USDA Friends & Neighbors Day

Friends & Neighbors Day at the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory will be from 2:00-5:30 p.m. on July 19. The annual free event, sponsored by the Area 4 SCD Cooperative Research Farm, allows the public an opportunity to visit the beautiful USDA campus and learn about world-class Ag and environmental research in North Dakota. Throughout the afternoon, USDA employees will offer presentations, tours, and a free afternoon-long barbecue. The North Dakota Department of Agriculture will host presentations on honey bees at 2:30 pm and public/private partnerships for safe dairy foods at 3:30 pm. Morton and Burleigh County Extension will be provide a fun learning area for children of all ages. Other USDA agencies (FSA, APHIS, NRCS, Rural Development, etc.) will host exhibits on their efforts. The USDA tours departing at 2:30 pm will tour the Area 4 SCD Research Farm and focus on drone use in agriculture, crop interseeding, remote sensing and phenology, drought and cover crop interaction, and transitioning to organic crop production. The public is invited to bring in water for the USDA scientists to test. The research campus located at 1701 10th Avenue SW in Mandan. For more information, call 701.667.3000 or go to www.area4farm.org or www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/mandan-nd/ngprl/.