Judd Hill Foundation field day to feature university research
Aug. 17, 2009Contact Information:
Fred Bourland, Director, Northeast Research and Extension Center
870-526-2199, bourland@uark.edu
Howell Medders, Division of Agriculture Communications
479-575-5647, hmedders@uark.edu
TRUMANN, Ark. — The Judd Hill Cotton Technology Field Day Sept. 3 will provide a look at research on the Judd Hill Plantation near Trumann in Poinsett County by agricultural scientists at Arkansas State University, the University of Arkansas System’s Division of Agriculture and commercial agricultural companies.
Congressman Marion Berry of Gillett will be the keynote speaker following research tours from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. A complimentary lunch will conclude the 15th annual field day sponsored by the Judd Hill Foundation.
Topics on the research plot tour will include precision agriculture, cotton varieties, herbicide resistant weeds, organic sources of nitrogen and the economics of a cotton and corn crop rotation, according to Matt Moon of Jonesboro, chairman of the field day committee. New equipment, products and services will be on display at a trade show.
The research is an extension of projects conducted at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and at the Division of Agriculture’s Northeast Research and Extension Center at Keiser, NEREC director Fred Bourland said.
The Judd Hill Foundation is a major supporter of agricultural research at Arkansas State University and also provides an area for Division of Agriculture experimental plots.“This allows us to expand our research on soils that have very high yield potential for cotton,” Bourland said. “We also are able to work on a variety of issues in cooperation with Billy Baker, who manages the commercial cotton farm.”
The foundation, founded in 1985 by Ester Hill Chapin, produces cotton on 3,800 acres. Farm profits help fund agricultural research and other philanthropic activities.
In 1991, Ester Hill Chapin, who received the 4,000-acre plantation as a wedding gift from her father, Judd Hill, bequeathed the plantation to the foundation.