July 25, 2008

Crop production topics will be the focus of the Summer Crops Field Day Tuesday, Aug. 12 at UNL's High Plains Ag Lab near Sidney. Registration begins at 11 a.m. at the Ag Lab shop, followed by lunch at 11:30 with a presentation by Charlie Fenster about the Farm and Ranch Museum.

Fenster is professor emeritus and innovator of conservation farming in western Nebraska.

After lunch, UNL Extension agricultural specialists and educators will cover the following topics:

• Evaluating Planters for Confection Sunflower Seed Spacing Accuracy — Case IH Planters, John Smith, Extension machinery systems engineer
• Dryland Sugarbeet Production, Drew Lyon, dryland cropping systems specialist
• Factors Influencing Wheat Curl Mite Movement From Volunteer into Fall-Seeded Wheat, Gary Hein, entomologist, and Abby Stilwell, graduate student.
• Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol Production, Ismail Dweikat, sorghum and pearl millet geneticist
• The Economic Necessity of Crop Diversity in No-Till, Paul Burgener, Extension agricultural economics analyst
• Proso Millet Variety Screening, Glen Frickel, research technician
• Soil Testing and Nitrogen Recommendations for Winter Wheat, Gary Hergert, Extension nutrient management and soil quality specialist
• Evaluating Planters for Confection Sunflower Seed Spacing Accuracy — Deere Planters, John Smith

Directions to Site

The field day will conclude by 3:30 p.m. To get to the High Plains Ag Lab office, take U.S. 385 to the Huntsman Elevator (six miles north of Sidney or seven miles south of Gurley), then drive about two miles west, then one-half mile north. The shop is about one mile east of the office.

For more information, contact one of the UNL Extension offices located in 83 locations serving all 93 Nebraska counties.