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Lake Wheeler Road
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| Long-Range Plan Summary | Map of LWRFL (PDF format) |
| Field Lab Units | LWRFL in the Future |
| Courses using the LWRFL | |
Background:
A herd of beef cattle has been maintained at the Reedy Creek Road Field Laboratory for at least a half century. This herd consists of approximately 30 Angus and 30 Polled Hereford cows, 8-10 herd bulls and 8-10 steers and replacement heifers. The animals are now maintained on about 240 acres of pasture land. The Beef Teaching Unit at Reedy Creek Road Field Laboratory also has an old two-story barn equipped with four pens and a corral and squeeze chute. This unit must be eliminated because of encroachment from development and state office buildings. It should be relocated within the Raleigh/Wake County area. The best location for the unit for the first half of the next century is the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory. The Lake Wheeler Road site provides easy access for students and is close enough that students can be transported to the site for the laboratory section of courses involving beef cattle.
The Beef Educational Unit is necessary to provide a quality educational experience in the Department of Animal Science consistent with the expectations of students and employers. The animals and the land resources currently exist at Lake Wheeler Road, but teaching facilities, including a teaching arena, classroom, laboratory, animal working areas, pastures and fences will be needed. It is estimated that a minimum expenditure of $1.5 million will be needed to make the relocation of the Beef Educational Unit successful.
Teaching, Research, Outreach:
More than 300 students are enrolled in nine courses that use the Beef Educational Unit annually as part of course requirements. The Beef Educational Unit is used by students in the Agricultural Institute and by undergraduate and graduate students. Undergraduate students use the animals for non-invasive research projects. Animals from this unit also provide clinical practice for students from the College of Veterinary Medicine. More than 500 youth annually participate in educational opportunities involving animals from the unit, including 4-H and FAA shows and events. Educational and training sessions are available for students involved in intercollegiate evaluation teams. Animals are used for Club Day, a grooming and showmanship contest for novice and experienced handlers of cattle. The N. C. Cooperative Extension Service uses the Beef Educational Unit for training, field days and short courses for producers, extension workers and other animal science professionals.
Needed for the Future:
The Beef Educational Unit relocated to the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory should consist of 50 mature cows, 40-50 calves, 10-12 steers, and 10-12 bulls. To accomplish the unit's teaching mission, there is a need for 100-120 acres of land divided into pastures. A teaching facility is needed. This facility should be 120 feet by 120 feet and contain a teaching arena with working chutes, a classroom, restrooms, areas to change clothes, offices for a manager, and areas to work cattle. In addition, there is a need for two external working corrals for teaching and management of the herd. A shed would be needed for feed and equipment storage. An estimated five miles of fence will be needed for perimeter fencing as well as for making pastures and smaller paddocks. It will also be necessary to create common walk areas so cattle and students can access the teaching facility and the pastures.
Background:
The Equine Educational Unit is a 16-stall, state-of-the-art teaching facility located on 60 acres of pasture land with adjoining wooded areas available for shelter. The facility was built in 1990 and contains a breeding shed, reproduction laboratory, foaling stalls, student apartments, manager's office and meeting room. The current inventory is 32 head (4 stallions, 12 brood mares, 5 yearlings, 4 weanlings, and 7 teaching mares) of primarily Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred breeding, with plans to expand to 50-60 head once the facility is finished and all pastures have been established. A 16-stall quarantine/research barn is also being used until the land on which it is located is taken over by the State of North Carolina as part of the Blue Ridge Master Plan. The main facility is designed to enable classroom instruction and subsequent hands-on laboratories for teaching and extension purposes. Additionally, an automated feeding system and a ventilation system have been installed for demonstration and possible research purposes. The pastures are being established into uniform replicates of different varieties of endophyte-free fescue, orchardgrass and bermuda grass for future demonstration and research opportunities. A 150 feet by 250 feet outdoor arena is currently being constructed to allow more opportunities for teaching and extension activities. This will also aid in the training of offspring raised at the facility, as training will increase the marketability of these horses. The facility is not complete. Fencing, automatic pasture waterers and support structures are needed along with a variety of farm equipment and machinery essential to the continued development and maintenance of the facility.
The Equine Educational Unit was developed to support the academic mission of the Department of Animal Science; therefore, the budget and personnel lines came through the Academic Programs Office of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. With time, the scope of the programmatic activities at the Equine Educational Unit expanded, and programs, workshops and short courses offered by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service were added. The Equine Educational Unit is funded partially by the Cooperative Extension Service while the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service provides support through in-kind services.
Mission: The role of the Equine Educational Unit is to support the teaching, research and extension activities of the Department of Animal Science faculty, as well as those of the Carolina Performance Horse Program. Animal husbandry, facility care, and employee etiquette will be maintained so that a professional environment, representative of a well-managed equine facility and conducive to structured and non-structured educational activities, is demonstrated at all times.
Teaching, Research, Outreach:
Approximately 40 percent of beginning students majoring in animal science indicate that the horse is their animal of interest and the primary reason for selecting NC State and Animal Science as their curricular area. The Equine Educational Unit is used by students in the Agricultural Institute and by undergraduate students. More than 400 students are enrolled in 10 different courses that use the Equine Educational Unit annually. In addition, the horses provide clinical practice for students from the College of Veterinary Medicine. The Equine Educational Unit is also used by the Cooperative Extension Service for short courses, field days, in-service training and other educational programs.
Needed for the Future:
An Equine Educational Unit at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory of sufficient size to meet the educational needs of the students at NC State University would consist of a main barn with an attached arena as well as auxiliary pens, turn-out lots and paddocks. A sufficient staff along with facilities and animals will also be needed. It is estimated that a minimum of $5 million will be necessary to build an equine unit of sufficient size and scope to address the various needs of the students at NC State and the citizens of North Carolina. The unit should include 60-100 horses, of which approximately 70 percent would be owned by NC State University. To accomplish the teaching and outreach missions of the Equine Educational Unit, there is a need for 120-200 total acres. This is based on the recommendation of two acres per horse. A breeding area, reproduction laboratory, foaling stalls, animal holding stalls, tack room, restrooms, areas to change cloths and offices for a manager and others should be included within the unit. A teaching facility will be needed that includes two classrooms and a covered, enclosed arena. In addition, turn-out lots, exercise areas and an outdoor arena are needed for teaching purposes as well as for use in management of the herd. A shed will be needed for feed and equipment storage. Since the pastures will be divided into paddocks, fences and gates will also be required.
Small Ruminant Educational Unit
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Background:
A new sheep building was completed in 1986 at the Reedy Creek Road Field Laboratory. With a capacity of 300 ewes and lambs, it is a semi-confinement building of approximately 8,000 square feet with galvanized expanded metal flooring over a flush gutter. The unit has a heated teaching area, office and student apartment. The Small Ruminant Educational Unit is surrounded by approximately 45 acres of pasture. With the advent of the meat goat position in the departments of Crop Science and Animal Science, an agreement was reached to reduce the number of sheep at the unit and to increase the goat herd. Inventory of animals at the Small Ruminant Educational Unit in January 1999 was 120 mature sheep, 50 yearling sheep, 113 lambs, 117 mature goats and 122 kids.
It is the mission of the small ruminant educational to:
- provide growing kid goats and lambs for nutrition trials conducted in the Metabolism Educational Unit as part of the laboratory requirement for undergraduate students in their formal course work and graduate students for their thesis research;
- provide growing kids and lambs as well as wethers and adult goats and sheep for faculty involved in forage-animal research at the Metabolism Educational Unit and in the forage field program;
- maintain and house the goat breeding herd involved in selection for genetic improvement, which is the focus of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service goat program; and
- to house the sheep breeding herd to fulfill student training and student and faculty animal-research needs.
Teaching, Research, Outreach:
The Small Ruminant Educational Unit is predominately used to support the research portion of the meat goat program. The facility is used occasionally to support teaching and extension missions, including courses, and to supply sheep and goats for evaluation teams, Animal Science Club Day, and 4-H and FFA groups. The unit supplies the sheep and goats used in nine courses: Nutritional Growth of Domestic Animals; Introduction to Animals and Poultry Industries; Introduction to Animal Science; Techniques in Animal Care; Reproduction and Lactation in Domestic Animals; Nutrition of Domestic Animals; Sheep Production (this 3 credit-hour course draws heavily on this facility during the semester, using it as if it were a commercial sheep herd); Livestock Judging; and Veterinary Preventive Medicine. The facility also provides all the goats and sheep used in graduate dissertation research and provides the opportunity for ewe/doe offspring research with facilities for special studies.
The unit is frequented by producer groups, special interest groups and by the general public to view and learn about the husbandry of sheep and goats. Numerous public school classes visit the facility. High school and grade school students learn from these visits about rudimentary aspects of animal care, including feeding and health as well as the animal's role in society. Visits to the facility are part of Agricultural Awareness Week, Club Day and Farm Animal Days.
Needed for the Future:
With the exception of a few minor improvements, the present facilities are adequate for the overall mission in the small ruminant area. Replication of an 8,000-10,000 square feet facility containing pens, teaching area, classroom and offices, with adjacent working chutes and corrals at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory would be satisfactory. In addition, there is a need for 50-100 acres of pasture land divided into paddocks, as well as appropriate facilities to store feed. Total replacement cost is estimated at $1 million, including pasture development, fences and buildings.
The building for the Small Ruminant Educational Unit should include lambing/kidding and loafing areas; feed storage and preparation area and class area; office and supply area; handling and weighing facility; concrete slab for storage bins and feed mixer. Five acres will be needed for this facility.
The breeding animals (goats and sheep) and offspring will need access to 75 acres of pasture land to be used for year-round grazing. This pasture must be adjacent to the unit. An additional 5 acres separate from the 75 acres will be needed for isolation of rams and new arrivals, while another 25 acres near the site will be needed for experimental pastures.
Poultry Instructional Unit
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Background:
The Department of Poultry Science maintains a Poultry Instructional Unit at the Varsity Drive Field Laboratory. The current unit consists of two buildings, one of which is used for laboratory/classroom activities relating to poultry and poultry products evaluations and the management of game birds. It is also used for the annual state FFA and 4-H judging contests. The other building houses various types of poultry for classroom use. The buildings contain approximately 7,060 square feet of floor space.
Needed for the Future:
When the university decides to eliminate the Varsity Drive Field Laboratory, the unit must be replaced so faculty can continue to instruct students using a modern poultry facility. The new unit must be within a reasonable distance of the main campus, and it must be on the Wolf Line so students can readily move to and from their other classes.
The unit must be constructed at a distance from the Chicken and Turkey Educational Units in order to prevent the research flocks on those units from being exposed to any pathogens that might be introduced via the birds at the Poultry Instructional Unit. The Poultry Instructional Unit will have a variety of people and different types of poultry moving in and out of it for instructional purposes, so it poses a considerable biosecurity risk to the other poultry units.
It is suggested that the new unit be constructed at the LWRFL near the intersection of Lake Wheeler Road and Mid-Pines Road, across the road from the Beef Educational Unit. It is further suggested that the new unit consist of a single 40 feet by 260 feet building to house all aspects of the instructional program. In other words, one end of the building (100 feet) will consist of 30 litter floor pens (10 feet by 10 feet) with two 4.5 feet aisles. The center of the building would have a 30 feet by 40 feet room containing a walk-in egg cooler (8 feet by 8 feet), men & women's bathrooms with showers (8 feet x 11 feet each), with the other part of the center (30 feet x 32 feet) containing folding desk/chairs for instructional use. The next section of the building would contain two instructional rooms (40 feet by 50 feet each), one of which would be used for egg quality and meat product work and the other for live bird work. The remaining room (30 feet by 40 feet) would be used for the storage of instructional and bird equipment. It is estimated that replacing and equipping the unit will cost $250,000 to $300,000.
Background:
A centrally located arena of sufficient size is needed to conduct various educational programs within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. An arena would provide the opportunity to conduct larger scale programs and to relate to various constituencies in the state.
Teaching, Research, Outreach:
An arena would be used for the following purposes.
- 4-H and FFA local, regional, state and interstate competitions
- Extension short courses and workshops involving single species producer groups or larger programs involving multiple animal species groups
- Animal Science Club Day, Eye Sharpener Contests and other student enrichment activities
- Alumni reunions
- Educational programs addressing issues related to agriculture and farming
- Animal shows and sales for educational purposes
Needed for the Future:
An arena should be large enough to accommodate up to 1,000 people. An arena size of 100 feet by 180 feet with bleachers, animal holding pens, animal stalls, restrooms and offices should be sufficient to accommodate the needs. Such a facility would cost $3 to $4 million.
Classroom/Training Facility
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Background:
With the development at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory of the National Training Center for Land-Based Technology and Watershed Protection and facilities associated with the Animal and Poultry Waste Management Center, there is already a need for a classroom/training facility. This need will only grow with the completion in the near future of the Feed Mill Educational Facility and the consolidation of other units at Lake Wheeler Road. Not only will more students be visiting the site, it will also be the location for more and more demonstrations, workshops and other training programs.
Needed for the Future:
In order to meet immediate and short-term needs, a building has been moved from Fort Bragg to the Training Center site, where it is being renovated. However, this structure will not be adequate to address mid to long-term needs for a state-of-art classroom facility. Once Training Center demonstrations are fully developed, there will be a constant stream of students and practitioners visiting the site. When the center is fully operational, an estimated 2,000-plus students and practicing professionals will attend over 100 short courses, training programs and field laboratories each year. There will be a need for a top-quality educational facility as an integral component of the long-range plans for the Training Center, not to mention the other units now located or to be located at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory. The training facility should have the capability to handle groups as large as 150 people, but have flexibility in the design such that multiple short courses with small groups can meet concurrently. The facility should include T-1 cable and video-conference capability to allow transmission of events to or from the facility.
Background:
Forage provides the base feed for the state's beef cattle, dairy cattle, horse, sheep and goat industries. In addition, forages remain a significant part of the solution to the state's environmental health and sustainable farming systems. The forage program provides much needed information on the principles of plant establishment, production management, utilization as pasture or stored feed, and the use of forages in sustainable farming systems.
The forage field area (including small plots, experimental hay and grazing areas) is now located at the Reedy Creek Road Field Laboratory on an eroded Cecil clay loam to the west of Trenton Road. The site includes about 8 acres for small plot research, 25 acres for experimental hays, 20 acres for experimental grazing, and approximately 20 acres for holding areas used in conjunction with the experimental pastures.
Teaching, Research, Outreach:
The field components of the forage program are used for three undergraduate courses, Grassland Management for Natural Resource Conservation and Animal Feed; Forage Production; and Agroecology. The field component of the forage program also serves as the research site for most master's and doctoral programs in forage physiology, management and utilization in the Crop Science Department. It also provides the site for graduate students with a forage-oriented research problem from the departments of Animal Science, Soil Science, Plant Pathology and Entomology. This has included up to 10 students in any one semester.
The forage field site is frequented by farmer groups, individuals from regulatory agencies (such as the state Division of Water Quality) and from special interest groups such as Quail Unlimited. Information on all aspects of forages is presented and discussed during these visits. The site is also used for formal field days and as a training site for special courses such as the annual NRCS grazing school, which numbers from 20 to 35 students from all across the United States.
Transportation is needed to the site during both semesters of the academic year as students must meet the field laboratory assignment on the days designated. It is essential that this site be within 10 to 15 minutes of the campus to provide the necessary access of undergraduate students to and from the facility during their scheduled day. Also, the nature of the research conducted by graduate students and faculty is extremely intensive and frequently requires daily observations and sampling to acquire the data needed to explain the responses that are occurring. Such proximity permits in-depth studies that could not otherwise be conducted because of time constraints and limited personnel.
Needed for the Future:
Forage dryers, forage sample processing and sample storage facilities are needed to support this program. The area must be associated with the Metabolism Educational Unit and integrated into its structure.
If the program is moved to the LWRFL, the following needs should be met.
1. Forage small plot area. Most of the needs can be met in the designated forage area at the LWRFL. A special site of about 6 acres on an eroded Cecil or Davidson soil, which is more representative of the Piedmont and not found at the LWRFL, may be needed elsewhere.
2. Silvo-pastoral research area. Twenty-five acres of land are needed. Fifteen acres are needed for species identification, new browse species evaluation and subsequent interaction with herbaceous species and 10 acres for evaluation of over-story species for shelter, shade and timber. This resource will be used in conjunction with the goat program.
3. Experimental hay area. Thirty acres of land needs to be allocated at the LWRFL for this purpose. Fields 911 (14 ac), 913 (7.3 ac), 914 (4.7 ac), and 915 (8.5 ac) are suggested. This resource is needed to provide experimental hay for evaluation in the Metabolism Educational Unit using sheep, goats and cattle.
4. Experimental pastures, beef cattle. An additional 20 acres at the LWRFL are needed. This land should be located on the southern side of the land at the LWRFL already being used by the forage-animal program. The additional 20 acres need to be contiguous, permitting access and use of the present animal-handling facilities. The new area will need an underground, pressurized water system throughout.
5. Experimental pastures, goats/sheep. Twenty-five acres located adjacent to the forage beef program are needed for this purpose. This area will need an underground, pressurized water system throughout. A covered animal weighing and handling facility is needed at this site.
6. Holding pasture, beef cattle. The additional 20 acres are needed at the LWRFL to support the total experimental grazing area.
Metabolism Educational Unit
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Background:
Now located at the Reedy Creek Road Field Laboratory, the forage-animal metabolism unit undergirds the utilization aspect of the total forage-animal program for the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service. This unit is the only facility available in the state and region to conduct dry matter intake and dry matter digestion studies with cattle, sheep and goats. Its purpose is to provide hands-on experience for feeding animals and digestion measurements for undergraduate students, a research laboratory for masters and doctoral graduate students, and to provide the research facilities needed by the associated faculty in the departments of Crop Science and Animal Science.
Teaching, Research, Outreach:
The facilities are used as a laboratory for students enrolled in two undergraduate courses, Nutrition and Growth of Domestic Animals and Veterinary Physiology. The facility also provides the capability for graduate research in areas of forage quality (intake and digestion), animal metabolism and animal physiology. It is used by students enrolled in Crop Science or Animal Science with double majors or who have one of these disciplines as a minor. This facility permits integration of the forage and animal disciplines, which is unique and essential in the training of future extension agents or individuals who will be employed by regulatory agencies or will enter the private sector in positions that require a knowledge of both plants and animals.
The facility provides the forage quality data used at many field day events and at farmer meetings and farmer-group visits to the forage field site. Further, it provides the data used for quality evaluation of a wide array of forages. These evaluations are published as handouts, technical bulletins, proceedings and journal manuscripts. The facility is toured by three to eight groups annually of approximately 10 to 45 individuals to view and gain an understanding of how animals are handled and how they are used in research.
Transportation is needed to the site during both semesters of the academic year as undergraduate students must meet the laboratory assignment on the days designated. Also, graduate students not on assistantships and without access to state vehicles frequently have problems meeting thesis research demands at facilities away from campus. The facility needs to be within 10 to 15 minutes of the NC State campus to provide the necessary access of undergraduate students to and from it during their scheduled day. The facility also serves as a research laboratory for graduate students. The intensive studies of graduate students require frequent observation and sampling, which would be difficult at a more distant site. Further, the facility provides a laboratory for faculty in the departments of Animal Science and Crop Science to conduct intensive forage-animal research that provides information on basic principles regarding forage quality and animal digestive physiology.
Needed for the Future:
Relocation of the unit to a 10-acre site at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory is suggested. The site should be well drained so exercise areas will dry quickly. A multifaceted structure replacing the existing unit should include the following.
- Cattle intake and digestion, small ruminant intake and digestion and rumen physiology units along with experimental hay and feed storage and feed preparation area to serve these threes unit
- Forage sample dryer and sample processing supporting the forage field program
- Equipment storage for this unit and the Small Ruminant Educational Unit
- Office space
- Classroom for plant and animal hands-on learning
- Student housing
- Animal working facility
Turfgrass Field Laboratory
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Background:
The Turfgrass Field Laboratory is designed to provide turfgrass plot areas in support of the turfgrass research, teaching and extension programs at North Carolina State University. Both on-demand and planned plot areas, encompassing all the major turfgrasses grown in North Carolina are available to the faculty, staff and students in the turfgrass program. The Turfgrass Field Laboratory is also designed to provide a living laboratory for the benefit of the North Carolina turfgrass industry and the citizens of the state.
Teaching, Research, Outreach:
The Turfgrass Field Laboratory functions throughout the year as an educational facility. Undergraduate students in the turfgrass program attend numerous laboratories at the unit, and graduate students gain experience conducting these labs. Industry clientele are frequently on site in small groups to hear about variety performance, pest management or environmental protection strategies. The Turf and Landscape Field Day is held each May at this site and attracts more than 2,000 professional turfgrass managers and specialists from all parts of North Carolina and several neighboring states. A wide range of demonstrations are presented by faculty and staff in the Crop Science, Entomology, Plant Pathology and Soil Science departments to provide information about the most recent discoveries in turfgrass research as well as practical information with more immediate turf applications. Examples include genetic transformation, weed management practices on different turf species, use of plant growth regulators, nutrient management and new technologies. Both cool and warm season turfgrass variety testing programs compare cultivars for different environments and uses. Equipment used in the turfgrass program is also displayed. Workshops on pertinent subjects for professional turfgrass managers are conducted by NC State faculty in conjunction with the field day. Finally, a separate turf garden is open to the public and provides living examples of the major species grown in this area.
Students taking four courses also use the unit. Labs taught include turf and weed identification, spreader and sprayer calibration, equipment use and safety, and pest management. Turf/Weed Identification, Pest Management and Aquatic Weed workshops are also held at this site.
Needed for the Future:
Fifteen acres will be needed for turfgrass plots, with an additional 15 acres available for expansion, including a state-of-the-art irrigation system with extra capacity for expansion. Most of the plot area should be level and flat. However, there should be several acres situated next to a wind break for disease work, and several acres on a slope for runoff work. Approximately 2 acres will be managed as a putting green grown on a sand root zone. This area also requires extensive drainage and irrigation capabilities and is a highly specialized and expensive undertaking. It will be necessary to transfer the sampling hardware from the unit's Environmental Golf Green to a new site. Managing a small greenhouse facility at Lake Wheeler Road does not seem feasible, and it was decided that the current Method Road facilities would be adequate once they are retrofitted to permit better temperature control. The increased management responsibilities for the proposed facility will most certainly dictate hiring additional labor.
Background:
Research involving the ornamental plots is designed to develop new ornamental forms of three ornamental taxa and to study the genetics of various traits in these genetically unexplored taxa. Plants have sustained severe damage from deer where the ornamental plots are now located, and the soil is inappropriate for the taxa being studied.
Teaching, Research, Outreach:
Populations will be used to support graduate student research. It is important that the ornamental plots be located close to campus because controlled hybridizations must be made on selected offspring on a daily basis in the spring. Teaching schedules preclude extended trips from campus in both the spring and fall semesters.
Needed for the Future:
Deer fence protection will be needed as well as irrigation and routine cultural management (weed control, cultivation, tilling).
Veterinary and Urban Entomology Research and Extension Laboratory
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Background:
The Veterinary and Urban Entomology Program is devoted to the study of arthropod pests of poultry livestock and companion animals. The program's mission is to gather research, compile this information in a salient form and extend this information in outreach programs. Currently, no off-campus facilities exist for such research, training, demonstration and extension programs.
Research in veterinary entomology has in the past been facilitated by a laboratory at the Lake Wheeler Field Laboratory; however, this facility has become outdated and is out of compliance with federal animal care and facilities regulations. The laboratory lacks containment facilities to reduce the risk of diseases and ectoparasite transmission. For example, Poult Enteritis Mortality Syndrome (PEMS) emerged in young turkey flocks in North Carolina in 1991. Studies have demonstrated the infectious nature of the disease and shown that turkey coronavirus (TCV) is often, but not always, associated with the disease. It is believed that the darkling beetle is directly involved in the introduction and the reintroduction of TCV/PEMS on North Carolina turkey farms. Unfortunately, TCV/PEMS research cannot be conducted without posing a greater risk to other programs at the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory. Furthermore, the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory lacks adequate confinement facilities for research involving swine or other livestock. The lack of suitable facilities reduces the potential for extramural funding and hinders the Veterinary and Urban Entomology Program in completing its mission.
The cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis , is a seasonally abundant and cosmopolitan ectoparasite of many feral and domestic animals in urban situations. It is the most abundant and pestiferous urban flea species. C. felis vectors a number of pathogens of companion animals and humans and is a causal agent of severe pruritis and dermatitis in dogs and cats.
Despite its elevated pest status, in part due to expanding suburbanization and increased pet ownership, little is known of its population structure, means of dissemination and overwintering behavior. An understanding of these and other aspects of cat flea biology will aid in the development of focused control strategies that minimize insecticide exposure to non-target organisms.
Understandably, one would expect that work on diseases such as PEMS and ectoparasites such as C. felis would be conducted at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Unfortunately, the College of Veterinary Medicine lacks facilities to accommodate arthropod pests along with livestock. Construction of a Veterinary and Urban Entomology Research and Extension Laboratory would foster a close working relationship between research and extension and would allow closer cooperation among personnel of the colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Teaching, Research, Outreach:
Veterinary entomology programs have experienced severe cutbacks in recent years. The Livestock Insects Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland was closed, and Wisconsin and Virginia have eliminated veterinary entomology programs. South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland now rely on North Carolina to provide information on poultry pest management. Cornell University is the last institution in the nation devoting research to dairy pest management. The University of Georgia has a research program devoted to pests of beef cattle, while a Pennsylvania State University program is working on caged layer pest management. There are currently no programs devoted to urban flea research in the Eastern United States. The University of Florida recently eliminated its program. Only Kansas State University and the University of California, Riverside, maintain facilities where flea research is conducted. Construction of a Veterinary and urban Entomology Research and Extension Laboratory would place North Carolina in the forefront of animal agriculture and veterinary and urban entomology in the Eastern United States.
Needed for the Future:
The Veterinary and Urban Entomology Program proposes the construction of a field laboratory devoted to studies of insect pests associated with poultry and livestock, various animal waste management systems, and ectoparasites of companion animals. Such a facility will include adequate laboratory space, insect rearing rooms and flexible housing for farm and companion animals. To be functional, these facilities must conform to all animal care and facilities regulations, and a full-time animal-care technician should be assigned to manage them. The proposed facility would include pasture, a centralized laboratory suite and 12 individual research units.
This facility must be sufficiently isolated from other university animal facilities to protect other research programs yet permit the active pursuit of scientific knowledge. Fenced pasture would be used for animal waste management studies, forage for livestock, as a field site for the study of pasture insects and pests, as a field site to study population dynamics of ectoparasites of companion animals, and to provide a buffer zone around the facility.
The centralized laboratory would contain office space, a meeting room, three wet labs, dirty room, two insect rearing rooms and an autoclave room. The laboratory must have quarantine capabilities to allow the safe use of ectoparasites, filth flies, and other arthropod pests and a biohazard containment level capable of holding infectious animal disease vectors. Twelve animal research units would be near the central laboratory. These self-contained units would be 40 feet apart to reduce the migration of insects from one facility to another. Research in these units would focus on poultry and swine but the units would be able to hold some cattle or horses. A central receiving, equipment barn will also be needed. This facility will provide an adequate animal loading area with direct access to animal isolation units. It will also provide for storage of equipment. In addition, a compost site will be necessary for the disposal of animal carcasses.
The estimated cost of structures for the Veterinary and Urban Entomology Research and Extension Laboratory is $2 million, while the cost of equipment and the isolation units is estimated at $750,000.
Urban Pest Management Training Facility
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Background:
There were more than 2.5 million residences in North Carolina in 1990, with that number about equally divided between urban and rural areas, according to the Census. Since then, the state's population has grown; North Carolina's population grew by more than 10 percent annually between 1990 and 1996. And as the population has grown so has the construction of residences, with the trend toward more homes being located in urban areas. In 1997, 73,015 residential building permits were issued in North Carolina.
As the number of North Carolina homes grows so does the need for urban pest management. A large number of pests, including termites and other wood-boring insects (ants, bees and beetles), cockroaches, fleas, ants and commensal rodents are found in and around urban structures. These urban pests cause billions of dollars of damage to homes, historic structures, museums and museum artifacts, furniture and stored and prepared food. While homeowners often prefer do-it-yourself approaches to pest control, many people rely on the services of pest control professionals. North Carolina's structural pest control industry has grown with the trend toward urbanization. There are more than 400 licensed pest control companies in North Carolina, with gross annual revenues exceeding $200 million. More than 650 licensed technicians provide household pest control services, and an equal number of licensed technicians provide services designed to control wood-destroying insects. Since 1985, the number of licensed pesticide applicators has increased about 25 percent, while the number of commercial certified applicators more than doubled in the last decade. Additionally, the structural pest control industry employs a large number of support staff (service technicians, sales representatives, secretaries, mechanics, etc.) and enhances North Carolina's economy through purchases and maintenance of cars, trucks, buildings and equipment.
Teaching, Research, Outreach:
There is growing concern on the part of the general public about the use of pesticides. Much of the recent attention has focused on pesticides such as Dursban, which is used in and around homes. New federal and state regulations, such as the Food Quality Protection Act, will have a significant impact on pesticide use in the urban environment. As a result, there is a growing demand from the pest control industry as well as county Cooperative Extension agents and county and state regulatory personnel for quality training in the area of integrated pest management for the urban environment. In the past, North Carolina State University has relied on the traditional classroom style approach at county Extension centers to provide such training. When possible, training has been expanded to include visits to homes, restaurants, hospital dietary units, etc. Inevitably, training at such locations, which provides experiential learning opportunities, proves more effective than in a classroom setting. For the last two years, Extension specialists in the departments of Entomology, Family and Consumer Sciences and Wood Products have conducted such field training in the Wake County area. Specialists rely heavily on the cooperation of owners/operators of the facilities where training is conducted, sometimes at significant but accepted inconvenience. Sites are needed where actual IPM methods can be employed and tested by participants without disrupting the activities of an occupied or active facility.
Needed for the Future:
The establishment of a centrally located North Carolina State University Urban Pest Management Training Facility is proposed. This facility would make use of homes and other buildings on property recently purchased by the university as part of the Lake Wheeler Road Field Laboratory. Clemson University developed such a facility at a research farm in Columbia, South Carolina. This facility is used specifically to train pest control employees and others in all aspects of termite control. Participants who pass an exam given at the conclusion of the training become certified Master Termite Technicians. The proposed NC State facility would be used for training about other important urban pests such as ants and cockroaches. The NC State facility would:
- allow participants to see research-level demonstrations and to get hands-on experience in all areas of structural pest management;
- be used to train employees of the pest control industry (from both North and South Carolina) as part of a Master Pest Control Technician program proposed by the North Carolina Pest Control Association;
- be used by state regulatory agencies (such as the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services) to train new inspectors;
- be used by students in the Agricultural Institute courses (ENT 032 and ENT 063) that focus on urban pest management; and
- allow faculty in the departments of Entomology, Food and Consumer Sciences and Wood Products to demonstrate proper home maintenance and new construction techniques that are an important component of an overall urban IPM approach to urban pests.