The 2016 fall field day of the Iowa State University McNay Memorial Research Farm southwest of Chariton will focus on grazing opportunities and issues, including sericea infestation, fescue pasture renovation and on-farm cereal rye research. Iowa State Extension and Outreach beef program specialist Joe Sellers organizes this event, and said the Aug. 2 event provides access for people to see crops and grazing research in full growing mode.

COVER CROPS: Cover crops and grazing research along with water quality improvement practices some of the topics to be presented at upcoming Iowa State University field days this August.

“Presentations are scheduled from Iowa State faculty and staff and others who will offer information and results from a variety of beef-related research,” Sellers said. “There’s no cost to attend and no preregistration is necessary. The program starts with registration at 3:30 at the farm, and includes an evening meal prepared and served by the Lucas County Cattlemen’s Association.”

Stockpiled grazing, cover crops, fescue management, cereal rye

After registration, the group will move to the Richard Bishop farm for a weed and brush demonstration tour led by Scot Flynn with Dow AgriSciences. The group will return to McNay for four presentations from Iowa State speakers beginning at 5 p.m.

Animal science graduate student Ben Stokes will talk about the stockpiled grazing project and animal science professor Dr. Jim Russell and Kevin Maher with the McNay farm will describe the use of portable shades there. Jamie Benning Iowa State Extension water quality program manager will talk about on-farm cereal rye research, including yield, soil and economic impacts. And extension field agronomist Rebecca Vittetoe and Iowa Beef Center program specialist Erika Lundy will continue in that topic area with information on the first year of a cereal rye cover crop grazing project.

Following a 7 p.m. dinner served by the Lucas County Cattlemen’s Association, discussion will continue with more presentations, including fescue management and pasture renovation by Sellers and Logan Wallace from McNay Farm, and beef cow reproduction and synchronization from IBC’s Dr. Patrick Gunn.

The event flier has all program details.

The McNay farm is located at 45249 170th Ave., Chariton. For directions to the facility, see the farm webpage or call the farm directly at 641-766-6465. For more information on the field day program, contact Sellers by phone at 641-203-1270 or email, or call the McNay Farm at 641-766-6465.

 All attendees should follow ISU livestock farm visitor policies:

• There is a five-day waiting period prior to visiting Iowa State University livestock farms if you have traveled outside the United States.

• If you have visited another livestock farm, you are asked to change clothing and footwear.

• Visitors are not allowed to bring food to the research farms.

If you have any questions, please call the Research and Demonstration Farms office at 515-294-5045 or read the Foot and Mouth Advisory.

Wallace Foundation and ISU to host Neely-Kinyon Field Day August 23
Cover crops are among the topics set for the August 23, 2016, field day at the Iowa State University Neely-Kinyon Research and Demonstration farm near Greenfield, Iowa. The field day will start at 4 p.m. at the farm located at 2557 Norfolk Avenue, Greenfield, Iowa. Directions are two miles south of Greenfield on Highway 25, one mile east, and a half mile north.

Iowa State researchers and extension specialists will be discussing the challenges of the growing season, including weather, nitrogen and weed management; the opportunity of cover crops for farmers in southwestern Iowa; organic cropping systems; and monarch/pollinator habitat. 

The farm tour will include a demonstration site for the project called Science-based Trials of Row-crops Integrated with Prairie Strips, or STRIPS. It has found that incorporating strips of perennial prairie plants in crop fields reduces soil and nutrient movement for a relatively low cost.

The Neely-Kinyon farm consists of 160 acres owned by the Wallace Foundation for Rural Research and Development, which leases it to Iowa State. The farm is managed as a satellite of the Armstrong Research and Demonstration Farm near Lewis. A light meal will be served at 6 p.m. The field day is open to the public at no cost.