Davis Purdue Agricultural Center (DPAC)
Davis Purdue Agricultural Center is in the Central Hill Plain natural region in Randolph County. This property was acquired in 1917 and is the oldest mapped, temperate deciduous forest in North America. In 1926, forestry professor Burr N. Prentice numbered, mapped, described, and tagged every tree on property. Compartment 1, which is 51 acres in size, was officially dedicated as a registered National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1975 thanks to Burr Prentice and the preceding foresters’ work and dedication to land management.
Property Statistics
- Acreage: 622 total, 126 forested
- Acquired: 1917
PAC Information
More About Davis Purdue Agricultural Center
- Forest ecology and biodiversity
- Growth of natural oak seedlings versus seedling sprouts
- Regeneration of red, bur, and swamp white oak over time
- CFI plot upkeep to record growth and development of forest over time
- Moderate soils surrounded by heavily disturbed agriculture land
- Minimal disturbance overall in woodland areas
- Oldest mapped temperate deciduous forest in NA
- “Compartment 1” registered as a Natural Landmark by the National Park Service in 1975
Please contact the property manager for a copy of this property’s management plan.
Superintendent:
Jeff Boyer
Davis-Purdue Agricultural Center (DPAC)
6230 North State Road 1
Farmland, IN 47340-9340
Phone: (765) 468-7022
Fax: 765-468-8125
Email: jboyer@purdue.edu
Property Manager:
Don Carlson
Southeast-Purdue Agricultural Center (SEPAC)
4425 East 350 North
Butlerville, IN 47223
Cell: 812.798.2764
Email:carlsode@purdue.edu
2007 Davis PAC harvest with knuckle boom loading logs onto a semi. Photo by Don Carlson. 
A wetland located on property that provides essential habitat for many amphibians and waterfowl species. Photo by Don Carlson. 
Wildlife shrub planting in 2007. Photo by Don Carlson. 
Dr. Mike Jenkins graduate student next to large burr oak (Quercus macrocarpa). Photo by Mike Jenkins. 