Oklahoma State University Agriculture will kick off its fall season of field day events with the Panhandle Crops & Forages Field Day in Eva, Oklahoma.
The event will be held 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 31 at the OSU McCaull Research and Demonstration Farm where producers will learn about regenerative agriculture, range drought recovery, water use efficiency and more.
“Water use efficiency—basically, how to do more with less—is the biggest deal in the high plains, and that is a large part of what we focus on at McCaull station,” said Cameron Murley, the facility’s senior superintendent. “Our water table is dwindling, so we are always trying to figure out ways to conserve water and do more with less to extend the life of Ogallala aquifer.”
A portion of the field day will introduce cotton results from the Testing Ag Performance Solutions Program, which allows producers to try out research-based improved technologies and strategies at OSU Ag Research sites in the Oklahoma Panhandle before investing their own money in similar systems.
This year’s TAPS Program will focus on participants’ experiences with cotton using the variable rate center pivot irrigation system at the research station.
“It’s also a competition in a sense because we give out awards to the participating producers with the highest yield and who are the most efficient with water use,” Murley said.
Attendees will also learn about options for moisture control in future crops, sorghum varieties, nitrogen management, soil moisture monitoring and managing spider mites in corn.
The Peanut & Cotton Field Day will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Sept. 14 in Fort Cobb. The Fall Turf & Landscape Field Day is scheduled from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 20 in Stillwater.
The Peanut & Cotton Field Day will include information on peanut and cotton weed management, cotton harvest aids, peanut variety development, disease evaluations of peanut cultivars and advanced breeding lines, cover crops, and a soil fertility project update.
“The field day at our Ft. Cobb Research Station always provides a wealth of information about diseases and weed control in cotton and peanuts,” said Chris Richards, director of the OSU Field and Research Service Unit. “For those growing peanuts, we also have our peanut blasting in the afternoon before the field day to evaluate crop development.”
The Fall Turf & Landscape Field Day will be divided into two tours—one with emphasis on turfgrass research, and one with information on gardening and landscaping. Onsite registration will begin at 8:30 a.m.
“Earlier this year, we held a field day focused on turfgrass research conducted at the experiment station. For the fall field day, we will expand our offering and showcase the great work being done by our colleagues in the ornamentals, nursery and landscape management programs,” said Charles Fontanier, associate professor of horticulture and landscape architecture. “This provides repeat attendees something new to see and hopefully will draw a few new faces from other areas of the green industry.”
For more information on field days and to view the panhandle field day’s full schedule, visit the field days website.
