Annual Rice Field Day Set For July 13 In Beaumont

The theme for this year’s free event is Innovations in Texas Rice Irrigation. The event begins with field tours at 8 a.m., followed by an indoor program at 10:45 a.m. and a barbecue luncheon at noon. The event will end around 2 p.m.

Texas Department of Agriculture licensed private, commercial and non-commercial pesticide applicators participating in the field day may obtain one general CEU for attending the event.

Morning and afternoon field tours

The morning field tours will showcase recent developments in inbred and hybrid rice breeding, plant physiology, nutrient, disease and insect management.

There also will be an afternoon field tour to showcase current research funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office.

Field day indoor program

Ted Wilson, Ph.D., center director and Jack B. Wendt Endowed Chair in Rice Research, Beaumont, will open the program with a brief overview of the center’s current research. Three keynote speakers will follow.

The topics and speakers are:

• AgriLife Research: Developing Solutions Today for Agricultural Challenges in the Future – G. Cliff Lamb, Ph.D., director of AgriLife Research, Bryan-College Station
• Maximizing Water Management through Farm Design – Ryan Frey, irrigation specialist, Smart Acre Solutions LLC., Ferriday, Louisiana.
• Irrigation Conservation Practices Used by Mid-South Rice Producers – Joe Massey, Ph.D., U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agriculture Research Service research agronomist, Jonesboro, Arkansas.

For more information, contact Brandy Morace at 409-752-2741 or by email at [email protected].