Events and Activities : Weed Week: Extension to offer series of meetings on herbicides

Farmers and agribusiness representatives will benefit from Weeds Week, a weeklong series of informational meetings focusing on herbicides and their effectiveness. The half-day sessions will be held Aug. 3-7 at five Iowa State University research farms across the state and hosted by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach field agronomists.

“Farmers are challenged with producing crops and implementing effective weed management programs in a profitable manner,” said Virgil Schmitt, field agronomist with ISU Extension and Outreach in the southeast portion of the state.

“Our goal is to help farmers develop effective weed management plans,” Schmitt said. “We want to help farmers and ag retailers support each other in this process. By doing so, they can increase their profitability and minimize negative impacts on the environment,” Schmitt said. “The sessions have been developed to provide tools that help farmers and agribusinesses work together to develop long-term weed management plans that identify sites of action, promote timely application of herbicides and avoid the expenses of dealing with herbicide resistance,” he added.

Each session will include presentations, hands-on weed management planning, small group discussion, and plot tours presented by ISU field agronomists. In the farmer-oriented session, farmers will learn how to select herbicides from the herbicide effectiveness table, identify which herbicides to apply and develop their own four-year weed management plan. Agribusiness representatives will receive similar information, but it will be presented with a focus on how to support farmers and their operations.

The schedule has been developed so that the morning sessions will conclude with lunch and the afternoon sessions will begin with lunch, which is included in the registration.

The schedule is as follows:

Southeast Research Farm 3115 Louisa-Washington Road Crawfordsville, Iowa August 3, 2015 9:30 a.m. Farmer Session 1 p.m. Agribusiness Session

Armstrong Research Farm

53020 Hitchcock Avenue

Lewis, Iowa August 4, 2015 9:30 a.m. Agribusiness Session 1 p.m. Farmer Session

Northeast Research Farm

3321 290th Street

Nashua, Iowa August 5, 2015 9:30 a.m. Farmer Session 1 p.m. Agribusiness Session

Northwest Research Farm

6320 500th Street

Sutherland, Iowa August 6, 2015 9:30 a.m. Farmer Session 1 p.m. Agribusiness Session

Field Extension Education Lab

1928 240th Street

Boone, Iowa August 7, 2015 9:30 a.m. Farmer Session 1 p.m. Agribusiness Session

Registration is $25 for each session and includes refreshments, lunch and materials. To assist with facility and meal planning there is a registration deadline 4 days prior to each meeting. Register online with a credit card at www.aep.iastate.edu/weeds/. For more information, call 515-294-6429 or anr@isstate.edu.