DATE:     9/2/99   
CONTACT:  Dr. Ben Kittrell, (843) 662-3526, Extn. 259
          Dr. Mike Jones, (843) 662-3526, Extn. 255
WRITER:   Tom Lollis, (803) 284-3343

Pee Dee REC Field Day Will Look at Cropping Systems

     FLORENCE -- Cropping systems are becoming more important to
South Carolina farmers, and that will be the focus of a Sept. 16
field day at Clemson University's Pee Dee Research and Education
Center.
     "Our theme will be  Survival Strategies for the New
Millennium,'" said Mike Jones, Clemson Extension cotton
specialist.
     The program will concentrate on problems and opportunities
for tobacco, cotton, soybeans, corn, peanuts and small grains --
the dominant field crops of the Pee Dee Region of South Carolina.
     Registration begins at 12:30 p.m. in the lobby of the 
John B. Pitner Center, the Pee Dee REC's headquarters building. 
     A panel discussion on contract farming begins at 1 p.m. 
in the auditorium. It will cover the pros and cons of swine 
and poultry contract operations and the future of contracting in
tobacco and field crop production.
     At 2 p.m., participants will have a choice of concurrent 
seminars -- one on emerging technologies in the genetic
engineering field and technological advances in agricultural 
equipment, and the other covering economics and marketing 
strategies.
     Three tours will be offered from 3 to 6:30 p.m. Participants
may take part in two.
     Tour No. 1 concentrates on cotton and offers a look at 
insect control, drip irrigation, crop recoverability after hail 
damage, ultra-narrow row production and how certain cultivars
interact with herbicides.
     Tour No. 2 looks at conservation tillage. Speakers will 
discuss cotton residue management, no-till/narrow-row soybeans,
conventionally spaced no-till soybeans, and a split landscape
divided between conservation tillage and conventional tillage.
     Tour No. 3 centers on cropping systems and features talks on
manure management, soybean breeding, bacterial wilt in tobacco,
no-till tobacco production, and peanut weed control and peanut
cultivars.
     To reach the Pee Dee REC, take the TV Road exit off of 
Interstate 95 and turn left. At Pocket Road turn left. The 
center will be on the right.
                           END