North Central Research and Outreach Center | Grand Rapids, MN | North Central Research and Outreach Center

News

2026 Cow Calf Days

December 19, 2025

2026 Seminar Tour & Trade Show

Northern Tour

JAN 27 Staple 9:30 AM Central Lakes CC

JAN 27 Fosston 5:30 PM Ventures Bar & Grill

JAN 28 Warroad 5:30 PM Warroad Riverplace

JAN 29 Iron 5:30 PM Clinton Town Hall

Southern Tour

FEB 9 Mora 5:30 PM Grand Event Center

FEB 10 Starbuck 9:30 AM Clear Springs Cattle Co.

FEB 11 Pipestone 9:30 AM MN West CC

FEB 12 Oronoco 5:30 PM Rossman Farms

FEB 13 LeSueur 9:30 AM Ag Partners HQ

$10 per person at the door, includes meal and materials

Topics

A Resurgence of Long-Lost Problems, Dr. Angie Varnum U of M Beef Team

Mineral Nutrition for Cows and Calves, Alisha Klemme U of M Beef Team

A Critical Cow Nutrition Topic, Somebody Amazing TBD

Beef Research Update, Dr. Eric Mousel, Esq. U of M Beef Team

U of M Beef Team | 218.513.0781 | [email protected]

NCROC receives Honorable Mention in the 2025 All-American Selections Annual Landscape Design Challenge

December 18, 2025

Each year, All-America Selections (AAS) invites public gardens across the country to participate in its annual Landscape Design Challenge—an initiative that encourages creative, educational, and visually compelling displays featuring award-winning AAS varieties. For 2025, the challenge theme was STEAM, prompting participating sites to explore the intersections of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics through purposeful garden design.

Learn more about the design challenge at: https://z.umn.edu/AAS2025

This was NCROC's first time entering the challenge with a garden designed by Crystal Sucher, Senior Research Plot Technician at NCROC. For the Bell Museum campers at NCROC, the garden became both classroom and canvas. While planting award-winning AAS varieties, they explored plant biology, applied math skills through spacing and layout exercises, and expressed their creativity through design. A customized curriculum—developed specifically for this project—helped campers connect science with aesthetic decision-making in a tangible, hands-on way. More than 200 youth engaged with the garden over the summer, using it as a living laboratory to make observations and link gardening with fun and learning.

Sign up on their email list to receive information about registration dates and other Bell Museum events held in our area. https://forms.gle/K9EnYkU4bPp1Q2bb6

NCROC Top 10 Annual Flowers of 2025

October 27, 2025

Annual flower trials are hosted at the North Central Research and Outreach Center. This research is an extension of the flower trials occurring at the West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris, MN. Companies such as All-America Selections, Proven Winners, Syngenta, and many others trial their flower varieties here at the NCROC in the field, in hanging baskets, and containers. During flower evaluations we grade the plants based on criteria such as color, uniformity, uniqueness, plant health, hardiness in zone 3, and insect/disease resistance.

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