Agricultural Research and Education Center Coming to UMES

PRINCESS ANNE, Md.- In just a few years, farmers on Delmarva will have a new resource at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, as funding has been approved to build an Agricultural Research and Education Center.

The multi-purpose facility will include classrooms, meeting rooms, and labs.

The research in those labs will focus on subjects like plant diseases, waterways, food safety, and animal-related work.

Dr. Moses Kairo, dean of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences at UMES, said the research done by faculty and graduate students is critical to helping farmers on Delmarva.

"Our research is driven by farmers. We actually go out and seek opinions from farmers in terms of what are their challenges -- challenges where they don't have solutions," said Kairo.

The center will cost $14 million to build.

Funding will come from the federal government, the state, the university, as well as an insurance payout for a greenhouse that burned down.

Kairo said the hope is to have the Agricultural Research and Education Center open by 2022.