By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent LOVELAND, Ohio — Old Man Winter doesn’t officially release his grip on the tri-state region until March 20, but fruit, vegetable and specialty crop growers in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky can prepare themselves for the growing season with the Southern Ohio Specialty Crop Conference on Feb. 6. The event will be at the Oasis Conference Center in Loveland, located at 902 Loveland-Miamiville Road. “Growers attending this daylong conference can learn how to do everything from increase sales using social media, control pests in their greenhouses, produce barley for malting and understand food marketing regulations,” said Greg Meyer, an extension educator and organizer. “OSU (Ohio State University) extension has organized a grower school for more than 30 years in southwestern Ohio, but this conference will be different and bigger than previous years.” Horticulture, entomology and local food experts from OSU’s College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will lead the many breakout sessions. “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,” Meyer explained. Ohio Private Pesticide Applicator Credit will be available for Core, Category 3 and Category 5, he added. 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 the required three-hour fertilizer training class, which will meet the requirements to obtain one’s fertilizer certification,” he said. “A fertilizer certification class focused on fruit and vegetable production will also be offered.” More important is the array of attractive breakout sessions at this year’s gathering. Peggy Kirk-Hall, OSU expert in agricultural law, will address Ohio’s new agritourism liability law, which affects legal liability when an injury occurs at an agritourism operation. She will lecture on who receives protection under the new law, the types of harm addressed by the law and how to ensure one’s agritourism activities qualify for the new law’s liability protection provisions. Abigail Snyder, OSU food science and technology field specialist, will explain the food safety risks and regulatory requirements for selling food through local outlets. “Identifying direct marketing opportunities and retail outlets are important considerations for any food business,” she said, “however, various markets and products are subject to different food safety risks and, subsequently, differing regulatory requirements. In this talk we’ll discuss potential food safety management strategies and how to achieve regulatory compliance for various food products.” Nitrogen is crucial to optimizing crop yield and end-use quality, but too much can be detrimental. OSU state horticulture specialist Brad Bergefurd will address fertigation and how to monitor and adjust specialty crop nitrogen requirements. “While sufficient nitrogen rates are needed to optimize crop yield, over- and under-applications can increase susceptibility to certain diseases and reduce crop end-use quality traits,” he noted. “Nitrogen fertilizer is notorious for loss via leaching, resulting in dramatic reductions in water quality. “During my sessions, management practices will be covered to help growers address these issues.” Dr. Gary Gao, OSU small fruit specialist, will provide an update on blackberry production systems for Ohio. He will address methods of growing this health-beneficial fruit, such as the rotatable cross trellis, high tunnels or hedge row systems. He will also share his experience and trial results from his research projects in Piketon. Mary Griffith, an extension educator from Madison County, will guide attendees through the step-by-step instructions for beginners to get started using social media to market their businesses and products, as well as how to develop and build relationships with customers. Other workshop topics include biological control of insects in greenhouses and high tunnels; updates on research and management of pumpkins; managing bacterial diseases in vegetable crops; new apple variety selections for the Midwest; biocontrol of cucumber beetles; blackberry and raspberry season-extension methods; managing worms on vegetable crops; hops production in Ohio; producing barley for malting; and much more. Registration is $50 and the deadline to register is Feb. 2. The fee includes a continental breakfast, buffet lunch and a USB memory stick containing all of the available handouts. No walk-ins will be permitted. For more information, visit Warren County extension at 320 E. Silver Street in Lebanon, call Meyer at 513-695-1311 or email meyer.213@osu.edu or go to http://warren.osu.edu |
