Facilities

The ARS is housed on the VSU campus in the M. T. Carter Building, which contains about 9500 square feet of lab space over 22 research labs and 34 offices for faculty and administrative staff. The building has a walk-in refrigerator and freezer, climate-controlled storage, and a climate-controlled seed room. The ARS provides services for all programs through its Support Lab, which is equipped with a state-of-the-art HPLC with DR/PDA/ELS, GC with FID/NPD/MS detectors, and a Protein Analyzer for performing such analyses as extraction, identification, and quantification of chemicals from plant and animal samples.

Field research is conducted at Randolph Farm, a 416-acre, security-fenced research farm located two miles from the main campus. The farm provides field plot areas, a new state-of-the-art greenhouse facility, and an extensive equipment pool that is available for conducting plant science research. Small ruminant research is supported by a multi-breed research herd of meat goats and hair sheep, extensive animal handling and housing facilities, and sample processing laboratories.