In 1926, forestry professor Burr N. Prentice painstakingly numbered, mapped, described, and tagged every tree at this location. His work and the work of Purdue foresters after him have made the Davis-Purdue Research Forest the largest and oldest mapped forest in North America, resulting in its designation as a Registered Natural Landmark.

In recent years, researchers have begun many site-specific agriculture studies involving the collection of data with a yield monitor as well as variable rate fertilizer applications.