Historic Impact - The 33rd Milan No-Till Field Day Features a Monumental Fiscal Boost to Ag Research in Tennessee
Sep 03, 2024
Story and photo by Mark Johnson
From the use of poultry litter in corn production to controlling soil-borne diseases like red crown rot in soybeans, the 33rd Milan No-Till Crop Production Field Day on Thursday, July 25, covered a wide spectrum of agronomic topics and delivered on the high expectations of this time-honored event for providing cutting-edge and useful farming content.
Held at the University of Tennessee AgResearch and Education (UTAE) Center at Milan, a warm, humid, overcast day greeted some 1,250 visitors to the field day, the nation’s largest event dedicated to conservation tillage. Attendees represented 44 Tennessee counties, 11 states, and seven countries from as far away as Zambia and Morocco. More than 70 agribusiness vendors, including GreenPoint Ag and Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, manned booths and outdoor displays.
Launched in 1981 and conducted every other year since 2002, the field day is designed to provide producers with information and benefits of no-till farming over traditional tillage. This year’s program featured presentations on topics including no-till corn, cotton, and soybean production; pesticide labels and the Endangered Species Act; herbicide-resistant weed management; impacts of Bayer ThryvOn cotton biotechnology; crop water management; trends in cover crops; climate-smart ag and soil health; hemp production; ag water treatment; and soil fertility, as well as guided tours of the various crop plots.
Blake Brown, director of the Milan facility, said the event is always a “big deal” for everyone involved in its production.
“This is a chance for our faculty and scientists to present their research and results to the ag community,” said Brown. “That one-on-one aspect is important, and it’s a great opportunity for visitors to see the various research plots in person. It takes a lot of work — we had 170 people from our UTAE facilities from across the state involved — but everybody really looks forward to the event.”
Featured among this year’s sessions was a presentation regarding a $50 million American Rescue Plan (ARP) grant awarded to the UTAE system to be applied to the 10 research facilities across Tennessee. Announced in February, the funding will likely have a historic impact on the future of agricultural research and education within the UT system.
During his remarks, Keith Carver, senior vice chancellor and senior vice president of the UT Institute of Agriculture, described the 10 UTAE facilities as “critical to the development of agriculture not only in Tennessee, but also globally.”
“These facilities conduct cutting-edge research, whether it's with cattle, row crops, you name it,” Carver said. “But the biggest piece of what we do is making farming better. We want to improve the quality of life for farmers and the effectiveness and efficiency of farming all over the state. We know that if we're making a difference in Tennessee, we're going to make a difference in Arkansas. And we're also going to make a difference in Argentina. To not only feed us Tennesseans and us Americans, but also the world, it's going to be up to these facilities and the research they are conducting. That’s why this ARP grant is so monumental.”
Brown said that grant represents more funding “in one fell swoop” than he’s seen in the entirety of his 26-year career.
“In 2020, there were efforts underway to secure funds for equipment and facilities at our research and education centers,” said Brown. “We were asked to compile a list of our needs, which was eventually trimmed down to a budget of $50 million. I remember telling a colleague, ‘If we get 5% of what we're asking for, I’ll be ecstatic.’ You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when I received the email from Dr. Hongwei Xin [Dean of AgResearch and director of the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station at The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture] announcing that we had been awarded the full $50 million.”
Since receiving their $2.8 million allotment of the ARP funding, the Milan facility has already made significant equipment updates, including a six-row cotton picker, a plot combine, and multiple grain trucks and tractors.
Dr. Hongwei Xin says the funding was long overdue not only for the Milan facility, but for the other nine locations as well.
“When I joined the institute in 2019, the first thing I did was to convene our center directors and do an assessment,” Dr. Xin said during his remarks. “The need for equipment and infrastructure updates quickly became clear; we couldn’t conduct 21st century research with 1950s equipment. [The ARP funding] will likely be impactful for many, many years to come, not only regarding research, but also in workforce training and experiential learning for our students.”
Dr. Xin noted that grant funding expenditures will include a “next generation” poultry research facility at the Spring Hill location, improvements to the 8,000-square-foot greenhouse at the Greeneville unit, and multiple pieces of cattle-working equipment across the seven UTAE facilities that focus on beef cattle and dairy.
Carver pointed out that the new equipment and upgrades will ultimately benefit the farming community across Tennessee.
“It’s great to do research that results in journal articles and reams of data,” he said, “but for us, it’s most important to come away with real results that we can give back to you, our farmers. The goal is providing you with the techniques and knowledge that will make your operation more efficient and effective and will make you more profitable.”
For more information about the Milan No-Till Field Day, visit https://milannotill.tennessee.edu/general-information/.
From the use of poultry litter in corn production to controlling soil-borne diseases like red crown rot in soybeans, the 33rd Milan No-Till Crop Production Field Day on Thursday, July 25, covered a wide spectrum of agronomic topics and delivered on the high expectations of this time-honored event for providing cutting-edge and useful farming content.
Held at the University of Tennessee AgResearch and Education (UTAE) Center at Milan, a warm, humid, overcast day greeted some 1,250 visitors to the field day, the nation’s largest event dedicated to conservation tillage. Attendees represented 44 Tennessee counties, 11 states, and seven countries from as far away as Zambia and Morocco. More than 70 agribusiness vendors, including GreenPoint Ag and Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, manned booths and outdoor displays.
Launched in 1981 and conducted every other year since 2002, the field day is designed to provide producers with information and benefits of no-till farming over traditional tillage. This year’s program featured presentations on topics including no-till corn, cotton, and soybean production; pesticide labels and the Endangered Species Act; herbicide-resistant weed management; impacts of Bayer ThryvOn cotton biotechnology; crop water management; trends in cover crops; climate-smart ag and soil health; hemp production; ag water treatment; and soil fertility, as well as guided tours of the various crop plots.
Blake Brown, director of the Milan facility, said the event is always a “big deal” for everyone involved in its production.
“This is a chance for our faculty and scientists to present their research and results to the ag community,” said Brown. “That one-on-one aspect is important, and it’s a great opportunity for visitors to see the various research plots in person. It takes a lot of work — we had 170 people from our UTAE facilities from across the state involved — but everybody really looks forward to the event.”
Featured among this year’s sessions was a presentation regarding a $50 million American Rescue Plan (ARP) grant awarded to the UTAE system to be applied to the 10 research facilities across Tennessee. Announced in February, the funding will likely have a historic impact on the future of agricultural research and education within the UT system.
During his remarks, Keith Carver, senior vice chancellor and senior vice president of the UT Institute of Agriculture, described the 10 UTAE facilities as “critical to the development of agriculture not only in Tennessee, but also globally.”
“These facilities conduct cutting-edge research, whether it's with cattle, row crops, you name it,” Carver said. “But the biggest piece of what we do is making farming better. We want to improve the quality of life for farmers and the effectiveness and efficiency of farming all over the state. We know that if we're making a difference in Tennessee, we're going to make a difference in Arkansas. And we're also going to make a difference in Argentina. To not only feed us Tennesseans and us Americans, but also the world, it's going to be up to these facilities and the research they are conducting. That’s why this ARP grant is so monumental.”
Brown said that grant represents more funding “in one fell swoop” than he’s seen in the entirety of his 26-year career.
“In 2020, there were efforts underway to secure funds for equipment and facilities at our research and education centers,” said Brown. “We were asked to compile a list of our needs, which was eventually trimmed down to a budget of $50 million. I remember telling a colleague, ‘If we get 5% of what we're asking for, I’ll be ecstatic.’ You could’ve knocked me over with a feather when I received the email from Dr. Hongwei Xin [Dean of AgResearch and director of the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station at The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture] announcing that we had been awarded the full $50 million.”
Since receiving their $2.8 million allotment of the ARP funding, the Milan facility has already made significant equipment updates, including a six-row cotton picker, a plot combine, and multiple grain trucks and tractors.
Dr. Hongwei Xin says the funding was long overdue not only for the Milan facility, but for the other nine locations as well.
“When I joined the institute in 2019, the first thing I did was to convene our center directors and do an assessment,” Dr. Xin said during his remarks. “The need for equipment and infrastructure updates quickly became clear; we couldn’t conduct 21st century research with 1950s equipment. [The ARP funding] will likely be impactful for many, many years to come, not only regarding research, but also in workforce training and experiential learning for our students.”
Dr. Xin noted that grant funding expenditures will include a “next generation” poultry research facility at the Spring Hill location, improvements to the 8,000-square-foot greenhouse at the Greeneville unit, and multiple pieces of cattle-working equipment across the seven UTAE facilities that focus on beef cattle and dairy.
Carver pointed out that the new equipment and upgrades will ultimately benefit the farming community across Tennessee.
“It’s great to do research that results in journal articles and reams of data,” he said, “but for us, it’s most important to come away with real results that we can give back to you, our farmers. The goal is providing you with the techniques and knowledge that will make your operation more efficient and effective and will make you more profitable.”
For more information about the Milan No-Till Field Day, visit https://milannotill.tennessee.edu/general-information/.