Part of this year’s UW Agronomy/Soils Field Day will address an issue that was all but inconceivable a year ago: dealing with too much water.

The soils tour of the event on August 28 at the UW-Madison’s Arlington Agricultural Research Station will focus on grassed waterways and other conservation practices. One stop on the field crops tour will deal with managing the Fusarium diseases infecting many damp soybean fields.

The field day begins at 8 a.m. and offers two tours in the morning and one after lunch.  But the crops and forage tours will only be offered in the morning, so if you want to go on all three, save the soils tour for the afternoon.  During lunch (available for $5), ag economist Paul Mitchell will offer a “First Look at the Farm Bill.”

Descriptions of the three tours:

-The field crop tour examines how soybean genetic improvements lessen penalties of low seeding rates and how soybean canopies may suppress weeds; whether yield maps are useful for predicting future yields; and the diversity and management of Fusarium, including soybean seed treatments.

-The forage crop tour includes discussion of producing a viable alfalfa stand when planting corn silage; how to manage weeds when establishing switchgrass; and using oats as emergency forage.

-The soils tour covers the efficacy of aglime and pell lime in no-till and chisel systems; grassed waterways and other conservation practices; and the performance of legume, grass and brassica cover crops.

The Arlington station is located on Hwy. 51, about 5 miles south of Arlington and 15 miles north of Madison. Watch for field day signs. For more information contact the UW-Madison Department of Agronomy at (608) 262-1390 or the Department of Soil Science (608) 262-0485. A copy of the field day flyer is available at: http://bit.ly/17yOuOt

In the event of rain, presentations move inside. Sponsored by the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and the UW-Extension, Cooperative Extension [Certified Crop Advisors: 5.5 CEU credits requested].

For more information: Carrie Laboski, laboski@wisc.edu, (608) 263-2795.