Board of Regents approve Texas A&M AgriLife construction project in Canyon

The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents this week approved construction of the $30 million project that will move facilities of the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Amarillo onto the campus of West Texas A&M University, WTAMU, Canyon.

Funding for moving the Amarillo center to Canyon was approved in May 2022 as a way to complete an agricultural research, education and outreach powerhouse at the WTAMU campus. Construction is expected to wrap up in summer of 2025.

The building will accommodate about 60 employees of AgriLife Research and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Brent Auvermann, Ph.D., director of the center, said AgriLife Research and AgriLife Extension will be strengthened by the synergy of the expertise, organization, programming, educational outreach and student involvement between the center and WTAMU.

“We expect to have greater exposure to the graduate and undergraduate students that WTAMU has because we rely on them so heavily across all of our research programs,” he said. He estimated that about 40 students at any time are already being supervised by AgriLife Research and AgriLife Extension faculty.

Additionally, Auvermann said the co-location of AgriLife Research’s globally recognized program will help build WTAMU’s agricultural research portfolio.

“AgriLife Research and WTAMU have complementary strengths, and working on WTAMU’s campus will make it easier for us to capitalize on them,” he said.