Lincoln, Neb. —The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s South Central Agricultural Laboratory (SCAL) field day is Thursday, Aug. 8. The field day focuses on improving crop production and profitability with research-based, practical information shared by University of Nebraska educators, specialists, staff and students. The event is designed so those attending can select the tours they are most interested in. A special demonstration will provide the opportunity to see real-time, camera-based weed detection technology with the John Deere See and Spray.
Topics and presenters include:
- Irrigation Management Technologies for Irrigation Scheduling: Learn how advanced scheduling applications are optimizing water usage through targeted irrigation application.
Saleh Taghvaeian, Irrigation Specialist and Steve Melvin, Extension Educator
- Disease Management Corn and Soybean Disease Updates: Take a close-up look at which diseases are affecting fields and what best management strategies can be utilized for disease management.
Tamra Jackson-Ziems and Dylan Mangel, Extension Plant Pathologists
- Weed Management Cover Crop for Weed Suppression in Corn and Soybean: Planting Green and Intercropping: See the interaction between planting green and pre-emergence herbicides for controlling Palmer amaranth in soybean, as well as interseeding oat or barley in soybean for early-season weed suppression. Amit Jhala, Weed Management Specialist
- Nitrogen/Fertigation Management Demo Site: Optimizing Nitrogen Use Efficiency
via Sensor-based Fertigation: Learn how the University has increased profitability by over $25/ac by reducing nitrogen applications across more than 30 field sites since 2019.
Katie Bathke, Research Technician and Joe Luck, Biological Systems Engineering
- Insect Management and Conservation Features: Learn about the latest research and strategies for managing these pests.
Matheus Ribeiro, Extension Educator and Ron Seymour, Extension Educator
The event begins with registration at 8:30 a.m., followed by opening remarks by Derek McLean, dean of UNL’s Agricultural Research Division at 8:45 a.m. Tours of research sites will follow. Dr. J. David Aiken, Water & Agricultural Law Specialist, UNL Department of Agricultural Economics will give the keynote address, "Carbon Market Considerations for Farmers" during lunch. Those attending can also see research & equipment used for targeted herbicide application with the See & Spray™ technology provided by AKRS Equipment.
SCAL is located at 851 Hwy. 6, near Harvard.
Details, map and registration are available at https://go.unl.edu/scalfieldday. There is no cost to attend the field day, but participants are asked to pre-register before Aug. 7 for planning purposes.
For more information, call (402)762-3536 or e-mail shachtel1@unl.edu. Continuing Education Units have been applied for and are pending.
