In 1917 the legislature authorized establishment of the Middle Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station. The County was to provide the land, and the State would provide $10,000 per year for operation of the station. Maury County provided a 652-acre farm that cost approximately $100,000. The station was developed principally for livestock research, with supporting field experiments with grasses, pastures, and legumes. An adjacent farm of 129 acres was added to the station in 1936 to accommodate a special Bankhead-Jones project on jack stock. Another tract of 23 acres was added to the jack stock farm in 1940.
In 1950 the trustees approved the purchase of a 593-acre farm (at $295 per acre) to replace the old Middle Tennessee Experiment Station. The new farm was seven miles north of Columbia, on Highway US 31. In 1954 a 285-acre tract known as the Reclamation Farm was acquired through Monsanto Chemical Company, and in 1959 an adjoining farm of 275 acres was added. The name of the station was changed to Middle Tennessee Research and Education Center in 2005.