Afternoon clouds provided a cooling canopy for the estimated 120 on research tours during the Powell Research and Extension Center (PREC) field day Thursday, July 14.
Tours this year were in the afternoon followed by an early dinner. The switch from morning tours and a noon lunch was made to better accommodate busy producers, on recommendation of the PREC advisory board.
"I would say 80 percent of those attending the field day were producers," said Axel Garcia y Garcia, acting director of PREC. "That's pretty much the opposite of what has happened in past years. I thought we would have less people, and we had more than last year. It was beyond my expectations."
Research included corn response to water stress, effects of different irrigation practices on sweet corn, sunflower response to different levels of drought stress, a case study for forage alfalfa crop production, effects of phosphorous on established and newly established sainfoin, spring barley and spring wheat variety performance and dry bean performance, among many others.
The new seed cleaning facility at the center was also toured.
Those attending the field day were provided a bulletin with two-page synopses of research at PREC and at research and extension (R&E) centers in Sheridan, near Lingle and at Laramie.
"The main idea for the bulletins is to keep track of what we do at the R&E centers and to have something to provide to farmers to take home for future reference," said Garcia y Garcia, assistant professor and irrigation specialist with the University of Wyoming. "Contact information is also provided if they want to contact the researchers."
Mike Schwope has been a PREC advisory board member for more than 20 years. He also thought attendance had increased.
"In fact, I had six or seven of my neighbors here that you never see," he noted. He wasn't sure if their attendance was attributable to the schedule change.
PREC farm manager Mike Killen said he believed more growers attended this year.
"I think it had to do with the afternoon schedule fitting them better," Killen said. "The social time after the tour was a positive thing, too. People stayed afterward visiting. The early dinner was a good, relaxed time."
The PREC tour was the first of three for the UW R&E centers. This Thursday is field day at the James C. Hageman Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center near Lingle, and the field day for the Laramie R&E Center is Thursday, Aug. 11.
