Carvel Research and Education Center

Welcome to the Carvel Research and Education Center: youtube.com/watch?v=qJ0F22yF3do

The Elbert N. and Ann V. Carvel Research and Education Center

The Carvel Center campus, located in Georgetown in Sussex County, fulfills the tripartite mission of our land-grant university — teaching, research and Extension outreach. The Carvel Center serves as the southern agriculture experiment station for the University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and encompasses the Thurman Adams Jr. Agriculture Research Farm (347 acres) with a focus on agronomic, vegetable and horticulture crops, the Warrington Irrigation Research Farm (120 acres) in Harbeson, Lasher Laboratory for poultry diagnostics, and the Jones Hamilton Environmental Research House. Our campus is also home to Sussex County Cooperative Extension providing programing in 4-H Youth Development, Poultry, Family and Consumer Sciences, and Lawn and Garden. 
 

With an overall staff of 50 full-time administrators, agents, faculty, and specialists, assisted by 50 to 70 seasonal part-time employees and student interns, the Carvel Center paves the way in serving the needs of the agricultural industry, youth and families, students and residents of our great state. Learn more about our history.

 

 

Location

Carvel Research and Education Center
16483 County Seat Highway
Georgetown, Delaware 19947

 302-856-7303

Our research and educational facilities

Our facility continues the strong tradition of serving our agricultural clientele and their families as well as the citizens of Delaware.

- Mark Isaacs Carvel REC director

Upcoming Events

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE TO AGRICULTURE

Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Michael T. Scuse surprised Dr. Mark Isaacs with the Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service to Agriculture during the State Fair Awards presentation on Governor’s Day...

“I am incredibly honored and humbled to receive this Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award from Secretary Scuse. As a fourth-generation Delaware farmer, Director of the UD Carvel Research and Education Center, and Department of Plant and Soil Sciences faculty member, my roots run deep for the love of Delaware agriculture,” said Mark Isaacs.

Read all about Mark Isaacs' award on the Delaware Department of Agriculture website

Montage of Extension Staff in Action in Delaware: youtube.com/watch?v=UHPYhBIWRj0

Latest news
  • A photo collage of the Delaware 4-H Leader Forum event

    A High Five for the return of the 4-H Delaware State Leader Forum

    February 05, 2025 | Written by: Michele Walfred, Communications Specialist
    4-H volunteer leaders from across the state met in Georgetown on Saturday, February 1, 2025, for a day of fellowship and training - learning new skills to implement at their club levels.
  • The New You is coming through resilience

    February 03, 2025 | Written by: Jennifer Seabrook-Scott, Health & Well-Being Extension Agent
    People often treat the clock as a magical artifact, believing that when it strikes midnight on New Year’s, they will become new and improved. Now that we are in February, how new do you feel? Have you maintained your resolutions or lifestyle changes? The truth is, the clock doesn’t change us; rather, adversity does. Adversity—difficult or challenging events—can foster resilience if we adapt positively.
  • UD’s impact at Delaware Ag Week

    January 28, 2025 | Article by Michele Walfred and Katie Peikes Photos by Michele Walfred and Jackie Czachorowski
    UD faculty and staff help Delaware agriculture professionals face emerging issues Emerging crop diseases keep farmers on their toes. One of them, southern blight, is a serious fungal disease with a menu of 500 host plants. “It can be tremendously problematic,” said Alyssa Betts, University of Delaware extension plant pathologist, during Delaware Agriculture Week, held January 13-16. “It is a very aggressive fungus; it can take down a whole plant in a fast amount of time.”

History of the Agriculture Research Center in Georgetown

A Delaware General Assembly act provided the establishment of an agricultural substation for southern Delaware. The first structure at the new "Substation" opened in 1942, which is still in use — now as storage space.

A more thorough, published history written by former Extension specialist and former Delaware Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Kee, is now available in the fall of 2019.

See our history page for details