Farmers attend talks at The Vettori’s farm supply store in Saxonburg during a field day event hosted by Penn State Extension Butler County, Thursday, July 30, 2026. at Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
Matthew Brown
Penn State Extension’s Butler County office hosted a field day event for corn and soybean farmers at The Vettori’s farm supply store in Saxonburg on Thursday morning, July 30.
Paul Esker, professor of epidemiology and field crop pathology, introduced the Open Crop Manager system, an online system he developed which allows farmers to collect and store data related to soybean yield and profitability. The system is currently available on the web and is scheduled to be released as a mobile app next month.
Extension agronomy educator Justin Brackenrich discussed ways for corn farmers to balance nitrogen use to maximize efficiency in annual corn production.
Later on, extension agronomy educator Stephen Campbell took guests outside Vettori’s to discuss different means of weed prevention and herbicide.
Paul Esker, a professor of epidemiology and field crop pathology at Penn State University, discusses the Open Crop Manager system and some of its findings during a field day event hosted by Penn State Extension Butler County at The Vettori’s farm supply store in Saxonburg, Thursday, July 30, 2026. at Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
Matthew Brown
Justin Brackenrich discusses a nitrogen calculator tool during a field day event hosted by Penn State Extension Butler County at The Vettori’s farm supply store in Saxonburg, Thursday, July 30, 2026. at Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
Matthew Brown
Paul Esker, a professor of epidemiology and field crop pathology at Penn State University, discusses the Open Crop Manager system and some of its findings during a field day event hosted by Penn State Extension Butler County at The Vettori’s farm supply store in Saxonburg, Thursday, July 30, 2026. at Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
Matthew Brown
Jordan Kennedy with Four Season Farm, center, asks a question after a lecture during a field day event hosted by Penn State Extension Butler County at The Vettori’s farm supply store in Saxonburg, Thursday, July 30, 2026. at Matthew Brown/Butler Eagle
Matthew Brown
