Utah Agriculture Experiment Station (UAES)

Orchards at the UBC do more than just produce fruit. They are part of the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, outdoor laboratories where scientists compare different varieties of trees, study ways to produce high quality fruit without unnecessary pesticide use, and develop new methods of caring for fruit trees.

Utah Agricultural Experiment Station generates knowledge and new technology for improving the diverse system of agriculture and natural resources that feeds, clothes, houses and enhances the environment for Utah's citizens.

This vital and unique endeavor could be called the science of survival. It is down-to-earth research that has the lofty mandate of improving human life. And although its successes tend to be taken for granted as a loaf of bread, it is as critical today as it was when the Legislature and Congress established the station more than a hundred years ago.

Don’t Hold the Onions

Onions are big business for Utah agriculture–so important that yellow Spanish onions are the official state vegetable. Research to determine which onion varieties and cultivation methods work best for growers, consumers and the environment is helping is helping growers raise healthy plants while conserving water.

Landscape in the Zone

 Some landscape plants are thirstier than others, so why give them all the same amount of water? Grouping plants with similar irrigation needs in the landscape, a technique called hydrozoning, lets gardeners use less water overall. Researchers are learning more about which plants make the best neighbors in the landscape.

Slow the Flow

Utahns use more water per capita than people in any other state. Utah State University Extension conducts water audits each year on residential landscapes, showing thousands of people how to reduce landscape water use by an average of 25% and have healthier lawns in the process.

Saving $ and Water

Water audits done by Utah State University Extension for businesses, churches and parks have found these organizations can save an average of $3,000 annually on their water bills and have healthier landscapes.

Your peach tree as a singles bar for insects

Researchers are studying how peach tree borers can be controlled using traps that release pheromones—chemicals the insects release to attract mates—to confuse the mating process and prevent damage to the fruit.

Got it covered

Many pests that inhabit orchards and damage frut spend part of their life cycle in the soil. That same soil gives weeds a chance to grow, robbing trees of water and nutrients. The ways that groundcovers, whether living plants or landscape fabrics, can help control weeds and insects are studied at the UBC.

Comparing apples to apples

Information about the productivity, pest and disease resistance, and adaptability of various kinds of apples, pears, peaches and cherries is important to people with a few fruit trees in the yard and crucial to fruit growers whose livelihood depends on a healthy crop. Nature with its temperature and precipitation fluctuations can be an unpredictable business partner. Growers rely on solid, well-tested information to help them select and care for the best fruit varieties for their area.

Great taste in less space

As development encroaches on historically productive orchards and water grows more scarce, fruit growers must find ways to produce more fruit on less land. Research at the UBC is aimed at determining the best ways to grow smaller, productive trees for profitable high-density orchards.

Although they are thousands of gallons apart, water conserving landscapes and wetlands management both are studied at the Utah Botanical Center. The combination of northern Utah’s high desert climate and growing population make wise water use critically important, and understanding wetland ecosystems like the UBC ponds improves the environment for people and wildlife.

Many native plants could be beautiful additions to water-wise landscapes in the Intermountain West, but aren’t readily available to home gardeners. Many natives don’t transplant well, and there has been little economic incentive for large, commercial growers to invest in trying to understand or propagate them. Federal funding supports research at the UBC aimed at developing the best methods for growing these plants for commercial production, work that will reap economic and environmental rewards.