MT. VERNON, Mo. — The Southwest Research Center will have more than 30 speakers present for its annual Field Day, as well as three afternoon tours focused on beef, industrial hemp and horticulture.
The Field Day will be in combination with Southwest’s Agriculture Education day, where hundreds of area high school students make the trip to the Center to learn more about agriculture. The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12.
“While all of our speakers will be presenting to the various high school students in attendance, we encourage all of our Field Day attendees to stop and speak with those same speakers,” said David Cope, superintendent of the Southwest Research Center. “Our speakers will be covering a variety of topics, including technology on the farm, soil health, beef cattle and veterinary medicine. It’s a great opportunity to talk to numerous experts all at once.”
The speakers will be spread throughout the Research Center. Field Day attendees are free to walk throughout Center and speak with the variety of experts.
All three of the afternoon tours begin at 12:30 p.m. The beef tour and industrial hemp tour will both run from 12:30-2 p.m. The horticulture tour also begins at 12:30 p.m. and will be a walking tour led by Andy Thomas, a research assistant professor, who has several projects at the Center.
“Andy does amazing horticulture work and has years of research to discuss and showcase during our Field Day,” Cope said. “We always want to talk about our beef cattle research and any updates related to that work. Industrial hemp is a very new crop, and we just want to share our early observations with it.”
Lunch will be served around noon. Meal tickets must be purchased prior to lunch. The tickets are a $5 donation to the Southwest Research Center.
Along with the various presentations, a giving match of up to $500 per donor will also be featured during the Field Day. From Aug. 1 to Oct. 31, CAFNR will match donations made directly to any of the Research Centers. That means a $250 donation, for example, would result in $500 overall to whichever Center the individual chooses.
“Our Centers play a vital role in the CAFNR mission by conducting timely and important research – and taking that research to our farmers and producers,” CAFNR Vice Chancellor and Dean Christopher Daubert said. “Each Research Center is an important staple in the communities where they are located.
“Your donations provide critical operating funds that enable each of our Research Centers to purchase equipment, improve facilities and invest in new technologies. Your gifts will ensure the prominence of our Centers, as well as help agriculture research and education thrive in our state.”
Donations can be made online by visiting the Mizzou Give Direct site and entering the Research Center of choice in the search tab. Donations can also be made in person during each Field Day.
The Southwest Research Center is one of the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources’ Agricultural Research Centers. The Center is located at 14548 Highway H in Mt. Vernon. For more information about the Field Day, call Cope at 417-466-2148 or email him at Copede@missouri.edu. For more information about the Southwest Research Center, visit southwest.missouri.edu.
— Logan Jackson, University of Missouri
For more news from Missouri, click here.