On Apr. 5, 2024, groundbreaking was held for the Roy Blunt Soil Testing and Research Laboratory at the University of Missouri’s Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center (FD-REEC) in Portageville, Mo. This $4.6 million facility will enhance agriculture research programs housed at the center, offering advanced resources for soil, water and plant-tissue testing. Construction on the 6,200-square-foot building was to begin immediately.

FD-REEC is part of the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Agricultural Experiment Station, which provides locally relevant research and demonstrations to support Missouri’s producers and landowners.

The new building will offer technologically advanced soil sample and water and plant-tissue testing and provide lab space to house the FD-REEC’s rice production and entomology research programs while accommodating additional greenhouse operations. The testing services to be offered by this new laboratory are currently unavailable in this region of Missouri.