Crop producers, agribusiness personnel and others interested in crop production in southern Minnesota are invited to the annual University of Minnesota "Crop Management Tour" being held in Rochester on Thursday, July 7. The tour will take place at the field site located east of University Center on Co. Rd. 22 (East Circle Drive) at the intersection of Highway 14 east. Registration is free and begins at 8:30; tour hours are 9 am to 12:30 pm.

Jeff Gunsolus, Extension weed specialist at the University of Minnesota, will present results of corn and soybean weed management trials conducted across the state. An update on Liberty Link soybeans will be presented by Lisa Behnken and Ryan Miller, Extension educators and Fritz Breitenbach, IPM specialist at the Regional Office in Rochester. New herbicide introductions will also be discussed by Behnken, Miller and Breitenbach during the Crop Management Tour. Information on the yield impacts of herbicide application at the interface zone of RR/GT/LL corn adjacent to RR/GT or Liberty Link soybeans will be the subject of discussion by Adam Hazel and Molly Kuisle, interns at the Rochester Regional Extension Office. Two poster presentations will feature fungicide use in alfalfa and crown rust control in oats.

The July 7 Crop Management Tour will be held at the research plots located at the University Center in Rochester. The college sits just off of Highway 14 on the east side of Rochester, Exit Co. Rd. 22, and the field site is located at the intersection of Co. Rd. 22 (East Circle Drive) and Highway 14. Tour hours are 9 am to 12:30 pm., and admission is free. The tour will be cancelled in the event of inclement weather.

For more information, contact Fritz Breitenbach at 507-280-2870 or Mary Jane Stearns at 507-536-6310.