Elsberry Plant Materials Center (MOPMC)

The Elsberry Plant Materials Center (MOPMC) develops plants and new planting technologies for areas of Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. The area includes; glacial till prairies, Mississippi valley; loess hills, Iowa; and Mississippi deep loess heavy till plains; thin loess hills and plains, Mississippi valley slopes; and the Ozark highlands. Major land uses include corn, soybeans, cattle, and swine farming. The primary resource concerns are soil erosion, water quality, cropland erosion; low forage production; shoreline/streambank erosion; point sources of pollution from concentrated animal by-products, storm-water run-off and waste water; wetland loss; and non-point pollution sources from agricultural lands. The Elsberry Plant Materials Center has developed more than 80 conservation plants including sideoats grama, big bluestem, prairie coreopsis, roughleaf dogwood, pale purple coneflower, thickspike gayfeather, tall dropseed, and stiff goldenrod. Technologies for hay and pasture management, native plant establishment, windbreaks, and wildlife habitat are developed.