2017 Field Day

During the first week of August, 2017, almost 50 Missouri LICA contractors and employees met at the Grace Greenley Farm in Novelty, MO for our 2017 Field Day. Partnering with the University of Missouri Extension’s Greenley Research Center, we installed the first phase of a holistic approach to waterworks research for agriculture. On this 240-acre farm project, Dr. Kelly Nelson will be testing the impact of the permeable layer on drainage, the effect of more sloping soil on drainage, the effect of spacing on drainage, and the water quality benefits of a bio-reactor and buffer strip, to name a few of his projects. We installed one of Missouri’s first bio-reactors, the first buffer strip in the state of Missouri, as well as six acres of drainage to feed them. In addition, we installed another 40 acres of drainage for four replicated test plots. These tile lines were buried two feet, three feet, and four feet deep for the “drainage-only” portions of the test plot, and two feet and three feet deep for the “drainage and sub-irrigation” test plots, with tile spacings for the “drainage and sub-irrigation” test plots of ten feet, 15 feet and 20 feet. We are anxious to see what Dr. Nelson’s research will show.

The public show was held on August 8, 2017 and more than 400 attendees took advantage of the opportunity to learn from the experts. The day started with breakfast, followed by a number of speakers giving opening remarks, including State Representatives, the new Dean and Vice Chancellor of the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (CAFNR), the new Director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, a Missouri Senator, and several representatives from the agriculture community like the Missouri Corn Growers Association, Missouri Soybean Association, a local farmer, and the Superintendent of the Greenley Research Center. Throughout the day, tour wagons took attendees around the field, stopping at educational stations where they learned about the latest research results and installation requirements for the bio-reactor and buffer strip, cover crops and terracing, water control structures and water gates, a retention pond and dam, and the four drainage test plots. We wrapped up the event with lunch in the vendors’ tent where more than 20 exhibitors were on hand to answer questions and share information about the latest developments in the industry.

For some history of the Greenley Research Center and the Grace Greenley Farm, as well as a few more field day details, click here.

We want to offer a very special “Thank You” to our contractors and their employees, the staff of the Greenley Research Center, and all of our sponsors, without whom this event would not have happened. Our words are inadequate to express our deep gratitude to each and every one of them. We also want to thank Logan Jackson, Mike Harre, and Mona Bledsoe for serving as our volunteer photographers!

[The pictures in the slideshow below will automatically advance, or you can click on the “forward,” “back,” or stop arrows at the bottom of the picture to run it at your own pace. Descriptions are beneath each picture.]