Crop rotations, small-grain variety test plot tours, water screening and testing, weed control options and horticulture will be showcased during the Dickinson Research Extension Center's field day on Wednesday, July 8. The public is invited to the event, which begins at 8:30 a.m.
"The Dickinson Research Extension Center is part of North Dakota State University, so our mission is to serve the people," says Kris Ringwall, center director. "Really, everything that we do here has no purpose unless we do it to help people."
Pat Carr, Dickinson Research Extension Center agronomist, will lead the variety trial tours of oat, hard red spring wheat, barley, durum and winter wheat fields. He also will lead a discussion on new crop development and tillage studies. Roger Ashley, also a Dickinson Research Extension Center agronomist, will provide a presentation on weed control options.
The variety studies and cropping sequence research is an important part of the center's role," says Frank Kutka, assistant director of the center. "For a long time, we have been trying to find varieties or new ways of managing crops and livestock. Our role is specifically to help eliminate those risks as best we can, and we have been doing it well for a long time."
Kutka says just completed research that looks at a crop rotation under various types of tillage will be presented.
"We're investigating several different types of no-till systems and using different rotations," Kutka says. "The work that NDSU plant breeders do is important in the various management systems. Everything depends on good varieties that perform well in good years and bad. The plant breeders are helping find those varieties so that we can have the best ones in our systems research. We're also getting under way some integrated beef and forage production systems."
Roxanne Johnson, NDSU Extension water quality associate, will be available from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. to provide free water screening analysis for pH, total dissolved solids, hardness and nitrates. Johnson will have sterile bottles available for individuals who want to do bacterial testing of their wells. The cost for the bacteria testing is $8.
In addition, Jerry Larson, Dickinson Research Extension Center horticulturist, and Tom Kalb, NDSU Extension horticulturist, will discuss research on annual and perennial plantings, xeriscaping management and vegetables.
Ringwall and Mike Allmendinger, a landscape architect, will present a program on the Dickinson Research Extension Center grounds layout.
The Dickinson Research Extension Center field day activities conclude at 5 p.m. with the annual Dickinson Research Extension Center and Dickinson Chamber of Commerce-sponsored barbecue.
For more information, contact the Dickinson Research Extension Center at (701) 483-2348 or at www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/dickinso.
July 6, 2009