About our facility...
Established in 1966, the Horticulture Teaching and Research Center (HTRC) encompasses 180 acres on the south campus of Michigan State University in Holt, Michigan. The center meets the needs of field labs for outdoor classrooms as well as basic research. The focus of research projects at the HTRC centers on vegetable, fruit, and ornamental crops. Today it is the primary facility for landscape and nursery research/extension programming on campus. It is also the regional center for IR-4 field research of minor use herbicides’ registration.

Housed on the grounds of the center is MSU’s wine facility, which is involved in enology research projects throughout the state. HTRC is also home to MSU’s Student Organic Farm, which values and puts to practice alternatives to chemical use while growing and maintaining crops.

Farm Policies
Below is a general listing of the policies accepted at the Hort Farm in which everyone should abide by when visiting. For a more detailed decription of our policies and standard operating procedures, please see the Farm Services section of our site.

Health and Safety
• Appropriate apparel is required.Shirts and shoes must be worn at all times. Shorts are allowed, but a change of long pants and a long sleeve shirt is recommended. Pants cannot have holes in the fabric, because it can cause injury if caught on an object. No Sandals of any kind are allowed; even if you are wearing socks. If you are working in a pesticide application area with an early entry interval, rubber boots and long pants are necessary. If you will be handling plant or soil material from an area with an early entry interval, Nitrile gloves are a required item of clothing. Our Central Location, located in the garage (407B), will keep you informed of any areas that have had recent pesticide applications.

• Please see the farm manager for pesticide application needs and concerns. Pesticide use and handling at the farm is only allowed by trained and accredited individuals. If you are accredited, the farm manager needs to have a copy of your applicators license on file before you apply any chemicals at the farm. Should you require a respirator in order to apply chemicals, you will need to schedule a medical exam at Olin Health Center (353-9137) as well as a respirator fit test through ORCBS (355-0153).

• Weather changes rapidly in Michigan, therefore you need to keep track of it while working outdoors on the farm. We need to be sure everyone is safe in the instance of severe weather, so please inform a staff member if you believe someone is still out in a field. Our emergency rally point is the main work area in the garage (407B). From here, further instructions will be given depending on the situation, to ensure everyone is safe. Should you see lightning at any time, come indoors immediately. We observe the same policy as most sporting events; 15 minutes after the last lightning strike has been spotted you are permitted to return outdoors. In the event of a tornado, please meet at the rally point to receive further instructions.

• HTRC strives to be a non-smoking facility! Smoking presents a fire hazard in our buildings as well as outdoors, because any damage to research plots has the potential to be very costly. Smoking is permitted only on paved areas, a safe distance away from flammable objects, including buildings and equipment. As very little of the property meets this criteria, we ask that you refrain from smoking while you are here.

• Practice safe driving while you are here. There are a lot of blind spots, especially around the buildings. While there are no posted speed limits, we ask that you use good judgment and drive accordingly. Also, be aware of solid-set irrigation when driving across fields. It’s hard to see and is damaged easily.

• Keys
  Certain areas of HTRC are restricted to individuals who have been approved by the farm manager and faculty coordinator. Anyone needing a limited access key, needs to be approved by the farm manager, and will then need to visit the horticulture department office at the Plant and Soil Sciences building to receive their key. A deposit is required for each new key received from the main office.

• Damages
  You are required to report any damages or stolen property to the farm manager. Please do this as soon as possible after noticing something is wrong, that way the problem can be corrected in a timely fashion. If a piece of equipment is malfunctioning, please remove the key, attach a tag with a brief description of the problem (these can be found in the tool room), and notify a farm staff member.

• Fueling
  For both safety and security reasons, fueling vehicles and equipment is restricted to Hort Farm staff. Please see the manager or another staff member for any fuel needs you may have.

• Produce Dispersal
  Any produce or plant material removed from the farm must be recorded in our fruit dispersal ledger. The ledger is located on the desk beneath the stairs in the garage, directly across from the central location. Please be specific in recording amounts, because it helps us determine exact quantities at the end of the year for our crop census.