Established in 1888, it was the first facility in the United States intended to measure erosion and run-off for differing crops and agricultural practices.

Work at Sanborn Field was influential in the establishment of soil conservation policy in the United States.

[1] The field is currently managed as part of the Agricultural Extension Station under the university's School of Natural Resources.

The plots continue to be used today for long-term experimentation on differing schemes for the management of agricultural lands.

Chlortetracycline, the first tetracycline to be identified, was discovered in a sample of soil collected from plot 23 of Sanborn field in 1945.