This course will educate growers on disease and pest management, varieties and marketing issues in open field and high tunnel vegetables. Topics such as disease resistant varieties, pest/disease, cultural management, biological controls and appropriate spray options. The meeting will include grower and buyer panels and auction updates. 1.75 DEC credits will be offered in categories 10, 1a, 23, 24.

UPDATE 12/23/21: Due to the ever changing COVID-19 pandemic, the Empire State Producers Expo and Becker Forum is going virtual.

The Becker Forum will stay the same date and time, January 10, in a virtual format.

The vegetable workshops and DEC credits will be virtual and further information will be going out to people who have registered and others who plan to attend. Please check back for more information on the New York State Vegetable Growers Association website. There will be no Trade Show until 2023.

This course will educate growers on disease and pest management, varieties and marketing issues in field grown vegetables. Topics such as disease resistant varieties, pest/disease, cultural management, biological controls and appropriate spray options. 1.5 DEC recertification credits in categories 10, 1a, 23 will be offered. 

The NYS Dry Bean Meeting will be back online again this year, with presentations covering the latest research in NY dry beans. Topic areas include market updates, white mold management, western bean cutworm and soybean cyst nematode management, dry bean variety testing, and incorporating NY dry beans into schools. This event will be held virtually via Zoom, and 1.5 DEC credits will be available. 

Frustrated with bird control on your farm? Curious about what laser scarecrows are or how to optimize their set up? The University of Rhode Island and Cornell Cooperative Extension have teamed up to share their research and on-farm experiences using the University of Rhode Island laser scarecrow which utilizes a constantly moving green laser beam to scare birds away from fields. This workshop will feature a presentation by Rebecca Nelson Brown and David Brown of the University of Rhode Island about the laser scarecrow and what improvements have been made for 2022. Cornell Cooperative Extension Educators Chuck Bornt and Julie Kikkert will share their experiences testing the devices on New York farms. This online event is FREE!

This workshop will cover the principles and practices of farm food safety for fresh produce farmers. Whether a buyer is asking for you to have a GAPs audit/certification or you just want to learn about improving food safety practices, this workshop is for you.

Topics are broken down into sections covering assessing situations where risk of microbial contamination could and would be a problem. These include land use, appraising adjacent land issues, handling manure/compost, wildlife and domestic animals, water sources/quality, pre-harvest, harvest, and post-harvest operations, wash/pack procedures, facility hygiene and sanitation, and worker training.