Energy expectations will be the opening topic for the 2006 University of Missouri Crop Management Conference, according to Peter Scharf, associate professor of agronomy at MU.

The conference will be Dec. 5-6 at the Holiday Inn Select in Columbia, Mo.

James Fischer, senior technical adviser with the U.S. Department of Energy, will present the keynote address. He will focus on how American agriculture uses energy and how the industry could lead in the development of a future where energy is clean, abundant, reliable and affordable both on and off the farm.

The conference also features a range of crop management topics, presented in one-hour breakout sessions. Topics include corn diseases; soybean insects; best management practices for nitrogen; weed seedling identification; conservation planning; summer pasture options; a new federal drought-tracking program; hay and manure as nutrient sources; and crop/animal systems to use wet distillers grains.