August 11, 2005
Raising cattle in hoop structures, organic crop production, grape growing, pasture research and identity preserved soybeans are a few of the topics to be discussed at ten late-summer field days being held at Iowa State University's Research and Demonstration Farms.
The first session on raising cattle in hoop structures will be held at the Armstrong Research and Demonstration Farm at 10 a.m. on Aug. 23 near Lewis. The farm is located 11 miles southwest of Atlantic on Highway 6, one-half mile south on M-53 and three-fourths of a mile east.
A previously announced field day for Aug. 31 at the Northwest Research and Demonstration Farm near Doon has been cancelled.
Organic crop production, pasture research and grape growing are the topics for the field day at the Neely-Kinyon Research and Demonstration Farm. It will start at 4 p.m. on Aug. 24 and is located two miles south of Greenfield on Highway 25, one mile east and one-half mile north.
The Western Research and Demonstration Farm field day will begin at 1 p.m. on Aug. 25. The farm is located two miles east of Castana on County Road E-34. Topics include animal identification, producers role in meat quality, new value-added beef cuts, updates on soybean aphids and rust, measuring alfalfa quality, solid waste guidelines and information on feeding condensed corn distiller solubles.
The Northern Research and Demonstration Farm field day will focus on identity-preserved soybean production, poultry litter fertilizer, corn breeding and soybean fungicides. It begins at 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 1 at the farm just south of Kanawha on county road R-35. Lunch will be served at noon.
Cattle breeding research, thistle management in pastures and beef production topics will be featured at the McNay Research and Demonstration Farm field day beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 6. The farm is located near Chariton and is four miles south of the intersection of Highways 65 and 34, east two and one-half miles and north a quarter of a mile.
The Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm field day will cover crop insects, corn breeding, grain marketing and crop disease topics at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 8. The farm is one mile west of the Highway 218 and B-60 intersection in Nashua, one mile south and a quarter mile east.
Raising horticultural crops in high tunnels, a cross between hoops and greenhouses, will be the topic of a second field day held at the Armstrong Research and Demonstration Farm on Sept. 12 at 4:30 p.m.
New varieties of pumpkins and fall squash with resistance to powdery mildew and new extra-tender sweet corn hybrids will be discussed at the Muscatine Island Research and Demonstration Farm field day at 3 p.m. on Sept. 13. The farm is located in Fruitland, which is north of the Highway 61 and 92 junction on Highway 61 and east at G-38 and North Street. Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m.
The Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm field day will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 14. The topics include specialty soybeans, soybean fungicides, strip cropping and continuous corn versus corn rotations. The farm is located one and three-quarter miles south, two miles east on G-62 and three-quarters of a mile north of Crawfordsville on the Washington and Louisa county-line road.
Riparian grazing research will be discussed at 6 p.m. on Sept. 15 at the Rhodes Research and Demonstration Farm near Rhodes. To reach the farm take Highway 234 south to Highway 330 and go southwest about three miles and turn north on Binford Avenue and go one-half mile. The lane to the headquarters is on the east side of the road.
Those who have recently arrived in the United States or have returned from a trip abroad are asked to wait five days before visiting the Armstrong, Neely-Kinyon, Western, McNay and Rhodes research and demonstration farms, Iowa State farms with animals. Visitors to those farms are asked to change clothing and footwear after visiting any livestock operation and refrain from bringing any food items. If you have any questions, please call the Research and Demonstration Farms office at (515) 294-5045.
More information is available on the Web at: www.ag.iastate.edu/farms/.