Weed management, furrow irrigation and drone use in agriculture are all on the agenda Aug. 2 for the annual Rice Field Day being hosted by the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture at the Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart.
“We are packing a lot of tech and research updates into our two, two-hour tours this year,” said Bob Scott, director of the rice station. “In addition to updates on production techniques, we’ll also be giving attendees a peek into the future rice and soybean varieties now in the works at the station.”
There is no cost to attend, and registration opens at 7 a.m. at the station’s Foundation Seed Center. The first tour leaves at 7:30 a.m. The Rice Research and Extension Center is located at 2900 Arkansas Highway 130.
This year’s field day presenters are all with the U of A System Division of Agriculture. The tours may be subject to change.
Tour 1:
Stop 1 – Soil Fertility
Trent Roberts – associate professor-soil fertility.
Stop 2 – Rice Weed Management
Jason Norsworthy – professor-weed science.
Tommy Butts – Extension weed scientist.
Stop 3 – Drones in Agriculture
Larry Purcell – professor, soybean physiologist.
Tour 2:
Stop 1 – Multiple Inlet Irrigation
Chris Henry – irrigation engineer.
Stop 2 – Soybean Breeding Program
Leo Mozzoni – assistant professor, soybean breeding.
Stop 3 – Furrow-Irrigated Rice
Jarrod Hardke – Extension rice agronomist.
Justin Chlapecka – graduate assistant.
Stop 4 – Observation Bay
Karen Moldenhauer –professor, rice breeding.
Xueyan Sha – professor, rice breeding.
Ehsan Shakiba – assistant professor, hybrid rice breeding.
The University of Arkansas contributed this article.