Big data and dicamba. They’re two of the hot topics in agriculture right now and will be the focus of a February 7th Agronomy Meeting hosted by K-State Research and Extension, Atchison County and the Meadowlark Extension District at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Nortonville.

The dicamba portion of the meeting will be the auxin specific applicator training required for anyone planning to apply dicamba products (Engenia, FeXapan, and XtendiMax). With the reclassification of these products as Restricted Use Pesticides, producers must be certified as private or 1A (Agriculture Plant) commercial pesticide applicators in order to purchase and apply these herbicides. Dr. Dallas Peterson, K-State Research & Extension Weed Scientist will kick off the program at 10:00 a.m. with the auxin training required for purchase/use of these products. His training will cover the label changes and application requirements and provide information on what you, as an applicator, need to do to meet these requirements. The labels for these herbicides include mandatory record keeping requirements, modified wind speed restrictions, limited times of day that applications can be made, a revised list of sensitive crops and sensitive sites, buffer zone requirements, and revised sprayer cleaning procedures and documentation. Producers should also be checking on the status of their pesticide applicator’s license as well.

Lunch will follow the auxin training before we jump in to the subject of big data in agriculture. Dr. Terry Griffin, Cropping Systems Economist in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University will present his work on trends in adoption of data collection methods. He’ll also challenge growers to think about the value of data collected on their farm and how that data can help make production decisions, and add value to their land.

We’ll meet for refreshments at 9:30 with the auxin training to begin at 10:00. Following an 11:45 lunch, we’ll kick off Dr. Griffin’s big data discussion at 12:30 p.m. The Knights of Columbus Hall is located 105 N. Norton St. (intersection of Norton and Walnut) in Nortonville.

A $10 registration fee is being charged to offset meal costs. To ensure adequate food and handout materials, please RSVP by Friday, February 2nd, to the Oskaloosa Office of the Meadowlark Extension District (785-863-2212; dhallaue@ksu.edu ) or the Atchison County Extension Office (913-833-5450; cladd@ksu.edu ). Registration is payable at the door.

This is the first of two auxin trainings being offered in the Meadowlark Extension District. The second meeting will be held on the afternoon of February 27th in Nemaha County (more details coming soon!) Additional information on the February 7th and 27th meetings, as well as links to other K-State Research and Extension sponsored auxin specific trainings will be posted on the Crops & Soils page of the Meadowlark Extension District website at http://www.meadowlark.k-state.edu/crops-soils/index.html .

Auxin specific applicator trainings are also being offered by industry representatives. Check with your local retailer for meeting dates/times. Note: It will be the responsibility of the applicators to obtain this training before the application of these herbicides.