2019 Friday Conference Presentations
2019 KEYNOTE
Transitioning Your Farm to the Next Generation (pdf)
In 2012, Alex and Betsy Hitt, owners of Peregrine Farm located outside Chapel Hill, North Carolina, began the process of bringing one of their employees into the business as a partner, allowing them to slowly step back from daily field operations. The Hitts started their farm in 1981, fresh graduates from Utah State University with degrees in soils (Alex) and forestry (Betsy). Both have worked full time on the farm since 1990 and make their entire living off of 2.5 acres.
Peregrine Farms is a diversified operation, with about 75% vegetable production and 15% cut flowers, with the rest in small fruit. The majority of income comes from a two-day-a-week farmers' market, with the rest in direct sales to a number of restaurants. Over the years, products have also been marketed through U-pick, roadside stand, grocery stores, florists and floral wholesalers.
Moving into their seventh decade, Alex and Betsy found the summer production season to be more difficult and wearing than it was in the past. Aches and pains were slower to fade, so they began thinking about the future. As first-generation farmers, the Hitts wanted the farm they built to continue on into the future, but they had no children to pass the farm to. Many farmers have to sell their ground to afford retirement, but they wanted to stay in their home and enjoy their property. So what to do?
According to Alex, “You don’t pass on, close or sell any business quickly, especially one where you live and have nurtured your whole life. It takes time to put all the pieces in place as there is estate planning, financial planning, tax planning and all manner of legal details to work through.”
For the last seven years, Alex and Betsy have worked the farm with their business partner Jennie, who now oversees the field crew and all aspects of production with input from Alex and Betsy. Come and learn more about how Alex and Betsy are navigating transitioning their farm to the next generation with “The Jennie Project”.
In 2012, Alex and Betsy Hitt, owners of Peregrine Farm located outside Chapel Hill, North Carolina, began the process of bringing one of their employees into the business as a partner, allowing them to slowly step back from daily field operations. The Hitts started their farm in 1981, fresh graduates from Utah State University with degrees in soils (Alex) and forestry (Betsy). Both have worked full time on the farm since 1990 and make their entire living off of 2.5 acres.
Peregrine Farms is a diversified operation, with about 75% vegetable production and 15% cut flowers, with the rest in small fruit. The majority of income comes from a two-day-a-week farmers' market, with the rest in direct sales to a number of restaurants. Over the years, products have also been marketed through U-pick, roadside stand, grocery stores, florists and floral wholesalers.
Moving into their seventh decade, Alex and Betsy found the summer production season to be more difficult and wearing than it was in the past. Aches and pains were slower to fade, so they began thinking about the future. As first-generation farmers, the Hitts wanted the farm they built to continue on into the future, but they had no children to pass the farm to. Many farmers have to sell their ground to afford retirement, but they wanted to stay in their home and enjoy their property. So what to do?
According to Alex, “You don’t pass on, close or sell any business quickly, especially one where you live and have nurtured your whole life. It takes time to put all the pieces in place as there is estate planning, financial planning, tax planning and all manner of legal details to work through.”
For the last seven years, Alex and Betsy have worked the farm with their business partner Jennie, who now oversees the field crew and all aspects of production with input from Alex and Betsy. Come and learn more about how Alex and Betsy are navigating transitioning their farm to the next generation with “The Jennie Project”.
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Tree Fruit
11:00 AM Peach Variety Options for the Fresh Market (pdf) , Bill Shane, MSU 11:45 AM Updates in the 2019 Fruit Pest Management Guide (pdf), Patrick Byers, MU 12:00 PM Lunch 1:00 PM 2018 Tree Fruit Challenges and 2019 Tree Fruit Opportunities, Michele Warmund, MU 2:00 PM Understanding and Managing Peach Diseases (pdf), Bill Shane, MSU 2:45 PM Updates on FSMA for Tree Fruit Growers (pdf), Connie Landis-Fisk, PSA 3:00 PM Break 3:30 PM Apple Diseases- The Old, the New and the Weird, Lina Rodriguez-Salamanca, ISU 4:15 PM Brown Marmorated Stink Bug Management and Research Update (pdf), Tracey Leskey, USDA-ARS Organic Farming I
11:00 AM We Fought the Law, and the Law Won? What Happens Next?: Moving Beyond the Battle for Organic with the USDA (pdf), Linley Dixon, The Real Organic Project 11:45 AM Managing Risk Through Soil Health Practices: Research-based Practical Guidance for Organic and Transitioning Farmers (pdf), Michael Stein, Organic Farming Research Foundation 12:30 PM Lunch 1:30 PM Is Organic's Soil Based Standard All Washed Up? (pdf), Michelle Wander, University of Illinois 2:15 PM Managing Insect and Disease Pests in Organic Tomato Production (pdf), Abby Seaman, Cornell University 3:00 PM Break 3:30 PM Managing Insect and Disease Pests in Organic Cucurbit Crops (pdf), Abby Seaman, Cornell University 4:15 PM Management of Pollinators and Beneficial Insects on Your Farm (pdf), Rae Powers, NRCS Vegetable IPM
11:00 AM Top Ten Vegetable Diseases of 2018 (pdf), Lina Rodriguez-Salamanca, ISU 11:45 AM Biological Control and Disease Management at the Depot Market (pdf), Dan Kuhn, Depot Market 12:15 PM Group Discussion 12:30 PM Lunch 1:30 PM Effect of Row Covers and Cultivars on Broccoli Production and Pest Management (pdf), Ajay Nair, ISU 2:15 PM Optimizing Your Pest Control Program with the 2019 Vegetable Production Guide (pdf), Jim Quinn, MU 2:45 PM Group Discussion 3:00 PM Break 3:30 PM Growing Clean in the Greenhouse for Vegetable Transplants, Judy O'Mara, KSU 4:15 PM Weed Management with Biodegradable Mulches, Jeremy Cowan, KSU |
Technology: Tractors, Implements, Apps & More
11:00 AM Introduction: Technology Is Something that Should Make Our Lives Easier! Jessup Wagon 2.0 and AgriAbility Demonstration, Nahson Bishop & Dave Middleton, LU 12:00 PM Lunch 1:00 PM Tractors...with Two Wheels!, Kara Daniels, BCS America 1:30 PM Walk Behind Tractor Implements, Kara Daniels, BCS America 2:00 PM The High Tech Fight Against Weeds, Reid Smeda, MU 3:00 PM Break 3:30 PM Mobile Perennial Crops in Your High Tunnel (pdf), Jennifer Morganthaler, MU 4:15 PM Drones! Drones! Drones! (pdf), Kent Shannon, MU Season Extension
11:00 PM High Tunnel Research Roundup, Cary Rivard & Zac Hoppenstedt, et. al., KSU
12:30 PM Lunch 1:30 PM Midwest Winter Vegetable Production -Using Unheated High Tunnels (pdf), Liz Graznak, Happy Hollow Farm 3:00 PM Break 3:30 PM Midwest Winter Flower Production - Using A Variety of Growing Structures & Heating Sources (pdf), Liz Graznak - Happy Hollow Farm, Mimo Davis & Miranda Duschack- Urban Buds, Ethan Jones - Wild Goose Gardens Drought in the Midwest - Morning
11:00 PM Participation in the Drought Reporting Process (pdf), Pat Guinan, MU & MO State Climatologist 11:20 PM Drought Planning in a Nutshell: 20+ Years of Experience in 10 Minutes (pdf), Kelly Helm Smith, National Drought Mitigation Center 11:40 PM Improving Weather and Climate Information for Specialty Crops, Dennis Todey, USDA Midwest Climate Hub 12:00 PM Monitoring and Tool Development for Climate and Drought (pdf), Beth Hall, Midwest Regional Climate Center 12:20 PM Questions and Discussion 12:30 PM Lunch Herbicide Injury in Horticultural Crops - Afternoon 1:30 PM Introduction to Herbicide Drift & Volatilization and Filing a Complaint With Your State Department of Agriculture (pdf), Andy Luke, MU 2:00 PM Impacts of 2,4-D & Dicamba Drift on Common Fruit, Nut, and Shade Tree Species (pdf), Brian Dintelmann, MU 2:30 PM Monitoring for Temperature Inversions Using the Missouri Mesonet, Pat Guinan, MU & MO State Climatologist 2:45 PM Break 3:13 PM Insurance Concerns with Off-target Dicamba Injury (pdf), Ray Massey, MU 4:15 PM Dicamba and Herbicide Drift: A Look at Some Legal Issues (pdf), Kristine Tidgren, Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation – ISU |