Faculty Members To Present Research at Judd Hill Cotton Field Day, Aug. 30
TRUMANN, Ark. – Several researchers from Arkansas State University will be involved with the annual Cotton Field Day at the Judd Hill Cooperative Research Station near Trumann, Thursday, Aug. 30, according to Dr. Donald (Bud) Kennedy, interim dean of the College of Agriculture and Technology.
The luncheon will be moderated by Mike Gibson, trustee for the Judd Hill Foundation. Guest speakers are Congressman Rick Crawford (introduced by Dr. Charles Welch, president of the ASU System) and Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Butch Calhoun (introduced by Dr. Mark Cochran, vice president for agriculture, University of Arkansas System).
One of the field tours on cotton sustainability will be presented by Dr. Tina Gray Teague, professor of entomology and plant science. She will cover tillage, fertilization, irrigation, and COTMAN, a crop information system based on in season plant monitoring.
Dr. Michele Reba, research hydrologist representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and National Sedimentation Laboratory, will present a field tour on “Soil Moisture Monitoring in Cotton.” Dr. Reba is based at the Arkansas Biosciences Institute at ASU.
Research displays will be in the conference room and the tent behind the headquarters building at the plantation.
ASU faculty members who will present research displays and their subjects are:
Dr. Jennifer Bouldin, associate professor of environmental biology and director of ecotoxicology, “Watershed Studies: Water Quality and Biological Indicators.”
Dr. Kevin Humphrey, assistant professor of agricultural education, “Oil Seed Bi Products: Farm Scale Processing and Production.”
Dr. Keith Morris, associate professor of spatial technologies, “Soil Electrical Conductivity and Veris Soil Mapping System – Spatial Technology Tools for Zone Management.”
Dr. Cal Shumway, associate professor of agronomy, and Dr. Teague, “Cotton Sustainability – Nitrogen Fertilizer and Irrigation Interactions in Cotton.”
Dr. Mary Jackson Pitts, professor of radio-television, “Judd Hill Cotton Research Highlights – Student Video Projects from the ASU Department of Radio-Television.”
Arkansas State University has had a long-term relationship with the Judd Hill Foundation to promote mutual research interests. In 1994 and in 2004, respectively, the Foundation established two academic chairs at ASU, the Judd Hill Chair in Environmental Biology and the Judd Hill Chair in Agricultural Biotechnology.
The foundation contributed to the maintenance endowment for the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Health Sciences and provided funding for Judd Hill Center, home of the Arkansas State University Foundation, Inc., on Alumni Blvd.
Judd Hill Foundation also is a sponsor for the College of Agriculture and Technology’s annual Agri-Business Conference.
For additional information about the 2012 Cotton Field Day at Judd Hill, see the news release (included below) from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
Judd Hill Cotton Field Day to showcase research and new technology
(from University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture)
TRUMANN, Ark. -- The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture 2012 Cotton Field Day on Aug. 30 at the Judd Hill Cooperative Research Station near Trumann will feature an array of field research and programs of interest to farmers. Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas and newly appointed Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Butch Calhoun will be keynote speakers. "This annual field day is a great opportunity for cotton people to learn about research and technology that could benefit them," said Fred Bourland, director of the Division of Agriculture's Northeast Research and Extension Center at Keiser.
"I am very grateful to the Judd Hill Foundation for making some of the best cotton land in the Mid-South available for cooperative research by scientists from Arkansas State University, the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, other agencies and agribusinesses," said Bourland, who also directs the Division's cotton breeding program.
Registration will begin at 9 a.m. The field tour will depart from the Judd Hill office at 9:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. A variety of displays and demonstrations will also be provided.
The farm is on Highway 214, about five miles south of Trumann. Farm Credit Services, Dixie Gin, and the Judd Hill Foundation will provide a complementary lunch to conclude the program.
Scientists from the Division of Agriculture, Arkansas State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will show their research plots and discuss cotton variety testing and breeding, soil moisture monitoring, cotton sustainability, seedling disease, plant root health, plant growth regulator products and the effects of high temperature stress in cotton.
Visitors can also visit with representatives from Cotton Incorporated on fiber quality and variety selection; the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service on the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Water Initiative and conservation and drought issues; the White River Irrigation District on wireless pump control systems; ASU faculty on watershed studies, special technology tools, and cotton sustainability; Division of Agriculture faculty on end-of-season management and online crop production budgets; and seed companies regarding seed for 2013.
Judd Hill Plantation began as a wedding gift from Judd Hill to his daughter, Ester, and her husband, Sam Chapin, who created one of the largest contiguous farms in Poinsett County. In 1985, Ester Hill Chapin established the Judd Hill Foundation for the purpose of research, experimentation and the dissemination of information to the public on progressive techniques in farming. Today, the farm produces 3,800 acres of cotton annually.
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