Fruit, vegetable and specialty crop growers can
learn a wide range of skills, such as increasing
sales using social media, during a daylong
conference offered by horticulture, entomology
and local foods experts from the College of Food,
Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.
The Southwestern Ohio Fruit, Vegetable and Specialty Crop Conference will take place Feb. 2 at the Oasis Conference Center, 902 Loveland-Miamiville Road, in Loveland.
OSU Extension has organized a grower school for more than 30 years in southwestern Ohio, but this conference will be different and bigger than in previous years, said Greg Meyer, an OSU Extension educator.
“In addition to focusing on more topics, we’ve moved the event location to a conference center which allows us the space to offer more class options, including sessions on fruit, vegetables, greenhouses, specialty crops and marketing,” he said.
Ohio Private Pesticide Applicator Credit will be available for Core, Category 3 and Category 5, Meyer said.
Fertilizer certification is required for growers who apply fertilizer to more than 50 acres of agricultural production grown primarily for sale.
“This conference will include a three-hour fertilizer training class which will meet the requirements to obtain your fertilizer certification,” he said. “Participants must attend the entire three-hour class.
A fertilizer certification class focused on fruit and vegetable production will also be offered.
Workshop topics include:
- “New Apple Rootstocks for Ohio.”
- “Pumpkin Integrated Pest Management: An Update on Research and Management of Pumpkins.”
- “Biological Control of Insects in Greenhouses and High Tunnels.”
- “Super Berry Production and Marketing.”
- “Managing Bacterial Diseases in Vegetable Crops.”
- "Blackberry and Raspberry Season-Extension Methods.”
And many more.
Registration for the conference includes a continental breakfast, buffet lunch and a USB memory stick containing all of the conference handouts. Registration is $60 by Jan. 31.
Online registration is available at regonline.com/swfruitvegconf. A schedule of workshop presentations can be found at go.osu.edu/swohfvsc.
For more information:
Greg Meyer
Tel: +1-513-695-1311