Southeast Research Farm field day to cover current issues in agriculture

Farmers and farm businesses in southeastern Iowa are invited to join Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and the Southeast Iowa Agricultural Research Association for the summer field day at the Iowa State University Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm on June 21, starting at 1:00 p.m. The event is free to attend and open to the public.

“The field day will provide farmers and ag retailers the opportunity to hear and talk to several people who are experts in their fields, and who will focus on some of the current issues or topics of agriculture in Iowa, like managing tar spot and utilizing UAV and drone technology to manage pests, as well as updates on research being conducted locally,” said Rebecca Vittetoe, field agronomist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.

Field day sessions include:

• Research farm update, Cody Schneider, farm superintendent.
• Mung bean breeding: Current status of Mung bean breeding at Iowa State, Ashlyn Rairdin, graduate student, Department of Agronomy.
• Potential for relay and double cropping in Iowa, Mark Licht, associate professor and extension cropping systems specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
• Developing tools to predict corn diseases and improve management, Alison Roberston, plant pathologist, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
• From the ground up: Using drones for crop spraying, field mapping and precision agriculture,” Dennis Bowman, extension specialist in digital agriculture, Illinois Extension.

Check-in for the field day begins at 12:30 p.m. The field day starts at 1 p.m. with a research farm update. The afternoon field day is free and open to the public. Certified crop advisers can earn 1.5 crop management and 0.5 pest management CCA credits.

An additional two soil and water management credits and one pest management credit can be earned in the morning during the Certified Crop Advisor and Agronomy Professional Workshop, which will feature a session on historical, current and forward-looking perspectives at reducing soil erosion (includes a field session) as well as a session going more in-depth on maximizing the effectiveness of using UAVs/drones for crop scouting.

The fee for the morning Certified Crop Advisor and Agronomy Professional Workshop is $50, which includes lunch. Register by midnight on June 16 for the morning Agronomy Workshop and CCA Training at https://go.iastate.edu/NTSQIE, or by calling the ISU Extension and Outreach Washington County office at 319-653-4811.

The Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm is located at 3115 Louisa-Washington Road, Crawfordsville, Iowa. To reach the farm, follow US Highway 218 one- and three-quarters of a mile south of Crawfordsville, then two miles east on County Road G-62, then three-quarters of a mile north. Signs will be posted near the farm.

For more information, contact ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists Rebecca Vittetoe at 319-653-4811 or rka8@iastate.edu, Virgil Schmitt at 563-263-5701 or vschmitt@iastate.edu or Clarabell Probasco at 641-664-2730 or caknapp@iastate.edu.