SDSU Extension welcomes the community to the 2025 Specialty Crop Field Day on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, from 5:00 to 8:30 p.m. CDT.
Location
SDSU Specialty Crop Research Field-South
1601 University Blvd
Brookings, SD 57007
The field is located directly east of the SDSU Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center. Follow “SDSU Extension Horticulture” signs that will direct you to event parking.
Contact
Kristine Lang, Assistant Professor & SDSU Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist
This event will feature a series of presentations and field tours related to small to mid-scale commercial vegetable production research trials. Beginning and current specialty crop producers will benefit greatly from this event; non-profit organizations, technical service providers, Master Gardeners, and home gardeners are all invited to attend.
The fifth annual Specialty Crop Field Day will provide attendees an opportunity to tour 8 unique research plots that feature peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, pumpkins, and cut flowers. A variety of soil health, disease management, and crop timing strategies will be discussed. Four newly constructed caterpillar tunnels and two existing high tunnels will be featured. Throughout the event, SDSU faculty, SDSU Extension specialists, and local organizations will staff educational booths to share resources related to support the success of specialty crops in South Dakota. This will be a great networking event with multiple chances to learn from students, extension specialists, and each other.
This event is family-friendly, and all ages (with a parent or guardian) are welcome, but please leave all pets at home. This tour will include moderate distances of walking, so please wear appropriate footwear that can get dirty. If you require accommodations or assistance, please contact Kristine Lang one week prior to the event so she can make arrangements for you to fully engage in this field day.
Additional Details
- 5:00 p.m. - Welcome, educational exhibits open, and light refreshments available
- 5:10 p.m. - SDSU specialty crop research trial tour
- Is it worth it? Alternaria leaf blight control in cucumbers with conventional and organic fungicides with Sean Toporek and Janani Perera
- Variability in pepper species to Alternaria internal rot with Sean Toporek, Janani Perera, Keigo Imai, and Madison Zercher
- Caterpillar tunnels x fungicides: managing Alternaria internal rot in habanero peppers with Sean Toporek, Janani Perera, Keigo Imai, and Madison Zercher
- Improving living mulch tomato and cucumber production system yields through grafting with Sean Toporek and Keigo Imai
- Pick a Pumpkin, any Pumpkin: Lessons learned from growing 20 cultivars with Kristine Lang and Gabby Thooft
- High Tunnel and Open Field Direct-Seeded Flowers: Lesson learned from a late start to the season with Kristine Lang and Gabby Thooft
- Comparing Wool Mulch and Wool Pellets to other Common Mulching Methods with Kristine Lang, Chloe Dondlinger, Malisa Niles, and Robin Buterbaugh
- Crowd-sourcing Trial Ideas for Heat Tolerant Lettuce and Tomato Trial Next Steps with Kristine Lang and Karissa Bickett
- 7:00 p.m. - SDSU Ice Cream is served, exhibitor lightning talks and event evaluation
- 7:40 p.m. - Choose your own field day adventure:
- Option 1: Travel across campus and join Sean Toporek and undergraduate students for a tour of the SDSU Local Foods Education Center
- Option 2: Continue networking with exhibitors and ask questions after their lightning talks!
- Option 3: Join Kristine Lang for an informal discussion of lessons learned managing and maintaining a high tunnel within two years of construction.
- 8:00 p.m. - Educational exhibits end
- 8:30 p.m. - Field tours conclude
SDSU and non-SDSU organizations are being invited to exhibit at the event for a $100 booth fee. To register, contact Kristine Lang, Assistant Professor & SDSU Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist.
Special thanks to our education exhibitors for their support of this field day!
Registration
Registering in advance is appreciated, but walk-in registration will be welcome. Registration can be completed using the form below. Please fill out all requested details to ensure that your registration is complete. For more information, contact Kristine Lang, Assistant Professor & SDSU Extension Consumer Horticulture Specialist.
If the embedded registration form is not displaying on this page, visit Eventbrite to register.
Funding for the research and outreach featured at this field day provided, in part, by educational exhibitors; the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2022-38640-37486 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number ENC22-216; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service under agreement number NR236740XXXXG003.
