The North Dakota State University Williston Research Extension Center (WREC), Montana State University Eastern Agricultural Research Center (EARC) and U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Northern Plains Agricultural Research Lab in Sidney are partnering to showcase agricultural research at an upcoming summit.
The MonDak Ag Research Summit will be held on Nov. 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mountain Time at the Richland County Event Center in Sidney. This event is free and open to the public.
“The summit is a collaborative effort among three research stations to encourage interaction between farmers and researchers,” says Clair Keene, WREC area Extension specialist in cropping systems. “It will feature scientists from all facilities reporting on current research projects of interest to farmers, ranchers and residents of the MonDak.”
Morning topics and speakers are:
- Scab management in wheat – Audrey Kalil, WREC plant pathologist
- Seed treatments for management of Rhizoctonia root rot in sugar beets – Frankie Crutcher, EARC plant pathology
- Biological control of wheat stem sawfly and noxious weeds – Tatyana Rand, Stefan Jaronski and John Gaskin, USDA-Agriculture Research Service (ARS) pest management group
- Dryland crop rotations that incorporate full-season or half-season cover crops – Don Tanaka, WREC, cropping sequence scientist
- Rotating sugar beets and soybeans under irrigation – Bart Stevens, USDA-ARS
- Investigating reduced-tillage strategies for sugar beet production – Bart Stevens and Chengci Chen, EARC
A morning poster session will give attendees time to browse more than two dozen research projects and speak with the scientists doing the work. After the poster session, the program will continue with a session on long-term projects underway to evaluate cropping strategies in dryland and irrigated production systems.
The morning program will conclude with a panel discussion on hard red spring wheat, durum and pulse crop variety performance. Tyler Tjelde and Austin Link, WREC agronomists, will discuss small-grain varieties in irrigated and dryland systems, respectively. Chen will discuss pulse crop varieties.
A free lunch sponsored by the Northern Pulse Growers Association will be served.
The afternoon program will feature small-group discussions where attendees can meet with scientists by subject area to discuss current topics and ask questions..
For those interested in horticulture, Kyla Splichal, WREC horticulture specialist, will present on the potential of high tunnels for local vegetable production in the MonDak.
For ranchers and land managers, Dave Branson, USDA-ARS, will discuss his work on predicting grasshopper outbreaks and understanding grasshopper ecology.
The day will conclude with a social and more opportunity for discussion.
The summit is free, but preregistration is encouraged for meal purposes. Those who preregister will be entered into a drawing to win a collectible model tractor set donated by Tractor & Equipment Co. of Williston. The first 50 people to preregister also will receive a weatherproof cellphone pouch and water bottle. Preregistration closes Nov. 8.
Preregister online at https://tinyurl.com/MonDakSummit or by contacting Beth Redlin at 406-433-2020.
For professional pesticide applicators and agronomists, the summit is approved for 2 private and 2 commercial Montana pesticide applicator points and 1.5 Certified Crop Adviser continuing educator units.
