Plans are coming together for two annual dryland Field Days to be held in Froid and Sidney in June. The 2013 Froid Field Day, which is co-sponsored by the Roosevelt and Sheridan County Conservation Districts and Extension Offices, along with the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab (NPARL) in Sidney, will be held on Thursday, June 20, with the Sidney ARS Dryland Field Day following on Friday morning, June 21. That event is also co-sponsored by the Sidney ARS research lab, along with the Richland County Extension Office.
Both Field Days will include information on new studies, special workshops and more. Several presentations are included at both locations, among them a sprayer calibration workshop offered by MSU Extension Agents, Tim Fine of Richland County and Ann Ronning of Roosevelt County. Pesticide points are pending.
There will also be an informative Pipeline Reclamation Mini-Workshop by ARS Plant Ecologist Erin Espeland at both Froid and Sidney. This session will recap topics discussed at the original pipeline workshop held last March but which many interested area residents were unable to attend because of bad weather.
Both locations will also feature pest updates on two insects that have plagued many producers in this area the past couple of years, alfalfa weevil and grasshoppers. Presenters include NPARL Entomologist Dave Branson and Insect Ecologist Tatyana Rand.
The Froid Field Day will begin with registration on Thursday, June 20 at 1pm at the Froid Research Farm located 8 miles north of Culbertson on MT Highway 16 and concludes at 5 pm with a steak supper sponsored by the Conservation Districts.
During the Froid tour, attendees will be introduced to a new sequencing study on site that is examining the impacts of different rotations of oilseeds, pea and durum. One element of that study is looking at changes in microbial communities under the different crops and how they might impact the following crop. In particular, a study by ARS Microbiologist TheCan Caesar is looking at the microbial changes occurring in the soil under oilseeds and the potential impact those changes may have on the following durum crop. There is evidence to suggest that some disease-causing Fusarium species could be negatively affected.
Also planned at Froid is a report on the re-energized farm bill debate and other ag related issues before Congress by Gordon Stoner, a grain producer in Outlook, MT, and Past President of the Montana Grain Growers Association. Attendees can also take a look at several new demonstration plots planned for the farmsite this year, weather permitting, that will feature different varieties of pulses, corn and soybean, along with warm and cool season cover crop mixes.
The Sidney ‘Dryland’ Field Day will begin with registration at that research farm at 9am, on Friday, June 21st. The farm is located about 4 miles north of Sidney off MT Highway 16. Take a left at County Road 129 and a second left on County Road 346.
At the Sidney Field Day, attendees will be introduced to a new multi-year, multi-discipline study on crop diversity featuring different combinations of winter and spring wheat, malting barley, pea, camelina and canola in 1, 2 and 4 year rotations.
Also planned is discussion of a continuation study to identify the optimal nitrogen application rate for malting barley needed to meet both quality and production requirements, while still curbing greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching.
The National Oilseed Project, which was introduced at last year’s Froid Field Day, will also be discussed at Sidney’s Field Day. The ARS Oilseed Project is designed to identify and develop the best oilseed combinations by region for making bio-based jet fuel from plant oils. This project is being worked on in multiple locations all over the country with the goal of building up oilseed supplies in sufficient quantities to provide a reliable source for jet biofuel production for the military.
The Sidney Field Day will wrap up the morning with a lunch at the end of the tour which is provided by the Richland County Extension Office.
These events are made possible with the help and contribution from the Roosevelt and Sheridan County Conservation Districts, the Sheridan, Roosevelt and Richland County MSU-Extension Offices and the USDA-ARS Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory. More information will be published in the Roundup as it becomes available.
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