By Brian Hefty

On Thursday, July 25 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. we are hosting a free Ag PhD Summer Field Day on our farm near Baltic, SD, and we invite you to join us!

Even if you have attended our field day in the past, you will want to join us this year.  We have a number of new technologies you will get the chance to see, several new guest speakers, new demonstrations, and a couple of surprise guests I think you’ll enjoy.  As always, Darren and I will give you our take on our plots and many of the new traits and herbicides that you’ll see on our farm.  We will also have all the equipment we farm with on display this year.

One new section of our field day will feature a Brian vs. Darren showcase.  Which brother can produce higher yielding crops in the same soil side-by-side?  We’ll go through what I’m doing vs. what Darren is doing, as well as some of the things we can both agree on.  It should be pretty fun.

Kids are welcome, as we will once again have inflatables, games, and other entertainment for children.  We will also have many activities and speakers we feel farm wives will enjoy.  Our farm is just 10 miles outside of Sioux Falls, the largest city in the Dakotas, so there are plenty of things to do there that the rest of the family will enjoy, too.

If you are concerned about the weather on July 25, we are taking all possible measures so we are prepared whether it is hot or cold, wet or dry.  We will have several air conditioned tents and one new air conditioned building.  All our educational sessions will be under roof or tent.  We will again have golf carts or 4-wheelers available for those who need that service, and trams will be running between our parking lot and main field day area all day.

Lunch, supper, snacks, and drinks will be served throughout the day.  Discount lodging is available at several hotels; just check here for options or give us a call at 605-529-5413 for more details.

We believe our Ag PhD Field Day will again be the largest private farm field day in the Midwest in 2013; but more importantly, we hope it will be the most educational and entertaining for you.  Last year, we had farmers from 24 different U.S. states and 2 Canadian provinces, so if nothing else, if you just talk to farmers all day you ought to get a pretty good idea what the crop is like everywhere else, and you’ll learn more about what other successful farmers are doing in their operations to get ahead.

Check www.agphd.com to learn more about this year’s field day.  It is a day you won’t want to miss!