The Oakes Irrigation Research Site Field Day will be held on Thursday, August 20.   NDSU’s Oakes research site is located 3.5 miles south of Oakes along U.S. Highway 1. 

This Field Day will begin with refreshments at 8:45 a.m. and the tour follows from 9 to 11:45 a.m.  The tour will begin with a review of the current research program followed by an update on developments to expand research conducted at the Oakes site. 

Other topics include:

• mechanized water management and this fall’s expansion of the OIRS linear irrigation system
• managing white mold (sclerotinia) in soybeans and dry beans
• a review of potato projects at the site and herbicide drift concerns in potato production
• a discussion of corn production practices and a review of corn research projects including research related to residue removal and crop rotations
• a review of recent soybean production research projects and the NDSU soybean breeding program efforts 

Lunch will be served following the tour.

The research effort at the Oakes site is made possible through a cooperative agreement between North Dakota State University and the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District (GDCD). The University provides technical staff and the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District provides financial resources.  NDSU faculty and staff from the departments of Soil Science, Plant Sciences, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Plant Pathology, Plant Sciences, Soil Science and the Carrington Research Extension Center participate in conducting experiments at the Oakes site.

This collaboration between NDSU and the GDCD has been ongoing since 1970 and is strategically placed south of Oakes on land representative of irrigated acreage of the region. Throughout these years the site has been located on land owned by Robert and Elsie Titus.

For more information, contact the Carrington Research Extension Center at (701) 652-2951 or visit https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/CarringtonREC .

The soybean sclerotinia study at the Oakes research site includes impacts related to water management, timing, row spacing, and fungicide treatments.

Linda Schuster
Administrative Secretary