The Rolling Plains Summer Crops Field Day will roll July 17 at the Texas AgriLife Research Chillicothe station, on 1340 Farm-to-Market Road 392, just south of Chillicothe, with an early-morning start with the field tours.
"Maximizing Nutrient and Water-Use Efficiencies" will be the theme of this year's program, which will begin with registration at 7:45 a.m., followed by the field tour from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., says Dr. Paul DeLaune, AgriLife Research environmental soil scientist at Vernon.
There is no charge for the program and lunch will be provided. Three continuing education units from the Texas Department of Agriculture will be offered for attendees, DeLaune says.
MAKE THE DAY. The Rolling Plains Summer Crops Field Day is July 17 at the Texas AgriLife Research Station in Chillicothe.
Topics and AgriLife Research scientists form the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center of Vernon who will speak the field tour will be:
--Availability of well water and soil nitrate for crop uptake: Significant amounts of nitrogen may be available through residual soil nitrate levels or elevated nitrates in well water, by DeLaune and Dr. Srinivasulu Ale, geospatial hydrologist.
--Irrigation Scheduling Technologies: Demonstrate the latest available technologies to increase irrigation water-use efficiency, Dr. Nithya Rajan, agronomist.
--Five Years of No-Till, What Have We Learned? Production of dryland and irrigated sorghum and cotton as affected by tillage systems, DeLaune; Economics of tillage systems, Dr. Seong Park, economist; Water availability in different tillage systems, DeLaune; and greenhouse gas emissions, Rajan.
--Cover Crops In Dryland Cotton: Performance of legume and non-legume cover crops, and impact on soil moisture, DeLaune.
At 10:30 a.m., the program will move from the field back inside the building for the following topics and speakers:
--Optimizing Fertilizer Application to Maximize Profits, Daren Harmel, research leader, USDA Agriculture Research Service, Temple.
--Soil Health Strategies, Functions Soils Can Provide, Willie Durham, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service state conservationist, Temple.