Source:  NCSU COLLEGE OF AG & LIFE SCIENCES, 10/14/20


Today’s NC State weed research stems from a nearly 70-year partnership with the Sorrell-Wilkerson family, a partnership that culminated in an endowment from the Sorrell family that will permanently keep critical research property under the university’s guardianship.

In 1953, the Central Crops Research Station moved from rented land in Wake County to its current location in Clayton. The adjoining property to the research station was owned by husband and wife, Jack and Bannie Wilkerson, and beginning in 1957 Central Crops began renting 10 acres of the Wilkerson’s land to host a variety of research projects and trials.

Past Research Station Manager, and current Assistant Director of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, Reid Evans explained that by the late 1970s the Central Crops Research Station was renting an additional 15 acres from the Wilkersons.
When the research station began working the land in the late 1950s the focus included soybean breeding and agricultural engineering work. But over time, what made the property unique and valuable was Bannie Wilkerson’s approval to plant and maintain weed blocks that contributed to an important weed seed bank. When weeds would take over large plots, Wilkerson wouldn’t get upset. Because of her agricultural background, she understood the value of the experiments.

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