Field day planned for ag research center in Havre

The Northern Agricultural Research Center near Havre will hold its annual field day July 10 at the research center.

Registration will start at 9:30 a.m., and five different one-hour tours will begin at 10 a.m. Tours will conclude at 3 p.m.

A livestock tour conducted by Superintendent Don Anderson will feature a historical review of beef cattle research at NARC. The livestock tour will include animal scientist Derek Bailey discussing grazing behavior and cattle distribution studies, including work with global positioning system collars for tracking cattle in large pastures.

There will be three different agronomy plot field tours. One will feature new cultivar development for winter wheat, spring wheat, barley and oats. MSU's crop breeders, Phil Bruckner, Luther Talbert and Suzanne Mickelson, will discuss research progress.

A second field tour will feature air drill studies including opener configuration evaluations conducted by agronomist Gregg Carlson, and the effects of seed band width and seeding rate on performance of barley for hay, feed and malting end uses discussed by Darrin Boss, research associate. Included at the air drill barley study site will be a discussion of results from NARC's barley feeding trials by research rechnician Dave Sattoriva.

A third field tour will be devoted entirely to pest management studies, including winter and spring wheat seed treatment trials discussed by Jack Riesselman, MSU Extension plant pathologist, and herbicide studies in wheat discussed by Ed Davis, research associate.

A precision agriculture tour will include displays and discussion of "on-combine" grain protein sensors and other equipment and ground sampling tools used in remote sensing research. Dan Long, site-specific management scientist. and Jeff Whitmus, research specialist, will conduct the precision agriculture tour.

A sponsored lunch will be served at noon. A short program afterward will include comments by Sharron Quisenberry, director of the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station, and Mal Westcott, head of the Research Centers Department. Farmers, ranchers, agri-business personnel and the general public are encouraged to participate in all portions of the field day.

Private pesticide applicator recertification credits will be available for growers opting to register and participate in related portions of the field day tour program.

The center is seven miles southwest of Havre at Fort Assinniboine on U.S. Highway 87. For additional information, contact the Northern Agricultural Research Center at 265-6115.

The program is one of a series of research center field days scheduled this summer. The other events are: next Tuesday at the MSU Southern Agricultural Research Center at Huntley beginning at 9:30 a.m.; July 9 at the MSU Central Agricultural Research Center at Moccasin for crop research tours, beginning at 1 p.m.; July 11 at the Williston Research Extension Center, Williston, N.D., from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m.; July 17, MSU Eastern Agricultural Research Center, Sidney, beginning at 8:30 a.m.; Aug. 9, Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory open house and groundbreaking ceremony on additions to the site.