Area research farm hosting field day event Thursday

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- Every day researchers at the University of Missouri Delta Center learn and discover new techniques to help those involved in agriculture.

And some of that research will be displayed on Thursday at the 49th annual Field Day, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported.

"We always look forward to seeing everybody and showing off our latest research," said Jake Fisher, superintendent of the Delta Center. "We hope those who attend will get new ideas that will help them in their operation. The bottom line is they will make more money."

All stages of research are discussed during the tours where attendees hear in-depth presentations. "Some are ready to be implemented, and other projects are just getting started," Fisher said.

As usual, there will be four tours this year, in which attendees ride on color-coded trailers pulled by tractors through the fields at the Lee Farm near Portageville. The blue tour will focus on rice and cotton; soybeans will be the topic of the red tour; the green tour will discuss cotton soil fertility; and irrigation and disease will be featured on the yellow tour.

At the rice and cotton tour, MU entomologist Kelly Tindall will speak about choosing the right seed treatment for rice production.

"It's necessary to understand what pest complex you are targeting," she said. "This is a decision you make at planting and can impact your positive net return."

Tindall also will talk about a multi-state effort to track insecticide resistance in stink bugs.

Won Jung, an MU rice researcher, will review best management practices for rice and the feasibility of growing medium-grain rice instead of the staple long-grain rice in southeast Missouri. Greg Yielding of the U.S. Rice Producers Association will also speak.

On the soybean tour, MU research specialist Jeremy Angotti and MU soybean breeder Grover Shannon will discuss variety testing and conventional varieties.

Jason Weirich, an MU Extension weed scientist, will talk of growing herbicide-resistance problems and the most troublesome weeds. A big topic of discussion will be the growing problem of Palmer amaranth pigweed, Weirich said.

"Treatment recommendations are changing back to the use of a soil residual herbicide with different modes of action," he said. "By using a soil residual with different modes of action we can keep some weeds from coming up and use a contact herbicide to kill the plant by uptake through the leaves."

On the soil fertility tour, MU Extension agronomist Gene Stevens will talk about getting the most out of your limited dollars when deciding on fertilizer applications. Andrea Jones, senior research specialist, will discuss benefits of controlled-release fertilizers.

David Dunn, manager of the soil testing labs at the Delta Center, will talk about soil test recommendations. He said a three-year comparison of soil testing labs showed that recommendations differed for the same samples.

The irrigation and disease tour will include discussions of remote monitoring and control of irrigation by USDA agriculture engineer Earl Vories and wireless irrigation technology by MU irrigation specialist Joe Henggeler. Tim Kavan from the Missouri Department of Conservation will speak on planting for wildlife, and MU plant pathologist Allen Wrather will talk about ways to mitigate soybean cyst nematode.

Wrather said that root-knot nematode and soybean cyst nematode are present in half of fields in the state.

"Planting resistant varieties is most effective to deal with nematodes, but farmers also need to rotate soybeans with corn to help manage cyst nematodes," Wrather said. "In the worst cases, yield losses can be as high as 75 percent, so farmers need to remain diligent in addressing this problem."

The tours typically last about an hour each, said Fisher. While some researchers have presented in the past, there will be new faces this year, he added.

Fisher said that when choosing topics for the tours, he and other staff look at current events and expand on them.

"This year, for instance, it's been awfully dry," he said. "Each year is a little different in farming, and whatever the issues are that year, we try to address them."

Typically about 1,500 are fed at the lunch, said Fisher. He said that while interest has been high for the year, it appears there will be less high school students, as school have tightened budgets and will not allow for the transportation to the event.

Fisher noted that all are invited to come out to the Field Day, and said that people come not only from Southeast Missouri but across the nation.