Purdue News

July 31, 1998 Field day to feature farmland leases, chemical use WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- From farmland leases to rootworm control and from site-specific farming to farm chemical use, the 1998 Davis Purdue Ag Center Field Day offers a wealth of information to farmers, commercial chemical applicators and crop consultants. The field day will be Aug. 25, with registration from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The program starts at 9:30 a.m. at the ag center, which is five miles north of Farmland on State Road 1. The event is free and open to the public. "People who attend the field day will walk away with new information to help them make important decisions in their own farming operations," said Dan Kirtley, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service educator in Randolph County. "They will also have a chance to talk one on one with Purdue University Extension specialists about specific questions or problems they may have." In addition to farmers, Kirtley said the field day should also appeal to commercial chemical applicators and crop consultants. It is approved for two CCH credits for Cat 1A and 10 as well as for 2.5 CEU credits. Commercial applicators are required to earn a designated number of continuing credit hour, or CCH, to maintain their commercial applicator license. Crop consultants have a similar system, but they use CEU credits instead. The field day's education presentations will address a variety of farm production issues, including one on the legal aspects of farmland leases by David Ford, general counsel for Indiana Farm Bureau Inc. "We've had a lot of questions in the past year on farmland leases, such as when they expire," Kirtley said. "Ford's presentation will cover generalities farmers and landowners need to be aware of when they are negotiating farmland leases." Larry Bledsoe, a Purdue Extension entomologist, will talk about corn rootworm control and recommendations. He will discuss the various products used in the research plot at the Davis Ag Center as well as whether insecticide should be used on first-year corn. In addition, Bob Nielsen, a Purdue agronomist, will make a presentation on site-specific farming. "Bob will discus some ideas of things farmers can do to evaluate whether the site-specific practices they are using are benefiting them on their farm operation," Kirtley said. "He will give them some ways to determine whether site-specific farming is profitable for their situation." Farmers can also evaluate the effectiveness of various herbicides in a tour of the Davis Ag Center's corn and soybean herbicide demonstration plots. In addition to seeing the effectiveness of weed control, there will also be markers in the plots describing the cost of the treatment. "We are also working to put together a simulated spill at a chemical application sprayer," Kirtley said. "The fire department will be on the scene as the first responders, and the EMS will also be on hand as if someone was hurt in the spill. Participants can see what the first responders do, how someone is treated in a chemical spill and learn what materials they need to have on hand for the first responders." There will be a free pork chop lunch for field day participants sponsored by the chemical companies whose herbicides will be featured in the herbicide demonstration plots. Preregistration is not necessary. For more information, contact the Extension office in your county or call 1-888-EXT-INFO. CONTACT: Kirtley, (765) 584-2271; e-mail, Dan_Kirtley@ces.purdue.edu Compiled by Chris Sigurdson, (765) 494-8415; E-mail, sig@ecn.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page