Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center

Welcome to UPREC

The Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center (UPREC) was established in 1899 at Chatham, Michigan to conduct, "experiments pertaining to agriculture and horticulture...beneficial to the agricultural interests of the Upper Peninsula." For over 120 years, UPREC has spearheaded research investigating the breadth of UP crops and livestock, and delivered educational programming serving generations of UP farmers and community members.

Today, the facility is comprised of two campuses totaling 827 acres, and serves as a hub for sustainable agriculture innovation and education. The UPREC South Farm maintains a herd of experimental grass-fed Red Angus beef cattle and conducts research on forage and field crops. The North Farm is dedicated to research on certified organic specialty crops and hosts a farm business incubator program to help grow the next generation of U.P. farmers. Staff at UPREC also partner with local schools, public agencies, agribusinesses and producers across Michigan to execute off-site research and outreach addressing critical local needs in food, agriculture and natural resources.

UPREC occupies the ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabeg – Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi peoples. In particular, the facility resides on land ceded in the 1836 Treaty of Washington. We recognize Michigan’s 12 federally recognized Native Nations, historic Indigenous communities in Michigan, Indigenous individuals and communities who live here now, and those who were forcibly removed from their homelands. In offering this land acknowledgement, we affirm Indigenous sovereignty, history and experiences.

UPREC Strategic Planning Report

UPREC 2019 Annual Report

Chatham Enviro-Weather Station

Beefing up the region: MSU research to improve Midwest’s beef food systems

Published on May 7, 2014
MSU AgBioResearch animal scientist Jason Rowntree has been awarded nearly $500,000 to improve the profitability of grass-finished beef producers in the upper Great Lakes region.
Beefing up the numbers: Looking at ways to assist local food systems

Published on February 26, 2014
MSU AgBioResearch scientist Jason Rowntree is looking at ways to improve the economics of small and medium-sized beef producers in the upper Great Lakes region.
A new day dawning: Research center adjusts mission, vision to better serve Upper Peninsula

Published on December 11, 2013
A team of MSU AgBioResearch staff members and scientists is committed to taking a holistic approach to building an integrated food system in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (U.P.).