The Great Plains Vegetable Conference is going to be held on Jan. 8-10 at the Fulkerson Conference Center of Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
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"Interesting and useful information will be presented on production and marketing of vegetables, cut flowers and small fruit," said Tom Fowler, University of Missouri Extension, Horticulture Specialist. "It doesn’t matter if you are an experienced commercial vegetable grower or someone with just a dream about starting to grow and sell produce, there will be something for you," he said.
The conference and trade show is a collaborative effort of growers associations and extension services from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota, and each year draws hundreds of producers from our region and beyond.
On Thursday, the conference kicks off with a day-long high tunnel workshop featuring presentations by experienced, nationally recognized grower educators, and research and extension specialists from our region. High tunnels provide critical crop protection and season extension for Bob Muth of Willamstown, N.J., and this year made a huge difference in the aftermath of a hail storm. Also presenting will be Mike Bollinger of Heritage Prairie Market, Elburn, Ill., who will talk about using moveable high tunnels for maximizing year-round production.
Also, on Thursday, Tom Ruggieri and Rebecca Graff of Fair Share Farm, Kearney, and other experienced growers will present a day-long Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) mini-school, providing detailed information on all aspects starting and running a CSA for direct marketing of farm products.
Four concurrent sessions on Friday and Saturday allow for a total of over 50 presentations on a wealth of subjects related to organic and conventional crop production, protection, risk management and marketing. In addition to a wealth of presentations on vegetable production and marketing, this year, there will again be tracks on small fruit and cut flower production and marketing. A day-long track on farmers markets on Saturday will provide information for both new and experienced vendors. An additional noteworthy track will be that of Eric and Anne Nordell, nationally recognized producers from Pennsylvania who discuss their successful weed management practices, largely conducted with horse-drawn implements.
"The trade show is a big draw for conference participants" said Tom Fowler, "and the large trade show area at the Fulkerson Conference Center will provide expanded space for display of equipment and inputs," he added.
The conference is going to be held at the Fulkerson Conference Center of Missouri Western State University. Mark your calendars and send in your pre-registration for the conference as soon as possible. For more information about the program and a registration form, contact Katie Cook at [email protected] or phone (816) 279-1691.
A full program, driving instructions, and updated details of the conference can be found at the conference website: http://extension.missouri.edu/buchanan/GPVGC.shtml