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Â鶹´«Ã½ School of Agriculture Hosting Pennycress Field Day May 22

May 9, 2025

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MACOMB, IL – The Â鶹´«Ã½ Illinois University School of Agriculture will host its fifth annual Integrated Pennycress Research Enabling Farm & Energy Resilience (IPREFER) Pennycress Field Day from 10 a.m.-noon Thursday, May 22 at the Agriculture Field Laboratory on Tower Road in Macomb.

The Field Day is open to the public and no registration is required, with lunch provided following the event. The field laboratory is located north of the Harry Mussatto Golf Course.

This year's Pennycress Field Day has been established to introduce the new winter annual crop of field pennycress to local producers. The event will feature researchers and industry representatives from around the country to discuss the short season crop and the results from the previous year.

The event was created by the IPREFER National Institute of Food and Agriculture-Coordinated Agricultural Projects (NIFA-CAP), which is infusing $10 million toward the development and commercial launch of pennycress, along with the $13 million USDA-DOE Integrated Pennycress Resilience Project (IPREP), focused on the abiotic stresses impacting pennycress production. Additional research projects funded by the Illinois Soybean Association and the Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council, looking at soybean planting dates, inter-seeding and the impact of cover crops on water and soil health, will be discussed.

The Pennycress Field Day is set up as a guided tour of the Â鶹´«Ã½ pennycress plots. Attendees should wear walking shoes. Snacks and water will be provided.

For questions or if you would like to bring a large group to the event, contact Â鶹´«Ã½ Agriculture Professor Win Phippen at WB-Phippen@wiu.edu.

For more information on the Â鶹´«Ã½ pennycress project, visit wiu.edu/pennycress.

Posted By: University Communications, University Relations
Phone: (309) 298-1993 * Fax: (309) 298-1606