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High Tunnel Workshop
9:30 AM - Introduction Cary Rivard, KSU 9:45 AM - High Tunnels Crop Production on the Texas High Plains Russ Wallace, Texas A&M There will be a brief description on the background of high tunnel use in Texas and the High Plains region. Provide information on growing techniques and challenges with high tunnel crop production in areas of severe weather (high winds, hail storms, blowing dust, and extremes in high and low temperatures). Pest management issues will also be discussed. 10:30 AM - Bacterial Canker in Tomato Megan Kennelly, KSU Bacterial canker in tomato is a challenging disease to diagnose and manage. This presentation will give an overview of the disease with practical tips for prevention and management. 11:00 AM - Break 11:30 AM - Ten Years of Growing Tomatoes in High Tunnels; What “Flew” - What “Flopped” Dennis Hatfield, Grower Presentation will cover several innovative methods and ideas for growing tomatoes in a heated high tunnel. Special emphasis will describe the current micro-climate growing, and above ground compost filled growing tubes. Growing tomato transplants in a heated, mini-tunnel inside a greenhouse will also be covered, and several pictures will be shown during the presentation. 12:15 PM- Lunch 1:30 PM - Revitalizing Small-Acreage Strawberry Production in Texas Russ Wallace, Texas A&M Strawberry production offers small-acreage growers opportunities for increased income; however, in semi-arid regions of Texas this can prove to be difficult. This presentation will demonstrate how Texas A&M AgriLife Extension specialists, scientists, growers and industry collaborated to provide opportunities for growers to expand their knowledge and evaluate strawberry production in their regions of the state. 2:15 PM - Research Round-about KSU Crew 3:00 PM - Break 3:30 PM - HT.org Discussion Kimberly Oxley, KSU As high tunnel production continues to increase in the US, more and more growers are looking for online resources where they can learn about specific growing practices, research results, and network with other growers. The website, www.hightunnels.org, has long been a resource to growers for information, and recently was updated to a new content management system. During this session, we will have a facilitated conversation in order to learn from growers what resources would be helpful on the site. We would also like to learn from audience members about future possibilities for grower networking including social media. 4:15 PM - Grafting for High Tunnel Production in the Great Plains Cary Rivard, KSU Many high tunnel growers are implementing the use of grafting as a way to reduce soilborne disease and increase yield for tomato. During this session, Cary Rivard will discuss the most-recent research findings relevant to high tunnel tomato growers in the area. We are examining rootstocks specifically for their ability to increase yield in high tunnel systems with little pressure from soilborne diseases. We are also developing propagation methods for grafting that are suited for small growers with limited propagation space such as high tunnel growers. Tree Fruit Workshop
9:30 AM - Liquid Fertilizers - Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizer Jacob Emling USDA SNAP EBT Program in Farmers Market Don Wambles 11:00 AM - Break 11:30 AM - Working Efficiently in the Apple Orchard Mario Miranda Sazo, Cornell What makes an orchard exceptionally good for improving efficiency? It is one, which allows for implementation of partial mechanization for production of high quality fruit (a kind of assembly-line future for fruit production). The more complicated you make the tree in terms of making decisions, the harder the system becomes for you and your workers. With a very simple training system, workers have to make few decisions. A very simple training system also makes the fruitlets, branches, and fruit very accessible to workers for hand thinning, pruning, or harvest. Pruning is perhaps the best example I can use to explain this “simplicity” factor. Simple pruning rules make it easier for workers to be efficient in the orchard. Complex tree architectures create many possible courses of action for pruning, which can confound workers. When workers are faced with a superabundance of pruning cut alternatives, workers are afraid of making the wrong choice. As a result workers delay the pruning cut decision, default to the safest “obvious” cut, or avoid choosing altogether. Your pruning crew ended up being less efficient. They work harder not smarter. 12:30 PM - Lunch 2:00 PM - Peach Cultivars and Management Desmond Layne, Washington State University (Online) 3:00 PM - Break 3:30 PM - Common Mistakes to Avoid When Establishing and Training Tall Spindle Apple Trees Mario Miranda Sazo, Cornell We have found that it is critical that you invest the necessary time and effort to manage feathers of a young Tall Spindle orchard if the trees are growing vigorously. For example, all feathers on Fuji (a vigorous apple cultivar) should be tied or weighted down below the horizontal at planting or before mid July to induce cropping and to prevent them from developing into large lower scaffolds. Feathers should not be shortened by pruning during their first year. I will again remind growers that heading of the leader of a young apple tree is undesirable as it removes a significant portion of the tree structure already produced in the nursery. Even if a whip is planted, the leader is not pruned or headed at planting for the Tall Spindle system. Heading the leader disrupts and changes forever the natural growth and branching patterns of a young apple tree on a dwarfing rootstock intended to be grown as a Tall Spindle tree. We instead recommend applying Maxcel to stimulate branching of an “unheaded” whip so a more “calm tree” (without much new upright growth as result of the heading cut) can be produced in the orchard. However, we continue to recommend that growers plant the ideal tree which has a caliper of at least 5/8 inches with 8-10 feathers, each 10-16 inches long starting at a height of 24-26 inches above the ground, well distributed along the trunk, and with wide crotch angles. Feathers that are too low are not usable and must be removed after planting. We recommend that all feathers located below 24 inches be removed after planting for all apple cultivars. Note: More orchard practices to avoid mistakes will be discussed during my presentation. 
Berry Workshop
9:00 AM - Table Grape Cultivar Development John Clark 9:45 AM - Farmer Experiences with Annual Strawberry Plasticulture Brice Wiswell Being our third year in annual strawberry plasticulture Gieringer's Orchard has had plenty of time to reflect and improve how to grow strawberries in the Midwest. Taking back information from conferences in the Pacific northwest all the way to the Carolina's and even the more central Mid-America strawberry growers conference. Adding in our on farm trials through Kansas state research, we have learned a little about how covers need to be managed in the Midwest. Growing from our first year with 17,000 plants to over 45,000 pants this year We will talk on all aspects of starting and growing a strawberry crop. We will talk on everything from planting date to tips and trick we have learned over the years to speed up processes on the farm. If we have a little time we might even get into marketing! 10:30 AM - Break 11:00 AM - Blackberry Cultivar Development John Clark 12:00 PM- Lunch 1:00 PM - Dealing with Adversity on the Berry Farm Earnie Bohner, Brice Wiswell & Jerry Wohletz Round table on adversity of growing berry crops in the Midwest. The goods and bad of production, and also the learning that has come out of it. 2:30 PM - Break 3:00 PM - Bramble Diseases Megan Kennelly Everyone looks forward to fresh raspberries and blackberries, but unfortunately these crops are prone to several diseases. This presentation will provide an overview of biology, symptoms, and tips for management. 3:45 PM - Enhancing Berry Pollination Vaughn Hammond
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Soils & Irrigation Workshop
9:30 AM - Soil Fertility Touria Eaton, Lincoln University 10:15 AM - Tying it Together - Building Healthy Soil & Profits with Cover Crops Paul Conway, Leavenworth, KS Using rotations, manure, purchased inputs and cover crops to build and maintain healthy soils and profits. I will discuss some general principles, different rotation models, ways to integrate livestock in vegetable farming, how to use cover crops for different end states, how to integrate cover crops into vegetable rotations and recommended and promising cover crops. I will discuss how to do minimal or judicious tillage and it's pros and cons. 11:15 AM - Break 11:30 AM - Building Healthy Soil & Profits with Cover Crops (cont’d.) Paul Conway 12:15 PM- Lunch 1:15 PM - Want Quality Compost? Roy Gross, St. Louis Composting, Inc How to determined the suitability of commercial compost to your growing operations. 2:15 PM - Soil Health: Probing Deeper Matt Stukenholtz, Midwest Labs In this presentation we will be looking at the importance of soil testing and review a soil report and talk about the different nutrients that are measured. We will also be looking at the health of the soil and the indicators we can use to measure the soil health. We will finish with a discussion about irrigation water testing. 3:30 PM - Break 3:45 PM - Practical Vegetable Irrigation Joseph Hannan, ISU Extension This session will discuss drip irrigation systems for vegetables including scheduling, rates, and fertigation options. 4:30 PM - Year Round Cover Cropping Helps Build Better Soil at LU’s Carver Farm Steven Kirk, Lincoln University At LU’s Carver Farm we strive to improve our soils using a combination of year-round integrated cover cropping, crop rotation, nutrient management and composting.
Honey Bees Workshop
9:00 AM - Introduction to Queen Rearing I Jim Sack, NE Beekeepers Association Discussion of techniques for rearing honey bee queens, either for your own use or for sale to other beekeepers. Look at the history of queen rearing, grafting, equipment required, the time required, and the timing required. 10:00 AM - Introduction to Queen Rearing II Jim Sack, NE Beekeepers Association Discuss the benefits of queen rearing and encourage others to do so. 11:00 AM - Break 11:30 AM - Colony Location and Bee Plants Vaughn Hammond, Union Orchard 12:15 PM- Lunch 1:30 PM - Missouri Honey Queen: Erin Mullins 1:45 PM - Honey Bee Diseases and Pests Jonathan Larson, UNL Extension Biology and management of important honey bee pests will be discussed. 2:45 PM - Break 3:15 PM - Nuc Initiatives in Missouri Kathy Misko, Midwestern Beekeepers Association With the increase of winter honey bee loss and queen failure many beekeeping experts are encouraging beekeepers to raise local stock from healthy survivor bees. I will share the importance of raising local honey bees, how to initiate nucleus colonies, and about the newly launched Midwestern Beekeepers Assn. Nuc Initiative Program. 4:00 PM - Management for Honey Production Jonathan Larson, UNL Extension Come and learn about the sweet practices that will help you maximize honey production.
Market School
8:30 AM - Welcome Jim Quinn & Tim Baker, Univ. of MO 9:00 AM - Market Food Trends/Marketing Sustainability Brian Moyer, Penn State Discussion on what are the demographics of your customer base and what are the current trends in their food purchases. 10:15 AM - Break 10:45 AM - Sanitation from Farm to Market Linda Naeve, Iowa State Univ. Sanitation in post-harvest handling and marketing is vital to assure the safety of your produce. This session will cover the why's and how's of good sanitation and the use of various sanitizers for produce, equipment and display supplies. 11:15 AM - Merchandising & Creating Effective Displays Brian Moyer, Penn State Participants will learn techniques to create effective and attractive displays and signage. 12:00 PM - Display Examples Brian Moyer, Penn State 12:15 PM- Lunch 1:30 PM - Produce Science Touria Eaton, Lincoln Univ. This presentation will cover information on how to extend the postharvest life of produce and how to slow down the change that occurs in produce after harvest. Techniques and practices of postharvest handling will be discusses as well as food safety. 2:30 PM - Crisping of Fresh Produce Jim Quinn, Univ. of MO We'll review how to improve and revive fresh produce using water, temperature and trimming. This should provide some tips on enhancing the quality of farm market displays and getting the most from your produce. 3:00 PM - Break 3:15 PM - Good Customer Service: Vital in Retail Linda Naeve, Iowa State Univ. No matter what you are marketing, good customer service is important. This presentation will provide tips on getting and retaining loyal customers through quality service. Training employees, food safety, and marketing will be discussed. 3:55 PM - Team Display Competition Brian Moyer, Penn State Univ. Participants will break into groups and work as teams to create market displays.
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