You’re Invited to an Upcoming Research Farm Field Day

Plan to attend the upcoming field days that will be hosted at the outlying Iowa State University Research and Demonstration Farms this summer. These field days will feature the latest information on crop production and crop management practices. Below is a list of the upcoming field days that will take place as well as what topics will be featured at each field day. All field days are free and open to the public.

June 21, 2023 - Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm (3115 Louisa-Washington Rd, Crawfordsville, IA)

Check-in for this field day starts at 12:30 pm with the field day kicking off at 1 pm Topics to be featured include:

• Farm Update - Cody Schneider, farm superintendent
• Mung bean breeding: Current status of Mung bean breeding at Iowa State University (ISU) -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 ISU Extension and Outreach
• Developing tools to predict corn diseases and improve management - Alison Roberston, plant pathologist, ISU 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

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.

For more information on this field day, click here.

June 21, 2023 – Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm (3321 290^th St, Nashua, IA)

This field day starts at 1 pm and will feature the following topics:  

• Ag Markets and Futures - Chad Hart, extension economist with ISU Extension and Outreach
• Waterhemp Weed Management Strategies - Bob Hartzler, professor (Emeritus) and retired extension weed management specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach
• Pollinator Habitat Establishment and Management - Randall Cass, entomologist with ISU Extension and Outreach
• Update on Crop Diseases and Submitting Samples to the ISU Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic - Ed Zaworski, plant pathologist program specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach.

Certified Crop Advisers can earn 2.0 crop management and 2.0 pest management CCA credits. For more information on this field day, click here.

June 22, 2023 - Northern Research and Demonstration Farm (310 S. Main St. Kanawha, IA)

Registration for this field day beings at 8:30 am with the event kicking off at 9 a.m. Lunch will be served at noon and the day concludes at 1 pm Topics include:

• Welcome -Jason Henderson, vice president for ISU Extension and Outreach and Jay Harom, associate dean in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and director for Agriculture and Natural Resources with ISU Extension and Outreach
• Research Farm Update and Update on Capital Campaign Project - Matt Schnabel, farm superintendent and Andy Christensen, vice president of the North Central Iowa Research Association
• Updates to Iowa Phosphorus and Potassium Recommendations - Antonio Mallarino, professor in agronomy and soil fertility extension specialist at ISU
• Soil Impacts on Crop Production (soil pit) - Lee Burras, Morrill professor in agronomy at ISU
• Long-term Tillage Trial Impacts on Crop Yields - Mark Licht, association professor in agronomy and cropping systems extension specialist at ISU   

If you plan to attend, please pre-register by June 19 to Matt Schnabel at 641-762-3247 to help with a head count for lunch. Certified Crop Advisors can earn 1.0 soil and water management, 1.0 nutrient management and 1.0 crop management credits by attending.

Click here for more information on this field day.

June 29, 2023 – Armstrong Research and Demonstration Farm (53020 Hitchcock Ave, Lewis, IA)

Registration starts at 9:30 am with the field day officially starting at 10 am. A complimentary lunch will be provided thanks to our generous sponosrs. The field day will feature the following topics:

• Utilizing warm season annuals to boost pasture productivity, Erika Lundy-Woolfolk and Aaron Saeugling, ISU Extension Specialists
• Commercially available nutrient enhancement products, Brian Frishmeyer, Sound Farm Advice
• Soil biology and microscope introduction
• Building plant health and nutrient availability with soil biology, Ryan Gibbs, Delaware County Farmer and owner of Gibbsfield Ag, LLC
• Management of cover crops for weed control and soil health, Jon Bakehouse, Mills County Farmer

The event will wrap-up around 2:15 pm with an ice cream social. While this event is free and open to everyone, pre-registration requested by June 23rd. Please register with Ruth Blomquist at 319-541-2969 (cell) or ruth.blomquist@usda.gov. 

July 12, 2023 - Northwest Research and Demonstration Farm (6320 500th St. Sutherland, IA)

This field day kicks off with morning refreshments at 9 am and the program begins at 9:30 am featuring the following topics:

• Weather Forecasts and Mesonet Tools, Daryl Herzmann, Iowa Environmental Mesonet  
• Updated Phosphorous and Potassium Guidelines, Antonio Mallarino, ISU Extension and Outreach Soil Fertility Specialist
• Soil Changes Across the Landscape: How Drought Impacts NW Iowa Soils, Amber Anderson- Assistant Teaching Professor ISU, Agronomy Department
• Timely Agronomic Topics of the 2023 Growing Season, Gentry Sorenson and Leah Ten Napel- Field Agronomists ISU and Outreach

There will be a complementary lunch served at 1 pm. Additionally, in the afternoon there will be an optional corn rootworm field day. During the optional afternoon field day, ISU Extension and Outreach Entomologists Erin Hodgson and Ashley Dean will provide education using a corn-on-corn demonstration plot with non-bt rootworm corn, SmartStax corn and SmartStax Pro corn (with the new RNA-I trait)- all with and without insecticides. Roots will be rated, so you can see the differences.

 August 1, 2023 - Northern Research and Demonstration Farm (310 S. Main St. Kanawha, IA)

ISU Extension and Outreach Entomologists Erin Hodgson and Ashley Dean will provide education on corn rootworm using a corn-on-corn demonstration plot with rootworm traits.  Traits will have comparisons with and without insecticides.  Roots will be rated so differences can be seen. This field day will being at 5:30 pm and wrap-up around 7 pm. Additional details to come.

August 10, 2023 – Strip-till Field Day at Mark and Tracey Wigans farm (near Renwick, IA)

A strip-tillage demonstration field day will be held on August 10, from 9 am to noon at the Mark and Tracey Wigans farm near Renwick. The goal of this field day is to increase awareness of strip-tillage as a conservation practice to help reduce erosion, improve soil health, and complement cover cropping systems. Attendees will have the opportunity to visit with several strip-till equipment representatives and see strip-till bars running on cornstalk (sweet corn) residue. The field day is free and open to all attendees, but we do ask that you RSVP so we can plan accordingly. More information, including a registration link is available at https://www.aep.iastate.edu/striptill/. Strip-till equipment manufacturers and implement dealers wishing to demonstrate a specific piece of strip till equipment should contact Angie Rieck-Hinz (amrieck@iastate.edu) or Gentry Sorenson (gentrys@iastate.edu) if they wish to have a piece of equipment at the demonstration field day. 

More information about these and other field days to be hosted at the ISU Research and Demonstration Farms can be found here.  We hope to see you at one of these events!