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Tree Fruit
11:00 AM - Tree Fruit IPM Juliana Wilson, Michigan State Univ. This presentation will cover the basics of IPM techniques and tools commonly used in orchard production systems. Some of the topics that will be discussed are site selection, rootstock and cultivar selection, horticultural practices that make the job of pest management easier, monitoring techniques and tools, and the concepts of economic thresholds and phenological models that are used to help time orchard management decisions. 1:30 PM - Web-Based Tools that Support IPM Practices in Orchards Juliana Wilson, Michigan State Univ. This presentation will demonstrate some of the web-based tools that are currently available to growers, including helping with pest and disease identification, that can help with making integrated pest management (IPM) decisions in orchards. 3:00 PM - Accurate, Timely, and Valuable Apple Thinning Information Phase I & II Mario Miranda Sazo. The Precision Thinning Program in NY (as experienced by growers who participated in 2013 and 2014, and for the new cooperators who joined this group effort in 2014) gave them confidence to thin when appropriate and sound information about when not to thin, or when to thin more aggressively. This presentation will give a brief overview of how cooperators and the NY apple industry have received fast, accurate, and timely information from Dr. Robinson via the CCE-LOF Fruit Fax and by visiting farms. I will show a Extension Video for Precision Crop Load Management: We are well aware that growers want to know how much precision crop load management is going to cost, how long the growth measurements will take, and what they will get out if implementing a more intensive management approach as required by the Precision Thinning Program. Through the use of two short videos we will show how we can additionally support our extension efforts and help explain why this more precise concept can help NY growers to improve their profitability. The viewing of successful implementation stories and the Spanish-speaking training conducted this year will give growers additional confidence to adopt the Precision Thinning Program in 2015 and following years. 3:30 PM - Wildlife Exclusion Marlo Anderson 
Vegetable IPM
11:00 AM - Weed Management in Vegetable Production Stephen Weller, Purdue Univ. Discussion on current practices for managing weeds in vegetable crops including herbicide use and cultural and non-chemical approaches. Currently labeled and advances in chemical control will be featured along with cultural, mechanical and use of mulches for weed management. 11:45 AM - Pest Management for Moveable High Tunnels...Growing Tomatoes and Peppers Bret Fahrmeier 1:30 PM - Use of the Weather Based Spray Advisory Program MELCAST and Mulch to Effectively Manage Watermelon Diseases Zelalem Mersha, Lincoln Univ. 2:15 PM - Herbicide Drift Studies with Glyphosate and Dicamba on Tomato Stephen Weller, Purdue Univ. Discussion of research conducted on tomato plant response to various concentration of glyphosate and/or dicamba applied as a simulated drift and the effects on plant growth, time of crop maturity and yield. Additional discussion will include the latest information on the new agronomic crops that are being released with resistance to 2,4-D and dicamba and the implications and concerns for vegetable growers once these crops are grown and treated with these herbicides. 3:30 PM - Cover Crops and Vegetable IPM Jacob Wilson, Lincoln Univ. Focus on ways to integrate cover crops into vegetable production and how that relates to pest management. 4:30 PM - Updates on the 2015 Midwest Vegetable Production Guide Jim Quinn, Univ. of MO The Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers is revised annually. The changes for the 2015 edition will be reviewed. Also, substantial changes were made to the 2013 and 2014 editions when Ohio State University joined the coalition; some of these revisions will also be discussed. Agroforestry
11:00 AM - An Overview of Agroforestry Gene Garrett, Univ. of MO An overview of the 5 agroforestry practices (silvopasture, alley cropping, windbreaks, forest farming, and riparian buffers) will be presented. The benefits of adopting and implementing agroforestry practices will be discussed. 1:00 PM - Nut Cooperatives Larry Martin, NE Nut Growers Assoc. 2:00 PM - Development of a Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium Troy Pabst, UNL Forestry This presentation will provide an understanding of who is participating in the consortium, what each member is focusing on and what is new within the group. This talk will not include cultivar recommendations. 3:30 PM - Growing Chestnuts Bill Stouffer A presentation of experiences from six years growing chestnuts.
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Beginning Organic
11:00 AM - It All Starts with Healthy Soil Cary Rivard, KSU Healthy soil is the foundation of a successful farming operation. Cary Rivard, Fruit and Vegetable Extension Specialist at K-State, will discuss some of the basics of soil structure and methods we can use to improve soil health. During this session we will cover equipment and methods for managing soil as well as a general overview of some cover crops that do well in the Great Plains. Specific topics will also include crop rotation, cover cropping in high tunnels, weed-management, and no-till and minimum tillage methods. 11:30 AM - The Basics of Organic Pest Management Jacob Wilson An introduction to doing IPM in organic systems. 12:00 PM - Marketing Alicia Ellingsworth 1:30 PM - Organic Fruit Production at Powell Gardens Mark Gawron Organic fruit continues to be one of the most sought-after and least available items at most farmer’s markets and consumers are becoming more aware of the health benefits of a fruitful diet. However, fruit production in the Great Plains has its challenges and growing organically can be even more difficult. Mark Gawron, horticulturist at Powell Gardens will discuss the organic fruit production that is currently underway at the Heartland Harvest Garden, which includes apples and other tree fruit, strawberries, and bramble crops. This session will include considerations of growing organic fruit as well as success stories and failures of how fruit can be grown organically in the region. 2:00 PM - Basic Postharvest Handling for Fresh Produce Eleni Pliakoni Did you know that the spinach in your salad is alive? In this session, Eleni Pliakoni, Assistant Professor of Postharvest Physiology at Kansas State University will talk about the basic principles of postharvest handling for small-acreage produce growers. We will discuss the fundamental characteristics of produce quality as well as postharvest handling including washing and storage, packaging, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), cold chain management and some basic equipment considerations. 2:30 PM - Financing a Small Urban Farm Molly Fusselman Acquiring the finances to rent and/or purchase farmland and equipment for beginning specialty crop farmers is one of the largest hurdles to overcome as a start-up. In this presentation, Molly will cover the local programs in Kansas City that provide financial assistance to small, beginning farmers; bank and federal loan programs (FSA & NRCS); and local and federal grants (NIFA & SARE) available to small farmers to help get started or existing farms expand. She will cover the pros and cons of each funding stream to help the grower decide which is the best avenue to take. 3:30 PM - No-till and Strip-till Systems for Organic Vegetable Production Dana Jokela, ISU Organic no-till and strip-till system have been gaining attention among farmers interested in reducing tillage and improving soil health on their farms. This presentation will focus on practical aspects of using cover crops,a roller-crimper, and a strip tiller in vegetable production systems in the Midwest. We will also discuss 2014 results of a field study in central Iowa looking at the use of cover crop-based no-till and strip-till systems in organic broccoli and pepper production. 4:00 PM - Principles and Practice of On-farm Composting Hwei-Yiing Johnson This presentation will cover the basic principles of composting, tips on building compost piles, operation monitoring, compost quality evaluation, common problems and solutions, and compost uses. We will also examine case studies of garden composting improvements and view equipments and operation of a commercial composting facility. 4:30 PM - Organic Pepper Production Kathleen Delate, ISU Peppers are one of the most enjoyable vegetables to raise organically. Research on best management practices to raise healthy, organic peppers will be presented, including the latest results from organic no-till trials.
Technology
11:00 AM - Facebook & Social Media Lane McConnell The social media class I will discuss forms of social media, what works best for agriculture, tips of the trade and show how to do things on Facebook such as promote/boost posts, advertising, gaining likes, creating an event and understanding insights. 11:45 AM - Running an Efficient Market Using Square & World Pay Lane McConnell The Square class will be for folks that have never used Square before for their market/business accounting services. I will present this with farmer Melissa Millsap of Urban Roots Farm. We will discuss how our market, FMO, uses Square to track all EBT, Credit and Debit transactions, membership dues, how the market pays bills and how it syncs with our Quickbooks system. Melissa will discuss how her farm uses Square for their CSA and tracks market sales. 1:30 PM - Interactive Planning Tools to Set You Up for the Season Randy Cummings A presentation on useful interactive planning tools such as a Seed Calculator, CSA share planting quantities, frost date planting calculator and other interactive tools on our website. 2:00 PM - Timestation Jason Byrd Timestation is an app on smartphones that has given the farm a economical way of easily tracking hours of employees in different categories of the farm. The presentation will be based on our implementation and usage of this technology based on our farms use. Brief overviews of the app and basics of the app will also be given. 3:30 PM - AgSquared: Get the Most from Your Record Keeping Jeff Froikin-Gordon & Jerry Cornett Good record keeping can help you better manage your farm this year and help you make better decisions for next year. Learn how to implement best practices for record keeping on your farm. Discover how to use AgSquared’s online software to easily gather the information you need to better manage your farm, making both day-to-day and strategic farm management decisions. Jeff Froikin-Gordon (or Drew Katz) of AgSquared will explain the principles behind effective and manageable farm record keeping and will give a tour of AgSquared highlighting how the software can help you meet your farm record keeping goals. Then hear from Jerry Cornett of Lakehouse Farm (Waverly, NE) about his record keeping strategies and farm management goals, and how he uses his AgSquared account to keep up with his farm’s operations during the growing season. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
