both data sources and demonstration sites for Extension programs.   

Double-Crop Soybeans  

Extensive research and educational programs initiated in 1971 on double-crop soybeans  - planting a crop of soybeans behind harvested wheat - established the University of Kentucky as a leader in double-cropped soybean technology in the South. Research was conducted at the station by several scientists, primarily James Herbek and Charles Tutt. They demonstrated that timely planting is crucial for achieving high yields in double-cropping.    

Addressing Grass Tetany in Cattle 

Another early initiative of the “new talent” involved research and Extension efforts concerning grass tetany in cattle. Grass tetany is a troublesome disease that generally occurs in animals grazing lush, fast-growing pastures in the spring and can result in quick and dramatic death of the affected animal. Research conducted identified the underlying problem as a magnesium deficiency in the bloodstream caused by low levels of magnesium and high levels of potassium in fast-growing pastures.   

This research led to the widespread use of magnesium supplementation to prevent the occurrence of grass tetany. As a result of this research and Extension work (conducted collaboratively by James Boling, Nelson Gay, Curtis Absher, Lloyd Murdock, and Garry Lacefield), this disorder has been reduced from being a significant problem for Kentucky cattle producers; in fact, producers have found that the once devastating disease can be essentially eliminated if they follow the recommendations from the research.    

Marketing Grain Through Meat Production 

With the rapid expansion of grain farming in western Kentucky, many farmers became interested in marketing their grain through livestock, and the livestock industry also experienced significant growth in the 1970s. The swine industry began to adopt confinement production systems. Agricultural engineer Doug Overhults, working with animal scientists at the station, developed educational programs to teach farmers how to build modern livestock facilities efficiently and operate them effectively. Engineers also provided extensive educational programs to show how grain could be stored on the farm while safeguarding its quality for both feed and commercial sale uses.   

Swine Research 

Another remarkable study at the substation, initiated in the early 1970s, involved the swine herd that had been closed to outside contamination since its reestablishment in 1962. Starting in 1972, the swine herd did not receive antibiotics of any kind as part of a long-term study on microbial resistance to antibiotics. During the first several years following antibiotic withdrawal, tetracycline resistance in fecal coliform bacteria decreased from an initial 90 percent to approximately 50 percent. Since that time, 30 to 50 percent of fecal coliforms continue to be resistant to tetracycline, a major finding with applications to both animal agriculture and human medicine.    

Other nutritional studies with the herd helped establish phosphorus requirements of barrows, boars and gilts, lysine requirements of barrows and gilts that led to split sex feeding, the use of on-farm roasted soybeans for swine, and the first study in the world to evaluate low phytic acid corn as a means of reducing phosphorus excretion by pigs. This latter study has far-reaching implications for water quality and animal agriculture as well as plant breeding.

Managing Pinkeye in Calves 

In another research initiative started in the 1970s, animal scientists documented the costs associated with untreated pinkeye in calves. By documenting the economic losses associated with this bacterial disease, calf producers began treating pinkeye, rather than assuming it was merely a nuisance without economic consequences.

Pasture Improvement 

With the addition of Garry Lacefield as forage specialist in 1974, research and Extension activities to provide recommendations on improving pastures became a major emphasis at Princeton. A pasture renovator, having been recently developed by agronomists and agricultural engineers in Lexington, was demonstrated throughout the region. To increase farmer interest in pasture renovation, more than 300 acres of demonstration pastures were renovated each year throughout western Kentucky. The research and education provided by this project stimulated attention to pasture conditions for grazing livestock and have improved livestock production in west Kentucky immeasurably.    

Fescue Toxicosis

Also helping improve livestock production throughout Kentucky were research and education concerning fescue toxicosis. Tall fescue, a grass that is the predominant species on 5.5 million acres of pastureland in Kentucky, had been known for some time to be associated with poor animal performance, particularly in the summer months. After researchers identified a fungus that lives inside the grass as the cause of poor animal performance, a two-pronged research and Extension program was initiated in the late 1970s to determine the level of endophyte infection in various tall fescue varieties and to explore methods for managing pastures to mitigate the endophyte's effects.    

A collaborative effort between agronomists and animal scientists, led by Garry Lacefield, Monroe Rasnake, and Roy Burris, yielded effective strategies for cattle producers to manage their endophyte-infected pastures. Renovation of pastures, coupled with managing the breeding season of animals, helped immensely. The introduction of endophyte-free fescue varieties and low-endophyte fescue varieties also helped producers avoid profit losses associated with the pest.    

Weed Control in No-Till Field Crops

When Bill Witt, an Extension weed control specialist, joined the faculty at Princeton in 1974, Johnsongrass —a grass that had become a vexing weed throughout the region —was a major limitation to no-tillage crop production. Witt undertook extensive research and educational efforts on managing the pest. The field adjacent to the original office building was dedicated solely to research concerning Johnsongrass control. Research ranged from recirculating sprayers and rope wick applicators to selective post-emergence herbicides.  

Witt transferred to the Lexington campus and Jim Martin took over the research and Extension efforts concerning Johnsongrass control in 1979. Findings from this research, coupled with aggressive educational efforts, contributed to reducing the threat posed by Johnsongrass. This in turn led to a doubling of the percentage of no-tillage acreage in corn and soybeans from 1975 to 2000.

Integrated Pest Management 

An Extension entomologist was hired at the station in the 1970s. Within a few years of Harley Raney’s arrival, an Integrated Pest Management program was established to assist farmers in more effectively managing pests in their crops during the growing season. The IPM program proved popular with farmers who needed the expertise of trained technicians to monitor their crops for signs of pests and receive recommendations on how to control them in the most economical manner possible.    

With Raney’s departure to the Lexington campus late in 1979, Doug Johnson became the Extension entomologist at the station in March 1980. Under his direction, the IPM program increasingly focused on teaching farmers, particularly those in horticultural crops, to use IPM techniques to improve pest control, with economics serving as the driving force.    

The impact of the IPM program has been two-fold. First, the use of hazardous pesticides has been reduced; second, the cost associated with pest control has been significantly reduced. 

Energy Alternatives 

High energy prices in the 1970s, and threats of fuel shortages in the 1970s and early 1980s, prompted agricultural engineer Sam McNeill at the station to pursue research into developing a biomass burner as a heat source for on-farm grain drying. A prototype burner that used corn cobs and wood chips was successfully tested and demonstrated on a full-scale farm grain system. However, declining fuel prices reduced interest in alternate energy sources, and the manufacturer ceased production of the biomass burner. Nonetheless, the knowledge gained from this study helped farmers learn to use conventional fuel more efficiently, thereby reducing their drying costs in future years.