Kevin Sedivec, director of the Central Grasslands Research Extension Center, talks to visitors during a field day at the center. (NDSU photo)

CARRINGTON, N.D. (NDSU Extension) – The field day at North Dakota State University’s Central Grasslands Research Extension Center near Streeter will be live this year on July 27.

The event begins with registration, coffee and doughnuts at 9:30 a.m. The livestock, forages and cover crop tour will run from 10 a.m. to noon, followed by lunch. The pollinator, monarch butterfly and bird tour will start at 1 p.m.

Also, NDSU Extension will provide water and forage nitrate testing sites. Anyone who has livestock drinking water that may be toxic or hay samples from annual forage crops that may be high in nitrates should bring samples (water samples in a bottle, forage samples in a paper bag) with for a quick test.

Topics for the livestock, forages and cover crop tour include:

Cereal forage varietal trial
Warm-season forage trial
Corn silage varietal trial
Oat variety trial for hay
Cover crop and winter cereal grazing and haying study
Putting weight on cows by winter grazing crop residues for less than 15 cents per day
Enhancing forage production and grazing efficiency using rotational grazing
Fetal programming of beef cattle
Topics for the pollinator, monarch butterfly and bird research update include:

Impacts of patch burn grazing on pollinator habitat
Impacts of patch burn, rotational and continuous grazing on upland bird habitat
Impacts of patch burn, rotational and continuous grazing on rangeland plant communities invaded with Kentucky bluegrass
Assessing patch burn and rotational grazing on monarch butterfly recruitment and habitat
Impacts of patch burn grazing on forage quality and mineral status
Impacts of Kentucky bluegrass thatch layer on the plant community
Drought management – grazing management strategies to create drought resiliency

For more information about the field day, contact Sandi Dewald at 701-424-3606 or sandi.dewald@ndsu.edu, or Kevin Sedivec at 701-799-4689 or kevin.sedivec@ndsu.edu.