Irrigation scheduling, variable rate seeding and precision agriculture technologies are just a few of the topics that will be discussed during this year’s Peanut Field Day Thursday, Sept. 5 at Clemson’s Edisto Research and Education Center , 64 Research Road, Blackville.

Field day activities get under way with registration from 8 to 9 a.m. Participants will embark on a field tour with the first stop involving a discussion about improving irrigation scheduling by Clemson irrigation specialist and member of the Water Resources Program team leader Jose Payero.. Over-irrigation can be costly and cause soil erosion, chemical runoff and nutrient-leaching. Under-irrigation stresses crops and reduces yield.

“I will focus on how changes in crop development stage and weather conditions affect the daily water use of peanuts and the implication of these changes on irrigation scheduling,” Payero said.

Following Payero’s presentation, Michael Plumblee,   Clemson precision agriculture specialist, will talk about variable rate seeding in peanut. Variable-rate seeding is a precision ag practice used by farmers to tailor their seeding rates according to field variabilities such as are found in the soil.

Kendall Kirk, Clemson precision ag engineer, will add to the discussion with an update on using precision ag technologies such as the Directed Rx  system to improve variable rate prescriptions. This method was developed by Kirk to help South Carolina farmers improve use of crop inputs to increase profitability

Dan Anco, Clemson peanut specialist, will add to the field day with a variety show and discussion on disease management. During the variety show, Anco will discuss qualities, including maturity, seed size, yield potential and resistance packages, of new and current peanut varieties, followed by a discussion on managing diseases primarily around late leaf spot and white mold.

Other discussions include a discussion on peanut fertility management by Bhumpinder Farmaha, Clemson nutrient management specialist, and weed control by Mike Marshall,, Extension agronomic weed specialist.

Lunch will be served at noon following the morning session and will include a presentation by Nathan Smith,, Clemson Extension economist.

A row crop field tour is set to follow lunch. Greene said the afternoon tour will include information for multiple crops covering topics such as varieties, fertility, weed control, insect management, disease incidence and control, nematode control, irrigation scheduling, precision ag strategies, as well as other subjects.

Pesticide credits and Continuing Education Units (CCA) will be available.

For more information, contact Dan Anco at [email protected], or (803) 284-3343.

Source: Clemson University,  which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.