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The Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca will be the host of the 2008 Field School for Ag Professionals on July 23rd – 24th. This year marks a significant change in the program structure of the school. Participants may choose to attend either day or both days of the field school as their interest or schedule allows. The first day’s program on July 23rd will consist of four disciplines - weed science, soil science, entomology and a revised crop diagnostics/plant pathology session. Students will attend each of these discipline's. These are 1.5 hour hands-on sessions. Instructors will include University of Minnesota State Extension Specialists, Regional Extension Educators, Research & Outreach staff and selected industry representatives. The educational emphasis for ag professionals will be on core principles for each discipline area.

The second day program will consist of multiple concurrent, 50-minute sessions, allowing participants to obtain one Certified Crop Advisor CEU per session. Student can self-select from up to six different sessions ranging across all of the four major agronomy disciplines which are designed to be timely, cutting edge topics for today’s ag professionals. Final details, registration fees, schedules and agenda’s and on-line registration will be available in late April for the 2008 University of Ag Professional field school at http://iap.umn.edu.

The Field School is offered as a hands-on, in-field program emphasizing crop and pest management diagnostic skill building in field crops. This program is targeted towards agronomists, crop production retailers, seed sellers, consultants, Extension Educators, agriculture government agency personnel, farm managers and summer scouts. Participants will have the opportunity to enhance their troubleshooting and crop management skills in specially designed plots that display actual cropping situations. A key feature of the Field School is the small learning groups students are placed in with an instructor to enhance the learning experience. Each subject is lead by experienced instructors offering personalized instruction and offering small group activities.

Questions about the 2008 Field School can be directed to David Nicolai, IAP Program Coordinator, via e-mail; nico0071@umn.edu or by calling 612-625-2778.