The Southwestern Ohio Specialty Crop Conference offers “a little something for everyone,” said Greg Meyer, Ohio State University Extension educator in Warren County and event organizer. The conference is sponsored by OSU Extension, the outreach arm of The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
“We have hosted a grower school for specialty crops in southwestern Ohio for over 30 years,” Meyer said. “We decided to expand it to offer more classes and, in 2016, we moved the venue to the Oasis Conference Center to give us more space for concurrent sessions.”
Ohio ranks in the top 10 nationally in production of tomatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, bell peppers, sweet corn, squash and strawberries, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and also has significant production of apples, grapes, cabbage and peaches. Many other specialty crops, from berries to pawpaws, are also grown in the Buckeye state, Meyer said.
The conference, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., offers five concurrent sessions in fruit production, vegetable production, specialty cropping systems, pesticide safety and farm management, and marketing and food safety.
In addition, some sessions offer private pesticide applicator credits in three categories, Meyer said: Core, 3 (Fruits and Vegetables) and 5 (Greenhouse). He encourages applicators to bring their license to the conference so OSU Extension personnel can check their recertification status and determine how much training they need to become recertified.
Sessions at the conference include:
- Growing Fruit in Containers
- Pumpkin Pest Management
- Aquaponics: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
- Strawberry Production Opportunities: Extending the Marketing Season
- Tomato and Pepper Trial Results for Early and Late Blight Resistance
- Establishing Insecticide Rotations that Work for Vegetables in High Tunnels
- How to Monitor for Insect and Mite Pests in Apples
- Minimizing Risks to Pollinators in Specialty Cropping Systems
- Dealing with the New Worker Protection Standards
- How to Develop a Marketing Plan That Works for You and Your Business
- Identifying Your Target Market
Preregistration is required by Feb. 3 and is available online at regonline.com/swspecialtycropconf. The $50 fee includes a continental breakfast, buffet lunch and a USB memory stick containing handouts.
For a complete session descriptions and more information, including a link to the registration page, go to go.osu.edu/swohfvsc. Anyone with questions may contact Meyer at meyer.213@osu.edu or 513-695-1311.