On Tuesday morning, a field day with a wide range of topics will be held at the Pine Tree Research Experiment Station west of Colt, Ark. Registration will be from 7:30 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. with the tours’ first stop beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Lunch will be a catfish catered by Cajun Express.

Among the topics and speakers from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture:

“There is a lot of interest in new rice herbicides,” says Mitch Crow, St. Francis County Extension staff chair. “Many of our rice weeds are now resistant to some standard herbicides. Jason will be talking about how to combat the weeds now and what new products may be coming in the near future.”

“Conventional soybean varieties are a hot topic, right now. Dr. Chen will speak on his research. He’s got several Group 5s that are being released. We’re hoping he’ll have some Group 4s in the future.  There’s a price premium to grow and sell the non-GMO soybean varieties.”

“With the hot temperatures we’ve had this summer, there’s a lot of concern currently with bacterial panicle blight in rice,” says Crow.

“I’m sure Gus will have some interesting things to say. Seed treatments  are becoming increasingly important for growers. For rice, there are actually some benefits for drift and yield protection.”

For more information, contact the St. Francis Extension office at (870) 261-1730.