Monroe County Agriculture: Farmer Field Day coming soon

The Monroe News
·3 min read
Austin Zorn, a Monroe High School student, helped seed 18 different cover crops at the Monroe County Community College Student Ag Farm. This project will be part of an August 25 Farmer Field Day at MCCC.
Austin Zorn, a Monroe High School student, helped seed 18 different cover crops at the Monroe County Community College Student Ag Farm. This project will be part of an August 25 Farmer Field Day at MCCC.
Ned Birkey
Ned Birkey

Field Day “season”: Late summer is a time for farmers to get away from their farm and out to various field days to look at current crops, new varieties, new technologies, new equipment and other topics of interest.  Following is a listing of some field days in August.

MCCC Student Ag Farm Farmer Field Day: Thursday, August 25 will be a Farmer Field Day at the Student Ag Farm at Monroe County Community College from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  This event will be held rain or shine, is free of charge and will offer farmers four pesticide re-certification credits.  Sponsored by the Monroe County Farm Bureau, Monroe County Community College and the Ag Advisory Council, this educational event will include speakers; Craig Anderson of Michigan Farm Bureau talking about trucking and farm equipment rules of the road, Dennis Pennington of MSU talking about the 2022 MSU Wheat Variety Trials and recommendations for seeding wheat this fall, Jim Hoorman talking about using cover crops in a planned rotation and viewing the MCCC cover crop project, John Richards of Rob-See-Co (formerly Rupp Seeds) talking about the soybean variety demonstration project and Marisol Quintanilla of MSU talking about nematode management with non-traditional methods.  A ribeye steak lunch, with porkburgers, potato salad and apple sauce will be served at noon.  Although this field day is free of charge, registration is requested for planning purposes by calling the Monroe County Farm Bureau office at 734-269-3275.

Corn Field Day: Once pollination is complete and kernel set is established, farmers will soon be able to estimate yields.  The Michigan Corn Growers Association will have their annual crop tour late in August and give a report of their estimate at that time.  The nearest location to Monroe County will be the Jay Williams farm on August 31 at 6:00pm.  This farm is located at 14031 Broom Road, Waldron, MI 49288 and is just west of US 127 south of Hudson.

Center for Excellence Field Day: Aug. 10 will be the 26th field day in southwest Lenawee County.  Formally the Center of Excellence sponsored by Monsanto, this event has traditionally focused on conservation and new technology of varieties.  RSVP to: 517-263-7400 ext 5.

Agro Expo: An adaptation of the old MSU Ag Expo, this event is sponsored by Agro Liquids of St. Johns and will be held on August 16 and 17.  This field day, like many others, is free of charge and features numerous field demonstrations, speakers and displays of various agronomic and technical aspects of agriculture and equipment.

Farm Progress Show: The “grand-daddy” of farm shows is the Farm Progress Show, which rotates annually between Illinois and Iowa.  This year’s three-day show will be held near Boone, Iowa and will be held from August 30- September 1.  No registration is required but there is an entry fee.

Wheat: Ohio State has released their 2022 Wheat Variety Trial Results.  For the northwest Ohio location in Wood County, included is the variety, seeds per foot of row, yield, test weight, seeds per pound, lodging rating, height, and other milling data.  The yields at this location ranged from 97.2 bushels per acre to 71.3 bushels, with an average of 87.2 bushels per acre.  Normally MSU releases the Michigan wheat yield data around the first week of August.

Seeding Forages: Now that daylength hours are shortening and temperatures begin to moderate, mid-August is a good time to establish new forage stands or filling in gaps in seedings made in spring.  Before seeding, a soil test, including soil pH, is recommended.  Knowing the field drainage is important as some alfalfa varieties are more tolerant of “wet feet” and Phytophthora root rot.  There are some post-emergence herbicide options for alfalfa to control late summer and fall emerging winter annual weeds.  The MSU Field Crop Weed Control Guide has recommendations for forages and can be googled free of charge.

Ned Birkey is MSU Extension Educator Emeritus and a regular contributor to The Monroe News.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County Agriculture: Farmer Field Day coming soon