The U.S. Department of Agriculture research center construction begins at UC Davis

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has begun construction on a new 59,000-square-foot Agricultural Research and Technology Center at the University of California, Davis. The new facility will consolidate and modernize the department’s Agricultural Research Services presence currently scattered on the Davis campus, a USDA news release said. Construction will cost an estimated $76 million with anticipated opening in November 2026, said a spokesman for the ARS. The center, dubbed ARTC, will include laboratories, greenhouses and capacity for scientists exploring ways agriculture can adapt to climate change, water scarcity, emerging pests and increasing global demand, the release said. The two-story ARTC will house four research units: crops pathology and genetics; invasive species and pollinator health; national tree fruit, nuts and grapes clonal germplasm repository; and sustainable water systems. The Agricultural Research Service ...