OSU peanut and cotton field tour set for Sept. 19 in Ft. Cobb
Monday, August 26, 2019
Peanut growers attending Oklahoma State University’s Caddo Research Station Peanut and Cotton Field Tour on Sept. 19 will be getting a firsthand look at the new peanut variety Contender, the first high-oleic Virginia-type peanut adapted to the southwestern United States.
The Caddo Research Station is located just east of Highway 9 in Ft. Cobb. The tour will take place from 5:15 p.m. to 7 p.m. There is no cost to attend. Dinner will be provided to participants free of charge after the tour, thanks to the generosity of a number of sponsors.
Released jointly by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and OSU’s statewide Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station system, Contender is the result of a cross between the high-oleic Virginia cultivar Brantley and high-oleic runner cultivar Red River Runner. Kelly Chamberlin and Rebecca Bennett of USDA-ARS will be on hand to share insights about what goes into peanut variety development, with an emphasis on the Contender variety.
“Growers also will want to bring in samples for hull blasting at the afternoon maturity clinic, which will begin at 2:30 p.m.,” said John Damicone, OSU Cooperative Extension vegetable and field crop specialist. “Gauging harvest timing this year will be especially important for producers given the unusual season we’ve had in 2019.”
Damicone added that, despite late plantings this spring, the peanuts look good with generally low disease pressure.
“We will be featuring plenty for cotton producers as well,” said Seth Byrd, OSU Cooperative Extension cotton specialist. “Irrigated cotton in the state looks pretty good this year, though dryland cotton has been challenged.”
Tour stop discussions focusing on cotton cropping systems and varieties, peanut disease control, weed control and irrigation will be led by Byrd; Damicone; Todd Baughman of OSU’s Institute for Agricultural Biosciences in Ardmore; and Saleh Taghvaeian, OSU Cooperative Extension water resources specialist.
The Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station system is one of two state agencies administered by OSU’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, and is a key part of the university’s state and federally mandated teaching, research and Extension land-grant mission.
MEDIA CONTACT: Donald Stotts | Agricultural Communications Services | 405-744-4079 | donald.stotts@okstate.edu