The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture will host 20 field days and special events at UT AgResearch and Education Centers across the state in 2012. That’s up five from the 2011 tally. With a broad range of topics, representing the diversity of Tennessee agriculture, these events offer opportunities to learn to be a better producer of almost anything you can grow in the state, be it cattle, cotton, crape myrtle or cabbage.

The new additions to the schedule include a Green Industry special event at the UT Gardens, Knoxville, on June 19; the Tobacco and Forage Production Field Day on July 19 at the AgResearch and Education Center at Greeneville; the Biomass event in Vonore on Oct. 24 through 25; and the return of the Tennessee Healthy Hardwoods Field Day to the Forest Resources Center in Oak Ridge on March 31.

July 2012 also marks the return of the biennial Milan No-Till Field Day which always takes place on the last Thursday in July on even-numbered years.

The complete field day schedule is as follows:

Special events:

All field days and special events are open to the public and most events offer free admission.

More detailed information about each field day or special event will be posted online at http://agriculture.tennessee.edu closer to the scheduled time. You may also visit the individual Research and Education Centers homepages or call their main offices for details. Those numbers can be found online here.
UT AgResearch hosts one of the most extensive field day schedules of the U.S. land-grant system, and the 2012 educational events sponsored by AgResearch and the other UT Institute of Agriculture units stand out as examples of the continuing tradition of public outreach on the part of the nation’s land-grant institutions. 2012 marks the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act, which created the United States’ system of “people’s colleges” – institutes of higher learning designated specifically to serve all citizens through teaching, research, and outreach.

UT AgResearch operates 10 outdoor laboratories at strategic climate and topographic locations throughout the state. In addition to its agricultural research programs, the UT Institute of Agriculture also provides instruction, research and public service through the UT College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the UT College of Veterinary Medicine and UT Extension offices in every county in the state.