A crops and turf field day will be held Aug. 2, at the Pee Dee Agricultural Research and Extension Center near Florence, S.C., with registration open at 8 a.m. and field tours starting at 9 a.m.

Center Director Bruce Fortnum says this year’s event will be split into four parts. The turf tour will last from 9 a.m. until noon. Three field crop tours will run concurrently, allowing visitors to attend any two of the three. These tours are split into (1) peanuts, corn and tobacco, (2) soybeans and cotton, and (3) biofuels, switchgrass and wildlife.

Each of these tours will last 90 minutes.

Fortner says some new things on display during the tour include research on energy cane, switchgrass, miscanthus, and hybrid tree crops. 

Tobacco growers will get a chance to see a solar tobacco curing barn which significantly reduces energy costs.

The Pee Dee Research and Extension Center is located north of Florence, from Interstate 95, take Exit 169, go west on TV Road for .8 mile and turn left on Pocket Road. The Pee Dee Center is 1.3 miles from the turn and is well marked on the right side of the road.

Lunch will be provided for those attending the field day and no registration fee is required.