South Dakota State University has set its tentative dates for the 2009 farm tour field days at a number of research farms around the state.

The first tour is June 24 and begins at 5 p.m. at the Central Research Farm in Highmore.

Other farm tours include:

June 24, 5 p.m. -- Central Research Farm, Highmore

June 25, 1 p.m. -- Dakota Lakes Research Farm, Pierre

June 25, 5 p.m. -- Winter wheat variety trial plot, Kennebec

June 29, 4 p.m. -- SDSU Plant Science Farm, Brookings

June 30, 2 p.m. -- Pennington County rotation and crop study plot, Wall

July 2, 4 p.m. -- Northeast Research Farm, South Shore

July 8, 3 p.m. -- Southeast Research Farm, Beresford.

Scientists from SDSU, the South Dakota Cooperative Extension Service, and the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station will be on site at the tours to share the latest research-based information on a variety of topics from weed control to crop varieties.

In addition, the USDA's Eastern South Dakota Soil and Water Research Farm will host a farm tour on June 16 near Brookings.

South Dakota Cooperative Extension Weeds Specialist Mike Moechnig says with many new products available, producers should bring their questions and their weeds to the farm tours to get answers.

South Dakota Cooperative Extension Crops Specialist Bob Hall says the dates of tours are subject to weather-related changes, but looks forward to a busy summer helping producers understand recent research.

For more information on the tours, visit the SDSU Plant Science Web site at this link: http://plantsci.sdstate.edu/index_files/news.htm.

Source: SDSU AgBio Communications