Hillman Set as Keynote for Aug. 8 NE Rice Research and Extension Center Field Day
Field day will include guided tours of new facility.
By Mary Hightower – July 12, 2024
Construction progress photo taken June 3, 2024, at the NE Rice Research and Extension Center in Harrisburg, Arkansas. (UofA System Division of Agriculture photo)
HARRISBURG, Ark. — Riceland Foods Chairman Rich Hillman will be the keynote speaker for the Aug. 8 rice field day at the Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center, an event that will include presentations about research and production and tours of the new center.
The field day opens at 7:30 a.m. with registration and breakfast with lunch and keynote at noon.
In between, there are two tours. The first round of tours departs at 8 a.m. and they will be repeated at 10 a.m., so participants can see all of the presentations. A trade show with industry booths runs from 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
Attendees may RSVP online by Aug. 1.
The center is located at 15327 Highway 1, Harrisburg.
“We are so pleased to host our first full-fledged rice field day at the Northeast Rice Research and Extension Center with industry insights from Rich Hillman,” Burcham said. “We have two field tours showcasing rice research by Division and USDA-ARS scientists that we feel are critical to the industry. We are also excited to show our farmers and industry professionals the new NERREC facility.”
On the program:
7:30 a.m. — Registration and breakfast
7:45 am. — Welcome
- Tim Burcham, NERREC director
- Deacue Fields, University of Arkansas System vice president of agriculture
- Jean-François Meullenet, senior associate VP of agriculture-research
8 a.m. — 1 p.m. — Trade show
9 a.m. — Noon — Open house guided tours of the new NERREC Building
- Guided tours will depart every 30 minutes.
8 a.m. — First round of Green and Red route research tours
Green Research Tour
- Green Tour Stop No. 1 — “Division of Agriculture Rice Breeding Program Update” — Xueyan Sha, professor of plant rice and genetics, and Christian De Guzman, assistant professor of plant rice and genetics.
- Green Tour Stop No. 2 — “Arkansas Rice Advanced Variety Trials and Arkansas Rice Production Trials” — Jarrod Hardke, professor and rice extension agronomist, Division of Agriculture.
- Green Tour Stop No. 3 — “Long-Term Row Rice and Soybean Rotation with Cover Crops” — Steve Green, professor of soil and water conservation, Arkansas State University, and Trent Roberts, professor of soil fertility, Division of Agriculture.
- Green Tour Stop No. 4 — “Integrated rice management for reduced water and yield scaled GHG emissions” — Arlene Adviento-Borbe and Joseph Massey, both research agronomists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service Delta Water Management Research Unit.
Red Research Tour
- Red Tour Stop No. 1 — “Pitless Tailwater Recirculating System for Reduced Water and Nitrogen Use in Row Rice Production Systems” — Chris Henry, associate professor, extension irrigation engineer.
- Red Tour Stop No. 2 — “Real-Time Measurement of Greenhouse Gases in Field-Scale Row Rice Productions Systems” — Michele Reba, research hydrologist and lead scientist at the USDA-ARS Delta Water Management Research Unit.
- Red Tour Stop No. 3 — “Rice Disease Research” — Camilla Nicolli, assistant professor and extension rice pathologist.
- Red Tour Stop No. 4 — “Weed Maagement in Rice and Soybean” — Bob Scott, professor and extension weed scientist.
10 a.m. — Second round of Red and Green tours
Noon — Lunch, NERREC Greenway Equipment Exhibition Hall
- Keynote speaker: Rich Hillman.
1:30 p.m. – Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board meeting, Greenway Equipment Exhibition Hall
- Presiding: Jim Whitaker, ARRPB president
To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on 𝕏 at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on 𝕏 at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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