Street Address
2134 S. Montierth Lane
Safford, AZ 85546-9413
Contact Information
Randy Norton
Director and Extension Agronomist
rnorton@arizona.edu
(928) 651-0420 (mobile)
The Safford Agricultural Center provides research and service to farmers in a wide area that includes Graham, Greenlee and Cochise counties. Located just outside Safford in Graham County, this 63-acre agricultural center has been a performance testing site in the long staple cotton breeding program for more than 30 years. Solving problems in cotton is a particular focus; variety testing for a number of field crops is another. The Agricultural Center also provides the infrastructure for Cooperative Extension agricultural research throughout the southeastern part of the state.
Crops under study include long and short staple cotton, durum and winter wheat, barley, triticale, alfalfa, vegetables, fruit trees, pecans and pistachios. Recent studies have also included crops that would be useful for biomass production. This station cooperates closely with the New Mexico Crop Improvement Association in testing New Mexico Acala cotton varieties throughout southeastern Arizona. The Center was deliberately selected for its problem soils—both saline and alkaline—and saline well water, to enable research specific to local needs to be conducted on-site. Researchers focus on determining the crops and crop varieties that may be economically produced under these conditions.
This installation has been a leader in Ag-in-the-Classroom educational programs. Recently the Edu-Venture Trail was constructed, which ties the agricultural education program from the past with basic science curriculum education. It was designed to serve as an outdoors science laboratory for the K-12 grade levels.