Agriculture Facilities and Resources

The Management, Instruction and Research (MIR) Center allows agriculture students to get hands-on learning, but the site is much more than that. The center has three objectives:

• Conduct research to improve animal production, agronomic production, food technology and range and wildlife management.
• Serve as a demonstration site for the agricultural industry.
• Serve as a laboratory and outdoor classroom for the undergraduate and graduate programs in agriculture.

Located about six miles north of San Angelo on the north shore of O.C. Fisher Lake, the MIR Center consists of 6,000 acres of range and farm land leased from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The center is managed for environmental quality and as a wildlife habitat as well as for the production of cattle, sheep and goats.

The MIR Center hosts numerous field days and producer-oriented meetings and training sessions. The public is welcome to tour the facilities and observe demonstration sites, but all tours must be approved by the MIR Center director.

The agriculture research projects conducted at the center are aimed at improving management decisions of West Texas livestock producers and natural resource managers.

MIR Center By the Numbers

• 1,950 - Elevation of the site
• 1975 - Year the original structure was built
• 21 - Average inches of annual precipitation
• 235 - Average days of the growing season
• 6,000 - Acres of range and farmland

MIR Center Progress Reports

Check out the electronic versions of these comprehensive reports:

• 2011 MIR Progress Report
• 2009 MIR Progress Report
• 2006 MIR Progress Report

MIR Center Research Projects

Learn more about the center’s research in each of these areas:

• Range Wildlife
• Beef Cattle
• Ruminant Nutrition
• Sheep and Goats
• Food Safety and Meat Science
• Food Safety and Product Development Laboratory (Meat Lab)
• Agribusiness
• Agricultural Economics