The University of Missouri’s Southwest Research, Extension and Education Center (REEC), located near Mt. Vernon, invites area agricultural producers to join in a public Field Day Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The SW-REEC, serving 22 counties in Southwest Missouri, is a research facility tasked with addressing the questions that fuel the main agricultural concerns of area industries including beef, forage and horticultural crop production. Field Day participants will have the opportunity to hear the latest in research findings and talk to faculty and extension specialists to better practices on their own farms.
“Field Days are such a crucial component of the land-grant mission that makes what we do at the University of Missouri so special,” said Jay Chism, SW-REEC director. “Our faculty and graduate students are making discoveries here every day, but what really matters is getting those discoveries into the hands of area producers.”
The Field Day will consist of an Agriculture Research Tour beginning at 10 a.m. and an Organic Research Tour at noon. More than 50 booths with agriculture and natural resources information will be available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The first tour will highlight the researchers who have projects at the SW-REEC. Topics will include livestock, row crops and horticulture.
The booths will be staffed by MU Extension research specialists, researchers from the Mizzou College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, industry partners and partner agencies like the Missouri Department of Conservation.
My Main Street Pizzeria will be selling pizza by the slice. The Mt. Vernon Rotary Club will also be on hand to sell funnel cakes, and the Southwest Missouri Cattlemen’s Association will be selling steak sandwiches and fundraising for the Eldon Cole Endowment Fund: mizzou.us/EldonColeMemorialFund.
Cole was a highly-regarded livestock specialist in Southwest Missouri for 58 years. In honor of his legacy, a new livestock handling facility has been constructed at the SW-REEC and officially named the Eldon Cole MU Livestock Facility. Contributions to the Eldon Cole Endowment Fund will sustain operations and provide MU Extension programming in his namesake facility.
“So many local organizations and businesses are supporting us in this Field Day, and it truly feels like a community effort. I am deeply grateful to each of them,” Chism said.
The SW-REEC is located 4 miles southwest of Mt. Vernon, at 14548 Highway H, Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712.