UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A wide variety of crop management, wildlife and conservation education, as well as a hay exhibit, will take place in and around the JD Harrington Crops, Tools and Conservation Building during Penn State’s Ag Progress Days, Aug. 9-11.
Specialists from Penn State and other organizations will be on hand to answer questions about crop production, weed identification, water quality and biofuels. Visitors can ask questions about crop and nutrient management, no-till practices, organic and sustainable farming, and even bring in weeds for experts to identify.
The 2022 Pennsylvania Hay Show, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Forage and Grassland Council, will be held at the Harrington Building, at the end of East Fifth Street, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday; Wednesday from 9 am to 7 pm; and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hay logs must be dropped off at the special hay sample drop-off point located along the east entrance to Ag Progress Days. The deadline for sample submission is 10am on August 9th.
Outside the Harrington Building, the Conservation Exhibit Area will include demonstrations supported by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. With a focus on working farms, NKRS technical staff will have an active cattle irrigation system with solar powered pumps for grazing operations; a model manure storage and heavy-use concrete area to address animal concentration areas and manure management; and an interactive soil tunnel to demonstrate soil health. Inside the Harrington Building, the NRCS booth will feature a cover crop display, soil health demonstrations and a live online soil survey activity.
The Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance will feature rainfall simulator demonstrations showing infiltration at 10 am and 2:30 pm each day.
This year’s new field demonstration will feature small grain combines and large square balers at 12:30 p.m. each day. “We have some spring wheat, a species that doesn’t normally grow in the East, to allow these big machines to run,” said Ron Hoover, senior project associate and coordinator of the Farm Research Program with Penn State Extension.
Near the Harrington Building, in the cover crop plots and green planting demonstrations, representatives of Penn State Extension and Pennsylvania seed companies will discuss new cover crop mixes planted in the plots.
New this year is a water well safety walking tour. Led by educators from Penn State Extension’s water resources team, this 30-minute tour will highlight ways to keep well water safe for both people and livestock. The tour will depart daily at 10 a.m. from the Harrington Building entrance.
Other tours focusing on stream buffers, cattle grazing, forest management and horse grazing will be held at various times during the three-day event. Buses will depart from the Corn Cradle at the top of Main Street.
A Sunflower Maze — a new exhibit located adjacent to the Harrington Building — will highlight Ukraine’s national flower. Children and adults alike can wander the giant maze, which is wheelchair and wheelchair accessible.
Nearby, presentations on renewable and alternative energy will take place at the United Farms National Family Learning Center at Main Street and East Ninth Street. These will include a demonstration of a biogas digester, a solar energy display and new information on electric tractors.
Sponsored by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Ag Progress Days is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center in Rock Springs, 9 miles southwest of State College on Route 45. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Aug. 9 ; 09:00-19:00 August 10; and 09:00-16:00 August 11. Entrance and parking are free.
For more information, visit the Ag Progress Days website. Twitter users can find and share information about the event using the hashtag #agprogressdays, and the event can also be found on Facebook (@AgProgressDays).
