Writer: Kathleen Davis Phillips, (979) 845-2872, ka-phillips@tamu.edu
Contact: Ron Woolley (254) 968-4144, r-woolley@tamu.edu
Archie Abrameit, (512) 898-2214
THRALL — Conserving water on landscapes and managing fire ants in yards will be among the free advice offered to consumers at a field day here June 16.
Specialists will be available to talk about the latest developments and answer specific questions at the 35th Stiles Farm Foundation Field Day.
Riding 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. A barbecue and presentation of Central Texas scholarship winners who plan to attend Texas A&M University will begin at 5 p.m. Dr. Ed Hiler, Texas A&M University System’s vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences, will speak.
“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 advise lawn care takers how to maintain yards with less water and how to water landscapes more efficiently, for example, according to Ron Woolley, District 8 director for the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in Stephenville.
For those with farming interests, this year’s field day riding tour will highlight weed control, an ultra-narrow row corn and cotton study, conservation tillage and Integrated Pest Management. A walking tour will include forage plots, poultry and livestock manure management, precision farming, parasite control in beef cattle, and habitat development for upland game birds. Several exhibits will be available as well.
Field days have been held at the farm annually since 1963, with the exception of 1996 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, (254) 968-4144, r-woolley@tamu.edu.
