Saline and Sodic Soil Management Workshop and Field Tour August 12

BROOKINGS — SDSU Extension, South Dakota Corn Utilization Council and the Natural Resources Conservation Service will host the Saline and Sodic Soil Management Workshop and Field Tour August 12, 2014 at White Lake, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event will be held at the American Legion Hall in White Lake, and field tours will follow in the afternoon.

The event features a packed lineup of soils experts and SDSU Extension Specialists as well as a field tour. Morning topics covered during the event include: Redefining Saline and Sodic Soil Classifications, Why There are Issues with Salty Soils and Management Options.

In the afternoon, demonstrations on site will include: Soil Stability Tests; Mapping Saline Soils on your Farm; Tools to Measure Soil Salinity (Handheld soil electrical conductivity (EC), pH meters, moisture probes); and Questions to Ask When Submitting Soils for Salt Analysis.

Weather permitting; visits to the field site will include two soil pits to demonstrate issues with saline/sodic soils; the soil amendment plots and discussion about salt type in fields and potential management options.

The event costs $10 to attend and pre-registration by August 8 is requested to guarantee lunch and seating. Registration of $15 will be taken at the site on July 12th. To register for this event visit iGrow.org/events, visit http://bit.ly/1uLGxoI or call 605-334-0100.

Lunch is provided by Farmers Alliance of White Lake, Farmers and Merchant State Bank of White Lake, and Gridline Tile of White Lake. Facilities and soil pit preparation is sponsored by David Gillen and Gridline Tile of White Lake.

Agenda:

9:30 a.m. CST Registration

9:50 a.m. Welcome by Daniel Scholl, SDSU and Reno Brueggeman, Vice President of South Dakota Corn Utilization Council

10 a.m. Rachel Owen, Graduate Research Assistant in Plant Science at SDSU – to present on The Expanding Salt Effected Soil Problem

10:20 a.m. Laura Edwards, SDSU Extension Climate Field Specialist to present on Precipitation Patterns and Climate Change: How do they affect soils and salts?

10:40 a.m. Cheryl Reese, Lecturer / Agronomist of Plant Science SDSU – to present on Using Vegetation in Managing Salt-Affected Soils

11 a.m. David Clay, Professor of Plant Science SDSU – to present on Converting Soil Laboratory Results to Saline and Sodic Soil Recommendations

11:20 a.m. Gregg Carlson, Professor of Plant Science SDSU – to present on The Problems with Tile Drainage in Salt Effected Soils

11:40 a.m. David Gillen, White Lake farmer who will present on Getting a Return on Investment in High Salt Soils

12:05 – 1 p.m. Lunch – Sponsored by the Farmers Alliance of White Lake, Farmers and Merchant State Bank of White Lake, and Gridline Tile of White Lake.

1 p.m. Jeff Hemenway, USDA-NRCS – to present on Huron Rainfall Demonstration – Saline/Sodic soils

1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Afternoon Activities and Demonstrations, outlined above. Field site visits weather permitting.

To learn more, visit iGrow.org.