A record crowd of 500 is expected for the 45th Blackland Farm Managers Tour set for Wednesday, Aug. 5 at Circle Grove Seeds in Belhaven, N.C.

The field day begins at 7 a.m. with registration, exhibits and self-guided tours of corn and soybean research plots. The program begins at 9 a.m., includes a lunch and concludes at 3 p.m. Circle Grove Seeds is located at 336 Circle Grove Farm Rd. in Belhaven.

“We have a good field day lined up,” said Rod Gurganus, Beaufort County Extension director with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. “We’re planning for a crowd of 500 people. Our attendance has grown every year Last year we had 450 on hand for the field day, and we expect at least 50 more people will turn out this year. This is the largest farm tour of its kind in North Carolina."

Because of the expected large crowd, guided tours of research plots will not be on the agenda this year, but participants can take self-guided tours before the official program begins, during the lunch break and after the official program ends at 3 p.m., Gurganus said. This year’s tour lasts all day and focuses on grain sorghum,  soybean and corn production with scientists from North Carolina State University delivering educational presentations on their latest research work. N.C. State's high yield corn and soybean trials will also be discussed.

The program will be held at Circle Grove’s seed warehouse and there is plenty of room to accommodate a crowd of more than 500 people, Gurganus said. “We’ll have a great sound system and large screens so the presentations will be easy to follow,” he added. “We’ll be indoors and shaded from the sun.”

A highlight of this year’s tour will be a presentation after lunch by Dewey Lee, Extension grains agronomist with the University of Georgia. “Dr. Lee has done a lot of work with irrigated corn in Georgia, and he’s going to help us see if it can work for us,” Gurganus said.

Lee will also join Ron Heiniger, North Carolina Extension corn specialist for a question and answer session on irrigated corn, Gurganus said.