UC Davis and UC Cooperative Extension will host the UC Dry Bean Field Day on Thursday, August 14, 2025 from 9:30am to 12:00pm. The field day will begin along Bee Biology Road on the UC Davis campus where attendees will have the opportunity to view research plots. UCCE sandwich board signs will be set up to direct attendees to the field location. The program will relocate to the Agronomy Field Headquarters about half way through the program, where there will be hands-on stations to view seeds, proximal sensing equipment, and field plots. The agenda is pasted below, and a downloadable version is attached to the bottom of this post. We have submitted applications for DPR (1.0 of Other) and CCA (1.0 Crop Management, 1.0 Pest Management) continuing education credits. Light refreshments and lunchtime burritos will be provided, and we thank the CA Crop Improvement Association for financially supporting this meeting. Thanks for your interest, and we hope to see you at the field day!

Agenda:

9:30am       Arrival and sign-in at Bee Biology

9:45am       Welcome and introductions: Christine Diepenbrock, Antonia Palkovic, UC Davis; Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, UCCE 

9:50am       Walk to field plots

10:00am     Developing breeding resources to improve lima and garbanzo adaptation and quality: Christine Diepenbrock and Antonia Palkovic; UC Davis

10:20am     Sensory evaluation work in lima beans: Jaclyn Adaskaveg; UC Davis

10:25am     Genetic basis of lima bean adaptation traits: Travis Parker and Varma Penmetsa; UC Davis

10:30am     Travel to Agronomy Field Headquarters, follow the signs to the field location. 

10:45am     Choosing varieties for pest resistance, high yields, and high quality – regional trial results: Michelle Leinfelder-Miles; UC Cooperative Extension

11:00am     Weed identification and weed management in dry beans: Giuliano Galdi; UC Cooperative Extension

11:15am     Cowpea breeding for California – biotic and abiotic stress resistance: Bao-Lam Huynh; UC Riverside

11:30am     Station rotation – Visit researchers at different stations in the field 

• Seed station:
  • Cowpea seed size: Sassoum Lo, Jonny Berlingeri, Maggie Riggs; UC Davis
  • Common bean seed diversity: Tayah Bolt; UC Davis
  • Garbanzo seed diversity: Varma Penmetsa; UC Davis
  • Lima and garbanzo breeding lines: Christine Diepenbrock, Antonia Palkovic; UC Davis
• Sensing station:
  • Drone data extraction: Travis Parker; UC Davis
  • Mobile phone/drone/ground-based rover: Earl Ranario, Heesup Yun; UC Davis
• Plot walk-through (cowpea, common bean, common bean/tepary bean interspecific lines)
  • Michelle Leinfelder-Miles, Giuliano Galdi, UCCE; Bao-Lam Huynh, UC Riverside

12:00pm     Burrito lunch at Agronomy Field Headquarters