VIDALIA — Though they already spend their days in the fields, Tuesday Concordia Parish’s farmers will have an opportunity for continuing education when they take a field trip around the parish.

The field day, organized through the LSU Agcenter, will be for local farmers to see different crop variety trials, as well as different irrigation and pesticide trials.

“We take these recommendations for different things and run them on these (test) farms first,” Concordia Parish Extension Service Director Glen Daniels said. “It’s how we get improved varieties and yield.”

For example, one of the trials farmers will see is a comparison of rice weevil pesticide applications.

One of the applications is done through seed treatment, while the other one is placed in the water surrounding the rice and applied to the plants that way, Daniels said.

Daniels said he has had working relationships with the farmers on the farms where the trials were conducted for years, and they agreed to host the variety trials and subsequent demonstrations.

While the field day is open to anyone, those participating in the Louisiana Master Farmer Program can use it to qualify for the second phase of the program.

Being a master farmer opens farmers up to the possibility of incentives from the National Resource Conservation Service.

The field day begins at 9 a.m. at the Scott-Case Tractor Company in Ferriday, and at 9:10 a.m. the participants will travel to Randy Meng’s field, located off of Louisiana 129 in Monterey.

The rest of the schedule is as follows:

49:15 a.m., cotton variety test discussion with Dr. Don Boquet .

49:25 a.m., cotton insect update with Dr. Roger Leonard.

49:30 a.m., travel to Angelina fields, Monterey.

49:45 a.m., water quality discussion with Donna Morgan.

410 a.m., Rice-Tec variety update with Cullen Minter.

410:15 a.m., rice water weevil demonstration and rice insect update with Dr. Natalie Hummel.

410:30 a.m., herbicide drift in rice discussion with Dr. Bill Williams.

410:45 a.m., break.

411 a.m., soybean inoculation with Dr. Ron Levy.

411:15 a.m., soybean diseases with Dr. Boyd Padgett.

411:30 a.m., soybean insects discussion with Dr. Roger Leonard.

411:45 a.m., soybean weed control and early burn down discussion with Dr. Bill Williams.

4noon, comments on varieties, soybean seed reps and irrigation systems with Glen Daniels.

412:15 p.m., lunch.

For more information, contact the Concordia Parish Extension Service at 318-336-5315.