Writer: Kathleen Davis Phillips, (979) 845-2872, ka-phillips@tamu.edu
Contact: Ron Woolley, (817) 968-4144, r-woolley@tamu.edu
Archie Abrameit, (512) 898-2214
THRALL — The impact of legislation on agriculture will be the keynote address at 5 p.m. Tuesday (June 17) by State Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, during the 34th Stiles Farm Foundation Field Day. A barbecue and presentation of 10 Central Texas scholarship winners who plan to attend Texas A&M University will follow.
The field day will offer urban residents and farmers information about a wide variety of topics — from tomato troubles in the garden to weed woes to insect situations that affect both home plantings and commercial agriculture operations. Ultra-narrow cotton rows, precision farming and other current agricultural research also will be discussed.
Field tours, walking tours and exhibits will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Stiles Farm, about 30 miles northeast of Austin on U.S. Highway 79.
“This is an opportunity for people to get the latest technology from the leading experts,” said Archie H. Abrameit, Stiles Farm Foundation manager. “The agriculture industry is one of the few that has such an open door policy, allowing people to come out and view the latest developments and to ask questions of the top educators in the field.”
Experts will be available to identify weeds and range grasses for participants who bring samples, for example, according to Ron Woolley, District 8 director for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in Stephenville. A garden tomato research plot will be on view along with horticulturists who can discuss particular problems with growing the vegetable, he said.
For those with farming interests, this year’s field day riding tour will highlight riding tours of demonstration cotton variety plots, weed control in farm crops and plots of Bt corn, which was bred to have a resistance to European and Southwestern corn borers. A walking tour will include aquatic weed control, beef cow management, forage grasses for the future, and precision farming. Several exhibits, including one on fire ants, will be available as well.
Field days have been held at the farm annually since 1963, with the exception of last year when the event was canceled due to drought.
The Stiles Farm Foundation, which is overseen by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, is a non-profit, self-supporting institution established in 1961 by bequest from the late J.V. and H.A. Stiles for the advancement of agriculture.
The 2,800-farm, with non-irrigated cropland and pastureland, is under the trusteeship of The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents and serves as a crop and livestock demonstration site for the Central Texas Blacklands.
For more information, contact Abrameit at (512) 898-2214, or Woolley, (817) 968-4144, r-woolley@tamu.edu.
34th STILES FARM FOUNDATION FIELD DAY SCHEDULE: Riding tours: Stop 1 — Uniform corn and sorghum hybrid demonstration Stop 2 — Northern and Southern Blacklands insect update Stop 3 — Herbicide demonstrations Stop 4 — Cotton varieties
Walking tours: Precision farming — 2 p.m., 2:55 p.m., 3:50 p.m. Forage grasses for the future — 2:05 p.m., 3 p.m., 3:55 p.m. Rangeland management in the Blacklands — 2:10 p.m., 3:05 p.m., 4 p.m. Managing risks and strategic marketing — 2:15 p.m., 3:10 p.m., 4:05 p.m. Managing the beef cow — 2:20 p.m., 3:15 p.m., 4:10 p.m. Aquatic weed control — 2:25 p.m., 3:20 p.m., 4:10 p.m. Tomato disease resistance variety trial — 2:30 p.m., 3:25 p.m., 4:20 p.m.
Educational exhibits: Texas Animal Damage Control Animal Science Conservation Family and Consumer Science Extension Information Technology Soil and Crop Sciences Harvest-Aid Practices for the Southwest Horticulture Laundering of Pesticide Work Clothes Passenger Safety Education Precision Farming Range Science Sea Grant Soil, Water and Forage Testing Laboratory TEX*A*SYST — Rural Water Well Assessment Program
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