History

The North Central Research Station opened in 1970 with research centered around wheat. The facility played host to wheat breeding and quality and studies on tillage, soil fertility, wheat diseases and pests, and physiology and weed control.

 

The facility allowed OSU Ag Research to once again conduct research for north central Oklahoma after the Wheatland Conservation Experiment Station near Cherokee was closed in 1968 due to cutbacks in federal funds.

 

The research station included one of the key wheat soils of the state, which were not represented at any other research station.

 

Don Schieber, an Oklahoma State University agronomy graduate, was the superintendent of the station until 1973. Schieber continued to support OSU wheat research through 2025 by allowing OSU research trials to be conducted on his farmland each year.

Research

Soils at this location are representative of the northwest part of the Reddish Prairie Resource area of Oklahoma with Pond Creek and Grant being the major soils. 

 

At the Lahoma station, OSU wheat varieties and experimental lines are tested under standard farmer management practices and intensive management practices, which include additional nitrogen and two fungicide applications. Most of the varieties released from the OSU breeding program are tested as experimental lines in the Lahoma variety trials, such as Gallagher, Doublestop CL+ and Showdown. 

 

The station also includes a short-season wheat nursery where short-season experimental wheat line candidates are tested for potential release. There are also research trials evaluating best management practices for late-planted wheat, including different nitrogen application timing and rate, seeding rate and varieties best suited for late planting.