In agricultural research, much like day-to-day life, sometimes you need to hit the reset button. Pause, reevaluate, and then move forward. Such is the case for the MAFES E. G. (Gene) Morrison Brown Loam Branch Experiment Station in Raymond, Mississippi.

The 1700-acre farm is a picturesque setting with rolling hills surrounded by pastures ample for beef cattle and fields ripe for row-crop production. In the past, the farm primarily conducted beef cattle, forage research, and limited row-crop production. The station was closed for a brief period while MAFES administration reset and reevaluated the farm. Now, agricultural production has been expanded to the newly reopened station with a staff that welcomes the return home.

For Tyler Soignier, returning to Brown Loam is coming home. His parents live within a few miles of the station and his father once served as the station's superintendent.

"I lived at Brown Loam when my dad was supervisor, so this is a homecoming of sorts for me," Soignier said. "I'm excited about conducting research and providing outreach to producers and industry professionals in central Mississippi. We have an active advisory group that helps direct our activities and we have great producers to work with."

Soignier is the research and extension program manager at the station and is currently working on his doctoral degree in cotton agronomy. His research and extension program is focused on optimizing the current agronomic practices and recommendations for row crop production in central and south Mississippi.

"As new varieties and products are being created, we adjust agronomic practices and recommendations accordingly to assist producers," Soignier said. Some of the many activities he is involved in are the MAFES Official Variety Trials, MSU Extension Demonstration Trials, and several agronomic trials with other faculty.

"We currently have corn, cotton, soybean, and peanuts planted on the station," Soignier said. "Deer are one of the most economically damaging pests in this region, so we installed a high fence to keep deer from damaging the research plots."

The addition of row-crop production and the reopening of the station have provided an opportunity for Soignier and others at Brown Loam to reconfigure the farm. Dr. Brett Rushing, an associate extension and research professor in plant and soil sciences, is the facility coordinator at Brown Loam and the MAFES Coastal Plain Branch Experiment Station in Newton. He was instrumental in the farm's redesign.

"One of the great things about a reset or reboot is that you get to look at the physical space of the farm and decide how to improve it," Rushing said. "In the past, cattle were hard to move from pasture to pasture so we designed a new system that made it easier."

Dr. Thiago Martins, assistant professor in animal and dairy sciences stationed at Brown Loam, echoed his enthusiasm for redesigning the station.

"The size of some of the pastures needed to be adjusted for better uniformity and many of the fences required mending," Martins said. "We were able to redesign the space, drawing out the size and shape of the various pastures and a 40-foot lane to move cattle. We were also able to segment a portion of the farm for row-crop production."

For Martins, a native of Brazil, Brown Loam reminds him of home.

"The Brown Loam Experiment Station reminds me of my time in Brazil, when I lived and worked at a livestock production facility," Martins said.

Martins is working to grow the herd at Brown Loam from 145 head to 400 Brangus cattle-a cross between Brahman and Angus-which are more suitable to Mississippi's climate. A veterinarian, Martins is working on increasing reproductive efficiency and fertility in cattle.

"We are going to synchronize the reproductive cycle of heifers with hormone supplements and then artificially inseminate. Generally, about 50 percent of females will become pregnant. Females who do not become pregnant will be resynchronized and artificially inseminated, which will occur every 24 days using a recent, innovative, and advanced reproductive program that allows for early detection of pregnancy. My expectation is to get 80 to 90% of pregnancy rates after three consecutive artificial insemination attempts," Martins said. His goal is to establish a spring calving herd, so cows are inseminated between May and June and calve between February and March. This new reproductive program will shorten the breeding season to 48 days, a decrease from the typical 70- to 90-day window.

"Brown Loam is one the very few stations in the U.S. using this new reproductive program," Martins added.

He hopes his research and extension efforts will help cow-calf producers adopt reproductive technologies to improve their operations.

"The majority of beef producers in the U.S. don't adopt reproductive technologies because of the cost and labor," Martins said. "We want to find ways to improve viability and cut the labor so producers can take advantage of reproductive technologies."

Staff members also share the sentiment of home when speaking about Brown Loam. Philip Ball, assistant farm supervisor is from Terry, just 30 minutes away from the station. Ball worked at the Prairie unit as an undergraduate student at Mississippi State while he was pursuing a degree in agricultural leadership. He graduated in December 2022 and returned home to Brown Loam.

While Farley Fondren is from Maben, he found his way to Brown Loam from Arkansas, where he had moved to work in poultry. Fondren is a generational bulldog, both his parents graduated from MSU, and he also is an alumnus with a degree in poultry science. He has worked in numerous departments on campus but is glad to be back home in Mississippi and at Brown Loam.

"It's exciting to be part of planning the vision for the station and then executing that vision," said Fondren, who is a research associate. "It's a great place to work. It's neat to come to work where we can conduct research and know that we are helping Mississippi producers."

Bubba Nelson has had a relationship with Brown Loam dating back to a previous career as a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company. The agricultural technician was a pharmaceutical sales representative for 25 years and then spent five years teaching agriculture. An MSU graduate, Nelson is originally from Coffeeville but now lives in Byram.

"Brown Loam is home now and it's good to be able to mold it and make it better than before," Nelson said.

Among all the staff, Terri Shaw is the veteran, having worked at Brown Loam since 2017. She moved to the MAFES Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs for a brief time. Now, the Jackson native pulls double duty serving both Brown Loam and Trucks Crops as the administrative assistant.

"There is just something special about this place," Shaw said. "Brown Loam is home to me. There is a peace that comes over you as soon as you enter the gates."

The MAFES Brown Loam Branch Experiment Station is a special place. Pulling through the double gates, down the long driveway surrounded by pastures on either side, it feels like coming home.