Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The Rex E. Kirksey Agricultural Science Center in Tucumcari will hold its annual field day virtually this year Thursday in response to coronavirus restrictions that forbid public gatherings.
Presentations start at 7 p.m. Find the event by searching @tucumcarisc on Facebook. No registration is necessary.
The online presentation would include a welcome, announcements, keynote presentation, research updates and a cooking demonstration in lieu of the annual meal.
Leslie Edgar, New Mexico State University’s College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences associate dean and director of the agricultural experiment station, will give the keynote speech.
Edgar sees her leadership role at NMSU as leveraging existing resources to build a robust agricultural experiment station system that meets the needs of local, national and global stakeholders.
Other presentations:
• “Plant and Soil Characteristics Following a Single Manure Application with Strip Tillage” by Murali Darapuneni, semi-arid cropping specialist at NMSU Agricultural Science Center in Tucumcari;
• “Potential of Guar for Eastern New Mexico” by John Idowu, extension agronomist, NMSU Extension Plant Sciences Department, Las Cruces;
• “Sorghum-Legume Mixtures for Forage” by Gaspar Martinez, agricultural research assistant at NMSU center in Tucumcari;
• “Cowpea-Millet Mixtures for Forage” by Elora Ellison, graduate student at West Texas A&M University in Canyon;
• “Tepary Beans for Edible Beans and Forage” by Leonard Lauriault, forage crop management scientist at NMSU center in Tucumcari;
• “Tepary Beans with Chile-Agave Glaze” cooking demonstration by Susann Mikkelson, NMSU Quay County Cooperative extension agency for family and consumer sciences in Tucumcari.
Sponsors of the virtual field car are Arch Hurley Conservancy District, Farmers Eclectic Coop, Farm Credit Services and Phillip and Kathleen Box.
“We appreciate our sponsors, who despite the economic effects of COVID-19 and the fact that we cannot provide a meal this year, are helping us be able to provide meals and refreshments in the future,” Lauriault stated in a news release. “We also appreciate all the local businesses who have supported field days in the past, but couldn’t this year due to the economic impact of COVID-19 on them.”