From the Ground Up: McGregor Research Center
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – With over 6,000 acres of land in central Texas, the McGregor Research Center conducts large-scale, producer-minded research in hopes of helping advance the agriculture industry.
In 2021, Ryon Walker became the first onsite director of the facility in over 15 years. His goal was clear, utilize the land and livestock to help producers. One way the facility has managed to do this is by broadening its horizons to study all aspects of the industry, from testing soil health, to running cattle trials.
“There are researchers from other different groups or departments that can come and do research at McGregor, before it was just Animal Science”, Walker said.
As one of the largest cow-calf research centers in the United States, Ryon Walker said they are “more relatable [than smaller facilities] to a producer because of their size”. This has drawn a lot of producers to work with the McGregor Center over other smaller facilities.
While Walker and the other employees of the McGregor Research Center work specifically for the betterment of the agriculture industry, conducting producer-minded research is a two-way street. Walker says he relies on producers just as much as they rely on him.
“We need help from the front line, the men and women, the producers to tell us what they need”, Walker said.
