Purdue News
Purdue News
The event, co-sponsored by the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service and the Countrymark Co-op, will be Tuesday, Aug. 19, at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Boswell.
The tour divides the two topics into hour-long programs. The ragweed presentation will be helpful for farmers who have problems with the plant, said Dan Childs, weed science Extension specialist at Purdue.
"Giant ragweed is a very serious weed in Indiana," he said. "It ranks as one of the most difficult weeds to control."
Specialists will take farmers to fields treated for ragweed control and explain the procedures and results of 27 different herbicide programs.
"This is a very good study that shows the differences in the programs," Childs said. "We'll even be able to show farmers a cost figure for each herbicide treatment."
The site-specific management program covers three areas, according to Jeff Nagel, a crop services agronomist with Countrymark Co-op: intensive soil testing, yield monitoring and variable rate technology.
With site-specific management, instead of applying fertilizer or pesticides to an entire field at a single rate, farmers test the soil and measure crop yields for small areas, and apply just the amount of chemicals that each area needs.
"We want everyone to gain information and decide how to use it to make better management decisions," Nagel said. "They need to ask, 'How do we assess variables and manage variability that can affect yields and farm profitability.?'"
Registration for the tour begins at 8:30 a.m., and the program begins at 9:15 a.m. There is no cost for lunch or registration, but visitors are asked to RSVP with either the Benton, Warren or Tippecanoe county Extension offices by Aug. 15.
CONTACTS: Childs, (765) 494-6474; e-mail, childs@btny.purdue.edu
Nagel, (765) 426-3914
Compiled by Chris Sigurdson, (765) 494-8415; E-mail, sig@ecn.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
