Ohio State opens new super-secure agriculture lab

WOOSTER, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University will study plant and animal diseases that threaten the state's agriculture industry at a new laboratory in northeast Ohio that's super-secure.

The Columbus Dispatch reports the facility being dedicated Friday at Ohio State's agricultural research center in Wooster (WUH'-stur) is surrounded by a tall black fence and has concrete walls more than a foot thick.

The $22.3 million building was made to withstand earthquakes and tornadoes. The unveiling comes exactly one year after the Wooster center was blasted by winds of up to 130 mph as a rash of tornadoes hit the state. Greenhouses and other buildings were destroyed.

Ohio State officials hope the new facility and its security clearance will allow the center to draw more research grants.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

1. Ag markets posted mixed showing on Tuesday
2. Plains storms cause minor harm to Oklahoma/Kansas wheat
3. Chocolate milk a top post-workout food
4. Another reason for adults to drink milk
5. Penn State Dairy Team schedules “Tools for Teams” webinars
6. Ag markets generally mixed again Tuesday morning

1. 4 rules for growing a business or industry
2. Seven jobs more dangerous than farming
3. D.C. Watch: Farm bill progressing
4. April milk production up 0.3 percent
5. Chocolate milk a top post-workout food
6. Class III futures close out quietly last week

1. Commentary: Slanting the statistics
2. World food supply depends on character, virtuous leadership
3. Buffet concerned about soil and starvation
4. Cold spring stunts upper Midwest hay crop
5. N.M. rancher charged with 43 counts of animal cruelty
6. 2014 Farm Bill: Are we near an agreement?