Southeast Iowa Research Farm to hold Fall Field Day Sept. 5

CRAWFORDSVILLE — Farmers and farm businesses in southeastern Iowa are invited to join Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and the Southeast Iowa Agricultural Research Association for the fall field day at Iowa State’s Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm on Sept. 5.

The fall field day will provide farmers, landowners and ag retailers the opportunity to learn more about projects being conducted at the farm to address current issues or challenges Iowa farmers are facing.

“We’ve got a lot of projects being conducted at the Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm, and we are excited to be highlighting a couple of them taking place this year at our fall field day,” said Rebecca Vittetoe, field agronomist with ISU Extension and Outreach.

The first tour stop features the work being done focusing on corn rootworms. This stop will feature both Erin Hodgson, extension entomologist, and Ashley Dean, extension education specialist in entomology, who will highlight two research projects. The first focuses on the impact corn rootworm injury can have to corn silage yield and quality and the other project is evaluating if beneficial nematodes could help to manage corn rootworm pressure in Iowa cornfields.

The next stop will focus on nitrogen management — both a retrospective look at 2024 and planning for 2025. This stop will include a discussion on how farmers can use the late fall stalk nitrate test, nitrification inhibitor research and the Iowa Nitrogen Initiative Project. Richard Roth, assistant professor and nitrogen science education extension specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach, along with Melissa Miller, Iowa Nitrogen Initiative project leader, and Mike Castellano, professor and Iowa Nitrogen Initiative Lead, will present at this stop.

In addition to these projects, the field day will also include a research farm update from Cody Schneider, farm superintendent, and a discussion focusing on a harvest weather outlook and discussing how folks can leverage the ISU Mesonet weather station network and data by Dennis Todey, director of the Midwest Climate Hubs, and ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists Virgil Schmitt and Rebecca Vittetoe.

Check-in begins at 1 p.m. and the field day is planned to start at 1:30 p.m., with the research farm update. The field day is free and open to the public. Certified Crop Advisers can earn 0.5 pest management, 0.5 nutrient management, and 0.5 crop management continuing education units

The Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm is located at 3115 Louisa-Washington Road, Crawfordsville. To reach the farm, follow U.S. Highway 218 one-and-three-quarters of a mile south of Crawfordsville, then two miles east on County Road G-62, then three-quarters of a mile north. Signs will be posted near the farm.

For more information, contact ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomists Rebecca Vittetoe at 319-653-4811 or rka8@iastate.edu or Virgil Schmitt at 563-263-5701 or vschmitt@iastate.edu.