August 10, 2012

Research updates will be featured during an Aug. 22 Field Day at UNL's South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory near Clay Center.

The day begins with registration at 8:30 a.m. followed by the program from 9 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Tour will be held throughout the day in addition to demonstrations on the SoyWater decision aid for irrigating soybeans and state-of-the-art small autonomous aerial vehicles for crop management research.

The field day tour topics and speakers include:

Site-specific Fertilizer Management and Nitrogen Use Efficiency; Corn Stover Removal Impacts on Grain yield, Soil Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Variable rate irrigation and variable rate fertilization will be discussed on this tour. Presenters will share research results and discuss the use of sensors in nitrogen and irrigation management, along with practices to limit volatile nitrogen loss to the atmosphere and reduce nitrate leaching. Results from a long-term corn stover removal study that evaluates management practices to determine the viability of stover harvest in an irrigated continuous corn system also will be presented.

Speakers include: Richard Ferguson, UNL Extension soils specialist; Nick Ward and Brian Krienke, both UNL agronomy graduate students; Virginia Jin, USDA-ARS research soil scientist and Marty Schmer, USDA-ARS research agronomist.

Addressing Winter Annual and Glyphosate-Resistant Weeds; Emergence Timing of Winter Annual Weeds in Nebraska

Winter annual weeds and glyphosate-resistant weeds currently represent the largest weed management challenges in no-till crop production in Nebraska. This tour will provide information on the biology, yield impact and management of winter annual weeds such as henbit, horseweed, tansy mustard and field pansy. There will also be a discussion on the proliferation of herbicide resistant weed populations in Nebraska and the challenges the biology of these weeds create for effective and sustainable management.

Speakers include: Lowell Sandell, UNL weed science extension educator; Rodrigo Werle, UNL weed science graduate student and Amit Jhala, UNL Extension weed management specialist.

Disease Management in Corn in South Central Nebraska; Corn Rootworm Management Update

Goss's bacterial wilt and blight and other foliar diseases are some of the most important disease problems in Nebraska corn. Research results will be presented about the agronomic practices that have the greatest impact on disease development and what can be done to improve disease management and identification. Also current options for corn rootworm and Bt rootworm corn and resistance management will be presented.

Speakers include: Tamra Jackson-Ziems, UNL Extension plant pathologist, Craig Langemeier, UNL Extension plant pathology graduate student and Robert Wright, UNL Extension entomologist.

SoyWater Demonstration

Stop by the UNL BitMobile for some hands-on training on how you can use SoyWater to optimize soybean yield with a minimum amount of irrigation. SoyWater is a decision-aid, web-based tool that was developed with Nebraska Soybean Board funding. It can be used by irrigated soybean producers to schedule water application in a just-in-time fashion. Bring email address and password for SoyWater registration.

Speakers include: James Specht, professor, UNL Department of Agronomy and Horticulture and Jessica Torrion, UNL research associate.

Registration and More Information

The field day is free, but registrations are needed by August 17 to get a meal count.  To register contact Sharon Hachtel at shachtel1@unl.edu, 402-762-4403. Continuing Educational Units have been applied for.

Noon lunch is being sponsored by DuPont Pioneer and refreshments by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Mack, Inc. and Fairfield N. S. Co-op Fertilizer Association.

SCAL is located 7.5 miles west of the Highway 14 and Highway 6 intersection or 13 miles east of Hastings on Highway 6 on the south side of the highway.

IANR News Release