Purdue-crops-field-day-preview
The upcoming Purdue Extension annual Crops Field Day has a lineup that is very relevant for farmers trying to manage through the many challenges of the 2019 crop year. The September 5th field day will touch on the weather and the markets. State climatologist Beth Hall will provide a weather update right near the start of the day, and right after lunch there is a presentation on commodity marketing.
Purdue has been very active looking for disease in the crops, and Andrew Westfall, White County Purdue Extension director, says the very latest will be shared with attendees.
“We’ll have our new Purdue Extension field crops pathologist Darcy Telenko there to talk about some of the field crop diseases she’s been seeing and that people should keep an eye out for,” he said. “Something that’s always relevant but maybe more so after this last spring we had, we’re going to have a few of the superintendents from other Purdue ag centers talk about their experiences they’ve had recently investing in drainage and field tile at their fields.”
Safety is always an element of this event, according to Westfall, “and I think we’ll have a pretty relevant one at this field day. A couple of our safety specialists, Bill Field and Mike Manning will be talking about things to look out for in terms of handling and storing immature crops, which may be an issue this coming fall with such late planting that we had.”
There are learning stations for hemp production and UAVs too, and there will be celebrations of Purdue University’s “150 Years of Giant Leaps” and “70 Years of Agronomic Progress at the Agronomy Farm.”
The field day is free, open to the public and sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance and Indiana Corn Marketing Council. It will be at the Beck Agricultural Center at the Agronomy Center for Research and Education, 4540 U.S. 52 West in West Lafayette. Those attending must register online at bit.ly/2019CropsFieldDay.
The Crops Field Day schedule:
Check-in at 7:30 a.m. (EDT) and conclude at 1:30 p.m. The day’s program is as follows:
* 8 a.m. – Welcome from Jason Henderson, director of Purdue Extension and associate dean of agriculture, and Karen Plaut, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Purdue’s College of Agriculture.
* 8:15 a.m. – 2019 Weather Update with state climatologist Beth Hall.
* 9 a.m. – Learning stations at various on-site locations featuring:
- “UAVs: More to See and Learn” by John Scott, Extension coordinator for digital agriculture.
- “Field Crops Disease Update for 2019” with Darcy Telenko, plant pathology specialist for Purdue Extension.
- Steven Boyer, superintendent of Northeast-Purdue Ag Center, will discuss his experiences with drainage and installing field tile.
- “Update on Hemp Production in Indiana,” with Ron Turco, Purdue professor of agronomy and department head.
- “Handling and Storing an Immature Corn Crop and its Implications on Safety”,” with Bill Field, Purdue professor of agricultural and biological engineering, and retired Purdue Extension educator Mike Manning.
* 11:30 a.m. – Lunch.
* 12:15 p.m. – 1 p.m. – “Commodity Marketing: Basis, Market Carry, and Returns to Storage for the 2019 Crop” with Nathanael Thompson, Purdue assistant professor of agricultural economics.
* 1–1:30 p.m. – 70 Years of Agronomic Progress at the Agronomy Farm.
Private Applicator Recertification Program (PARP), continuing education units (CEU) and continuing certification hours (CCH) credits have been applied for. Participants wanting to receive PARP credit must pay a $10 fee (cash or check only).