Plenty of agricultural research happening at the universities-- indeed they have a whole bunch of extramural cooperations.

https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/collaborations/?modeCode=6...

But this is a big facility right in the middle of the rice belt and big fields for large research projects in cooperation with universities. UArkansas has a facility nextdoor/shares resources, and it's not too far from UA Little Rock. https://aaes.uada.edu/research-locations/rice-research-exten...