News Releases

The anticipated release of a new burley variety with higher levels of black shank- and blue mold-resistance will be one of the discussions featured at the University of Tennessee Tobacco and Forage Production Field Day at the UT Research and Education Center at Greeneville on July 20. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT and is followed by lunch.

Producers should be interested in two tours focused on issues and practices that impact the yield and quality of tobacco and forage production. Rob Ellis, the Center's director, says the goal of the tours is to provide the latest information to help producers increase net earnings during a time when profit margins are narrowing.

The tobacco tour will highlight the new burley variety as well as advances in the control of black shank and leaf spot diseases. The tour will also focus on efficient use of nitrogen and how it affects yield, leaf quality, and leaf chemistry, and information on trickle irrigation and first-year results of fertigation evaluations.

The forage field tour will feature new strategies for weed control in pastures, poultry litter application to fescue, Round-up ready alfalfa, and benefits of rotational grazing.

The guest luncheon speaker will be Dr. Kelly Tiller from UT's Agricultural Policy Analysis Center. She will discuss a new burley survey and how producers can help themselves by contributing to the knowledge base about current tobacco production practices.

The field day site is located on East Allens Bridge Road, off Highway 70 in Greeneville. The Research and Education Center at Greeneville is one of 10 branch research units in the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station system.

Directions to the Center and other information about its operations are available online at http://tobacco.tennessee.edu/.

For more information regarding the field day, contact your county UT Extension office or the Research and Education Center at Greeneville (423) 638-6532.

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Contact: Rob Ellis, (423) 638-6532