Writer: Blair Fannin, 979-845-2259, [email protected]

TAYLOR – With the remnants of Tropical Storm Bill making its way toward Williamson County, the Stiles Farm Field Day, traditionally held in Thrall, was moved indoors for the first time in its 52-year history.

More than 150 farmers made the short trip to the Knights of Columbus Hall in Taylor as field day programming went on as planned, said Ryan Collett, who is in his first year as farm manager.

Farm Manager Ryan Collett leads the morning programming during the Stiles Farm Field Day held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Taylor. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo by Blair Fannin)
Farm Manager Ryan Collett leads the morning programming during the Stiles Farm Field Day held at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Taylor. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo by Blair Fannin)

Collett opened the morning portion of the program welcoming and thanking area Blacklands producers for their flexibility, as Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service administrators had decided on a location change just 24 hours earlier.

“It’s good to see all of you here as this is a very important event with rich history,” Collett said.

Dr. Ronnie Schnell, AgriLife Extension agronomist, College Station, provided an overview of current crop conditions in the Blacklands region. He said during the month of April,  2 to 4 inches of rain fell in the area, but north of Hillsboro “we saw quite a bit of rain.”

“For the month of May, we had between 10 and 15 inches of rainfall,” he said. “We ended up with saturated and flooded conditions for an extended period of time. As a result, we are seeing a lot of stunted sorghum with varying plant height. We are also seeing yellowing of the leaves, which is a sign of nitrogen deficiency. The roots can’t pull nitrogen because of these saturated soils.”

Schnell said this can lead to damaged root systems.

He said shallow root systems began to dry out quickly once the temperatures started warming up. However, there’s still opportunity to place applications of nitrogen.

David Kuhl receives the Agriculturalist of the Year Award from Bob Avant, head of Texas A&M AgriLife Research corporate relations, at the recent Stiles Farm Field Day. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo by Blair Fannin)
David Kuhl receives the Agriculturalist of the Year Award from Bob Avant, head of Texas A&M AgriLife Research corporate relations and president of the Williamson County Farm Bureau, at the recent Stiles Farm Field Day. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service photo by Blair Fannin)

“Even if you’ve missed the prime window to put out fertilizer, you’ve still got yield potential,” Schnell said. “We’re seeing stunted corn and some pollination issues. But there’s still some opportunity to capture some yield.”

During the noon program, Collin Kostroun of Cameron received the Archie and Virginia Abrameit scholarship. Kostroun plans to attend Texas A&M University and study agronomy. Jarrett Mackie of Bell County also was a scholarship winner, and plans to attend West Texas A&M University in Canyon to study animal science.

David Kuhl was named 2015 Agriculturalist of the Year. Bob Avant, program director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research corporate relations and president of the Williamson County Farm Bureau, presented the award.

The Stiles Farm Foundation was established by the Stiles family at Thrall. According to the foundation, J.V. and H.A. Stiles wanted to commemorate their father, James E. Stiles, and the land he worked. They also wanted to help neighboring farmers and others throughout the Central Texas Blacklands region learn new farming practices. In 1961, the Stiles Farm Foundation was established and became part of the Texas A&M University System.

The farm is used by AgriLife Extension and AgriLife Research, which conduct field experiments and use the facility as a teaching platform.

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