Thursday, July 5, 2012

NDSU CREC annual field day July 17

Two crop tours will be conducted during the event for participants to view research trials and receive current production information. Highlighted will be crop variety performance and production management, and pest and soil management.

The morning tour will begin at 9:30 a.m. The tour will include a review of spring wheat, barley and dry bean cultivars by NDSU plant breeders Mohamed Mergoum and Juan Osorno and Extension agronomist Joel Ransom. Corn and soybean production highlights will be presented by Ransom and Greg Endres, Extension area agronomist. Also, an update on energy beets will be provided by Blaine Schatz, CREC director and research agronomist, and representatives from Green Vision.

Following a noon lunch, tour participants are encouraged to attend a second crop tour starting at 1 p.m. that will focus on two areas:

* Soil management - As a followup from a subsurface soil drainage workshop held at the CREC in December 2011, Dwight Aakre, Extension farm management specialist, will discuss the costs and returns of tile drainage. Jasper Tebo, CREC soil scientist, will share the expansion plans for the CREC's soils research program, with emphasis on increasing nitrogen use efficiency through crop sensors, and fertilizer source and application methods.

* Crop pest management - Michael Wunsch and Sam Markell, NDSU plant pathologists, will provide updates on dry bean anthracnose, soybean and sunflower sclerotinia, and soybean cyst nematode. Janet Knodel, Extension entomologist, will highlight management strategies for late-season insects,
including soybean aphids and sunflower head-infesting insects. Richard Zollinger, Extension weed specialist; Mike Ostlie, CREC research agronomist; and Endres will review this season's weed management challenges and highlight CREC weed management trials.

In addition to the crop tours, field day visitors will have the opportunity to attend fruit, livestock and sustainable agriculture tours.

For more information, contact the CREC at (701) 652-2951 or go to http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/carringt/.