NDSU Sharing the Latest Research in Agriculture with Local Farmers

NDSU researchers are sharing new research to farmers in the area.

It’s part of the annual NDSU Agronomy Seed Farm field tour.

This event has been held for as long as most of the attendees can remember.

NDSU does a lot of research on agriculture and the location of the Agronomy Seed Farm makes it a perfect venue.

Farmers from near and far gather at the Agronomy Seed Farm to hear from some of the top experts in the area on the latest in agricultural research.

“You always learn something at these field days at the research extension centers; there is always something new coming down the pipeline,” says Mike Beltz, a farmer attending the event.

There are six topics of discussion, ranging from soybean breeding to crop diseases, wheat protein enhancement to proper herbicide and pesticide spraying techniques.

“It’s a good way for them to show case what they’re doing as far as crop research, and the farmers can come out and learn about some of the current problems. What the experts are seeing as far as diseases and weed problems and that sort of thing,” Director of the Agronomy Seed Farm, Brian Otteson says.

The first lesson was on how to cut down on spray drift while using pesticides and herbicides.

The lesson is given by John Nowatzki, and the information is not only environmentally important, improper spraying can become an economic disaster.

“Just a little bit of drift can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage if you’re not careful so, damaging other peoples’ crops or damaging your own crops for that matter,” Nowatzki says.

Giving back to the community and passing research findings on to farmers is the mission of NDSU, it’s the whole reason they conduct the research.

“And we always say we know it’s true is that, this is the citizens, the people of North Dakota pay for our research.” Nowatzki says, “They pay for our salaries so this is an opportunity for us to report to them, what we’re doing for them and what we’re doing with their money.”

At the end of the day, the farmers come out more knowledgeable, better equipped to take on the issues of this year’s harvest.

“It’s all practical knowledge you can use on your own farm,” says Beltz.

If you missed this year’s event, don’t worry it’ll be back next year with all new information.