The NDSU Carrington Research Extension Center annual field day is planned for Tuesday, July 14. The event will provide participants with the choice of attending livestock, fruit or crop tours in the morning and a second crop tour in the afternoon.
Two crop tours will be conducted for participants to view research trials and receive production information. Crop variety performance, crop and soil management and opportunities for growing selected alternative crops will be highlighted.
The morning tour will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will include a review of spring wheat, barley and dry bean cultivars by NDSU plant breeders Mohamed Mergoum, Richard Horsley and Juan Osorno. Also, NDSU agronomists Joel Ransom, Greg Endres and Burton Johnson will highlight corn, soybean and alternative crop production issues. In addition, John Nowatzki, NDSU Extension agricultural engineer, will give a corn planter demonstration that shows corn stands resulting from several different industry planters and the speed of planter operations.
Following a noon lunch, tour participants can attend a second crop tour that will start at 1 p.m. Marcia McMullen and Sam Markell, NDSU Extension plant pathologists, will review small-grain disease management strategies and the threat of row crop diseases this season. Richard Zollinger and Kirk Howatt, NDSU weed scientists, will discuss this season's weed management challenges and issues.
During the afternoon tour, Ezra Aberle, Endres, Paul Hendrickson, Yvonne Lawley and Ron Wiederholt, Carrington center agronomists, will highlight research on strip tillage, plant nutrition, cover crops and perennial grasses for cellulosic biofuels.
Two stations also will be available for participants to provide samples for water quality testing or crop pest diagnosis. Farmers are encouraged to bring water and plant samples for examination by Roxanne Johnson, NDSU Extension water quality associate, and Kasia Kinzer, NDSU Extension plant pest diagnostician.
For more information, contact the Carrington Research Extension Center at (701) 652-2951 or go to www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/carringt.
