The public is invited to attend the first field day for the University of California, Davis', 100-year agricultural research project Wednesday, July 20, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Established in 1991, the Long Term Research on Agricultural Systems project is devoted to research that will examine the sustainability of agriculture and its impact on the environment over a 100-year period. Now in its first cropping year, the project includes 100 acres planted with winter wheat, processing tomatoes and field corn. A grid of 72 one-acre plots has been established, allowing researchers to compare, for example, how crops perform when they receive just rain, as opposed to irrigation water, or when nitrogen is supplied by a legume cover crop, rather than by fertilizer. The project emphasizes long-term trends in soil properties that control yield, efficiency, profitability and environmental impact. Important short-term contributions to agricultural science are also expected. Ford Denison, associate professor of agronomy at UC Davis and director of the long-term project, will open the field day, explaining the work that has taken place so far at the research site and outlining plans for the future. Other researchers involved in the project will provide informal talks and demonstrations related to their work, ranging from weed science to agricultural dust. Tours also will be given of the various research plots. The project is headquartered at the university's Russell Ranch, about five miles west of the main UC Davis campus. From Davis, visitors should take Russell Boulevard to about 1 mile west of County Road 95, then turn left onto Kinsella Lane.