Precision agriculture, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), farm electrical safety, cereal grains, soybeans, crop disease, crop pests and weed control are the focus of this year’s field tour at the North Dakota State University Agronomy Seed Farm near Casselton.

The tour will be held July 16, starting at 5 p.m.

This year’s tour will include a discussion on precision agriculture, with tour stops at soybean breeding, cereal grain and weed research plots. Participants will be able to view research trials and receive production information from NDSU specialists.

The presenters for this year’s tour and the topics they will cover are:

• John Nowatzki, NDSU agricultural machine systems specialist, will discuss the use of digital data for crop management, use of UAVs in precision agriculture and the Smart Farm Project at the Agronomy Seed Farm.
• Cass County Electric personnel will give a presentation on overhead power line safety.
• Joel Ransom, NDSU Extension agronomist for cereal crops, and graduate student J. Stanley will provide an update on current research on optimum seeding rates for new spring wheat varieties and the effectiveness of differing nitrogen fertilizer sources on corn and wheat production.
• Ted Helms, NDSU soybean breeder, will discuss visual ratings of company varieties for iron-deficiency chlorosis and how those ratings relate to yield loss. He also will discuss his evaluation of company varieties for yield on soybean cyst nematode (SCN)-infested soil sites.
• Andrew Friskop, NDSU Extension plant pathologist, will give a wheat disease update and discuss scouting for potential corn diseases.
• Sam Markell, NDSU Extension plant pathologist, will give a soybean disease update, including SCN and stem diseases on soybeans.
• Jan Knodel, NDSU Extension entomologist, will discuss current insect pest problems, along with the issue of insecticide-resistant soybean aphids.
• Pat Beauzay, NDSU Extension research specialist in entomology, will discuss the importance of using economic thresholds for insect pest management and the benefits for natural enemies and pollinators.
• Andrew Green, NDSU spring wheat breeder, will discuss wheat variety testing in 2017, testing in 2018 and wheat variety demonstration plots. He also will discuss the historical wheat study, which includes all wheat varieties ever released by NDSU.
• Kirk Howatt, NDSU weed scientist, will give an update on Dicamba soybeans and off-target exposures, and answer grower questions on herbicides.

Following the tour, NDSU’s Carnivore Catering will serve participants dinner.

The Agronomy Seed Farm is 1 mile south and 1 mile west of Casselton.

For more information, contact Brian Otteson, Agronomy Seed Farm director, at 701-347-4743.

NDSU Agriculture Communication – June 28, 2018