News Releases

July 22 marks the return of what is commonly billed as the nation's largest field day devoted to no-tillage crop production techniques — the Milan No-Till Field Day.

Hosted by the University of Tennessee on the Milan Experiment Station, planners hope this 23rd no-till field day is as successful as the 22 events that preceded it. More than 4,200 people attended the Milan No-Till Field Day in 2002. Most visitors hailed from Tennessee and surrounding states, but many in attendance came from foreign countries.

Registration for this year's event begins at 6:00 a.m. CDT. Tours are scheduled to begin at 7:00 a.m. Parking and admission are free.

Fifteen research tours, including the popular equipment demonstration, will be featured. The final tours are scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m., so visitors are encouraged to arrive early if they plan to attend several tours and to see the commercial exhibits and demonstrations. Most tour stops are approximately 20 minutes long and each tour may be completed in 1 hour and 30 minutes or less, depending on the number of stops and travel time between stops.

Tour topics include production and pest management issues surrounding the traditional commodities of cotton, soybeans, and corn. Also featured will be agri-tourism, value-added and alternative agriculture, livestock and forages, Bermudagrass production, managing irrigation for maximum crop productivity, managing land for waterfowl, and native warm-season grass production. The Milan Experiment Station Overview Tour will present a brief introduction to the UT Agricultural Experiment Station system.

"We hope producers will come for an educational and enjoyable visit and to learn techniques for increasing production, reducing expenses, improving marketing skills and increasing the efficiency of their crop production operations," said Blake Brown, superintendent of the Milan Experiment Station.

An exhibition of Ag In The Classroom resource materials used for training teacher presenters will be displayed in the West Tennessee Agriculture Museum. This exhibit is sponsored by various commodity groups and volunteers of the Tennessee Foundation for Ag In The Classroom.

The Tennessee Pesticide Coordinator and the Head of the Environmental Control Section of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture has assigned nine (9) recertification points for categories 1, 10 & 12; and three (3) points for all other categories to those attending and participating in the research tours and commercial and educational displays.

More information is available online at http://milan.tennessee.edu/, including a map to the field day site and information about area lodging. Details are also available about the numerous community events planned in conjunction with the field day - including a golf tournament, antique tractor and engine show, and cotton fashion show.

Complete program information should be on the Web site by July.

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Contact:

Blake Brown, 731-686-7362
Patricia McDaniels, 865-974-7141