BEAUMONT — Reducing rice production costs and increasing competitiveness for the industry are the main themes of the annual Texas A&M University agriculture program’s rice field days at Eagle Lake and Beaumont.
The Eagle Lake field day will be held Thursday, July 10, starting with tours at 4 p.m., and will include dinner with the program. The Beaumont field day will be held Thursday, July 17, beginning at 8 a.m. and lasting through lunch.
“We will address many of the issues from the February Rice Summit, where the rice industry met to find ways for strengthening itself in the face of significant challenges,” said Dr. Jim Stansel, resident research director at the Texas A&M Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Beaumont.
“We’ll present information producers will find useful in overcoming some of their challenges, and we’ll talk about future directions as well.”
Dr. Edward A. Hiler, vice chancellor and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will discuss major changes in rice research and education programs and how they will impact the industry at both field days.
The Eagle Lake field day will highlight a global positioning system (GPS) combine system being used in field research. That presentation will be given by Dr. Steve Searcy of Texas A&M’s agricultural engineering department.
The Eagle Lake field day will also feature presentations on disease management, red rice and other weed management, and minimum tillage.
The Beaumont field day will feature a presentation by Mark Trostle, director of the pesticide registration program for the Texas Department of Agriculture. Trostle will discuss what farmers need to do to have necessary agricultural chemicals available for their use.
Other Beaumont presentations will focus on red rice and other weed management with the herbicide Liberty and other approaches, soil nutrient management for rice, and alternatives in crop production for the upper Gulf Coast.
Also at both field days, Dr. Anna McClung will discuss performance of new rice varieties, including Jefferson, and potential new releases. Dr. M.O. Way will present information on crop protection regulatory changes and management.
The Beaumont Field Day will have an additional theme, “50 Years of Progress,” celebrating the 50th field day at the present Beaumont location.
The Eagle Lake event is at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station research facility on FM 102 three miles northwest of Eagle Lake, while the Beaumont field day is at the main station on U.S. 90, 10 miles west of Beaumont.
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