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. 19, 2024, 9 a.m. to 3 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 a livestock tour beginning at 9:30 a.m. and repeating every half hour until 12:30 p.m., horticulture tour at 1 p.m. and 50 booths with agriculture and natural resources information throughout the day. On the livestock tour, participants can learn about beef cattle and sheep reproduction and forages, and the horticulture tour will feature Missouri specialty crops, agroforestry and pollinators.
The booths will be staffed by MU Extension research specialists, industry partners and partner agencies like the Missouri Department of Conservation.
The Mt. Vernon Rotary Club will also be on hand selling funnel cakes, and the Southwest Missouri Cattlemen’s Association will be selling steak sandwiches and fundraising for the Eldon Cole Memorial Fund.
Cole was a highly-regarded livestock specialist in Southwest Missouri for 58 years. In honor of his legacy, a new state-of-the-art livestock handling facility under construction at the SW-REEC has been officially named the Eldon Cole MU Livestock Facility. Contributions to the Eldon Cole Memorial Fund will go toward the endowment to sustain operations and provide MU Extension programming in his namesake facility.
“I want to thank the Southwest Cattleman’s Association for their support of this important work and of Eldon’s legacy,” Chism said. “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.”