Virtual Empire Expo – January 12- 15, 2021

Virtual sessions ranging from cover crops to IPM covering many crops including onions, cucurbits and brassicas will take place Tuesday to Friday. Several sessions pertaining to vegetables are highlighted below but for a complete list of available sessions please visit: http://nysvga.org/expo/information/

Soil Health I – Cover Crops & Reduced Tillage

Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Session Organized by: Ryan Maher, Cornell Small Farms Program
9:00 AM Welcome
9:05 AM Exploring summer cover crops for vegetable systems in the Northeast
Rebecca Brown – Dept. of Plant Sciences and Entomology, University of Rhode
Island, Kingston, RI
9:40 AM Mechanically interseeding cover crops into Brassica cash crops
Skip Paul, Wishing Stone Farm – Little Compton, RI
10:15 AM Morning Break
11:05 AM No-Till in NH: Lessons from pumpkins and sweet corn
Chad Cochrane, USDA-NRCS, Concord, NH
11:35 AM Making no-till systems work for transplanted vegetables
Nathan Johanning, University of Illinois Extension, Waterloo, IL
12:15 PM Adjourn

A Bird’s-Eye View of IPM

Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Session Organized by: Abby Seaman, Amara Dunn and Marion Zuefle, NYS IPM;
Elizabeth Buck, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
9:00 AM Welcome, logistics, sponsor Info
9:10 AM The IPM toolbox – Amara Dunn, NYS IPM Program
9:50 AM IPM on our farm – Brian Reeves, Reeves Farms, LLC, Baldwinsville, NY
10:30 AM Morning Break
11:10 AM How do I find them, and how many is too many? – Marion Zuefle, NYS IPM Program
11:25 AM Knowing what’s coming – Abby Seaman, NYS IPM Program
11:45 PM Grower Panel: How we accomplish scouting and pest monitoring on our
farm – Emma Long, Crop Production Manager, CY Farms, Elba, NY, Wendy
Burkhart-Spiegel, Common Thread Community Farm, Madison, NY, and Ralph
Ooman, Ooman Bros., Hart, MI
12:15 PM Learn From Your On-Farm History – Elizabeth Buck, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
12:30 PM Lunch Break

Cucurbit Session

Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Session Organized by: Abby Seaman, Amara Dunn and Marion Zuefle, NYS IPM;
Elizabeth Buck, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
1:30 PM Welcome, logistics, sponsor info
1:40 PM Setting up for vine crop victory: Cultural practices and nutrient
management – Steve Reiners, Dept. of Horticulture, Cornell Agri-Tech
2:10 PM Weeds and cucurbits, new solutions for an old problem? -Thierry Besancon, Dept. of Plant Biology, Rutgers University, Chatsworth, NJ
2:40 PM Using the whole toolbox to beat tough weeds – Nathan Johanning, Johanning Farm, Fults, IL
3:00 PM Afternoon break
3:30 PM Welcome, logistics, sponsor info
3:35 PM Squash those bugs! – Brian Nault, Dept. of Entomology, Cornell Agri-Tech
4:05 PM Managing diseases with an integrated mindset – Meg McGrath, Dept. of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell, Riverhead, NY
4:35 PM Cucurbit IPM on our farm – Ralph Ooman, Ooman Brothers, Hart, MI; and
Ben Werling, Michigan State University Extension Oceana Co., Hart, MII
5:00 PM Adjourn

Snap Beans Session

Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Session Organized by: Julie Kikkert, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
9:00 AM Welcome and sponsor info – Julie Kikkert, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
9:05 AM Common Lambsquarters: The biological and environmental factors
impacting its control – Lynn Sosnoskie, Dept. of Horticulture, Cornell Agri-Tech
9:25 AM Considerations for management of seedcorn maggot, potato leafhopper, and European corn borer in conventional and organic snap beans – Brian Nault,
Dept. of Entomology, Cornell Agri-Tech
9:45 AM Application of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in snap beans for growth stage classification, yield forecasting, and white mold risk assessment – Jan van Aardt (speaker), Amirhossein Hassanzadeh and Fei Zhang, Rochester Institute of
Technology, Rochester, NY; Sarah Pethybridge and Sean Murphy, Dept. of Plant
Pathology & Plant Microbe Biology, Cornell AgriTech, Geneva, NY; and Julie Kikkert, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
10:15 AM Morning Break
11:00 AM Sponsor info
11:05 AM An overview of white mold across New York cropping systems – Eric Branch (speaker) and Pratibha Sharma, Cornell AgriTech, Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology
11:25 AM Battling white mold of soybeans using research-based management
techniques – Damon Smith, Dept. of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin,
Madison, WI
12:05 PM Fungicides for white mold control in snap and dry beans: Who, what, when, why?! – Sarah Pethybridge, Dept. of Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell Agri-Tech
12:30 PM Adjourn

High Tunnel Session

Wednesday January 13, 2021
Session Organized by: Judson Reid, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program/Harvest NY,
and Elisabeth Hodgdon, CCE Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program
1:30 PM Welcome – Elisabeth Hodgdon, CCE Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture
Program
1:35 PM Common high tunnel soil issues and how to correct them – Jud Reid, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program/Harvest NY
1:50 PM Optimizing irrigation water quality in tunnels – Neil Mattson, Cornell School of Integrative Plant Science
2:05 PM Using cover crops in tunnels – Caitlin Tucker, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
2:20 PM High tunnel tomatoes at Edgewater Farm – Lockwood “Pooh” Sprague,
Edgewater Farm, Plainfield, NH
2:35 PM Q&A with Speaker Panel
3:00 PM Adjourn

Sweet Corn: Using Laser Scarecrows for Bird Control

Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Session Organized by: Charles Bornt, CCE Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture
Program and Steve Reiners, Dept. of Horticulture, Cornell Agri-Tech
3:30 PM Welcome and sponsor info – Charles Bornt, CCE Eastern NY
Commercial Horticulture Program
3:35 PM The history of using lasers as bird deterrents – Jeremy Perkins, Bird Control Group, NY
3:50 PM Developing a low cost laser scarecrow for bird control in Rhode Island and New York – Rebecca Brown, Dept. of Plant Sciences and Entomology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, and Ali Mirzakhani Nafchi, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
4:15 PM New York grower experiences with laser scarecrows for bird control – Nick Stanton, Stanton’s Feura Farm, Feura Bush, NY
4:25 PM Panel discussion and audience questions – Rebecca Brown, Ali Mirzakhani Nafchi, Jeremy Perkins and Nick Stanton
5:00 PM Adjourn

Onion Session

Thursday, January 14, 2021 
9:00 AM Welcome and sponsor info, Christy Hoepting, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
9:05 AM Rotten Onions 101: Part I – What kind of rot you got? Lindsey du Toit, WSU
Dept. of Plant Pathology, Bhabesh Dutta and Brian Kvitko, UGA Dept. of Plant
Pathology, and Christy Hoepting, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
9:30 AM Rotten Onions 101: Part II – The many ways onions rot, Bhabesh Dutta and Brian Kvitko, UGA Dept. of Plant Pathology, and Lindsey du Toit, WSU Dept. of Plant
Pathology, and Christy Hoepting, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
10:00 AM Stop the Rot: Rot-free onions in the making – Overcoming challenges to identify genetic varietal tolerance to bulb rot, Brian Kvitko and Bhabesh Dutta, UGA Dept. of Plant Pathology, Lindsey du Toit, WSU Dept. of Plant Pathology and Christy Hoepting, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
10:20 AM Questions and Discussion, Lindsey du Toit, Bhabesh Dutta, Brian Kvitko, Christy Hoepting
10:30 AM Morning Break
11:00 AM Welcome and sponsor info, Christy Hoepting, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
11:05 AM Fragile FRAC 7 Fungicides: Part I – Current status of Stemphylium leaf blight fungicide resistance in onion in New York, Frank Hay, Daniel Heck and Katrin Ayer, Dept. of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell Agri-Tech
11:40 AM Fragile FRAC 7 Fungicides: Part II – Field performance of these fungicides for control of Stemphylium leaf blight in onion in New York, Christy Hoepting, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
11:50 AM New developments regarding unfair trade practices including cheap onion exports from Canada, Greg Yielding, Executive Vice President, National Onion Association, Greely, CO
12:10 PM National onion promotion program, Rene Hardwick, Director of Public and Industry Relations, National Onion Association, Greely, CO
12:20 PM Questions and Discussion
12:30 PM Adjourn

Brassica Session

Thursday January 14, 2021
Session Organized by: Abby Seaman, Amara Dunn and Marion Zuefle, NYS IPM;
Elizabeth Buck, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
9:00 AM Welcome, logistics, sponsor info
9:10 AM Big and Beautiful Brassicas: Cultural practices and nutrient management
– Steve Reiners, Dept. of Horticulture, Cornell Agri-Tech
9:40 AM Beating weeds in Brassicas – Lynn Sosnoskie, Dept. of Horticulture, Cornell AgriTech
10:10 AM Proactive IPM through soil health, cover cropping, and weed management – Rick Pedersen, Pedersen Farms, Seneca Castle, NY
10:30 AM Morning Break
10:55 AM Welcome, logistics, sponsor info
11:00 AM Combating Cole crop critters – Riley Harding, Dept. of Entomology, Cornell Agri-Tech
11:30 AM Spots and rots – Chris Smart, Dept. of Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell
12:00 PM What I’ve learned managing pests and disease at Sang Lee Farms – Fred Lee, Sang Lee Farms, Peconic, NY
12:30 PM Adjourn

Weed Management

Thursday January 14, 2021
1:30 PM Welcome and sponsor info – Lynn Sosnoskie, Dept. of Horticulture, Cornell AgriTech, and Bryan Brown, NYS IPM
1:35 PM Herbicide discovery and commercialization in the context of herbicide-resistance management – Zahoor Ganie, FMC, Newark, DE
1:55 PM Biological herbicides for weed control – Louis Boddy, Marrone Bio Innovations
2:15 PM Using steam to manage weeds in perennial crops – Marcelo Moretti, Dept. of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
2:35 PM Weed control from an electrical discharge system in soybeans: Initial results – Lynn Sosnoskie, Cornell University
3:00 PM Afternoon Break
3:30 PM Welcome and sponsor info – Lynn Sosnoskie, Cornell, and Bryan Brown, NYSIPM
3:35 PM Using super-slow-motion video to improve weed control of row cultivators – Bryan Brown, New York State IPM
3:50 PM How does cultivation actually control weeds? Using this knowledge to improve efficacy – Eric Gallandt, School of Food and Agriculture, University of Maine, Orono, ME
4:10 PM Robotics, automation, and intelligent machines for weed management – Steve Fennimore, Dept. of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA
4:30 PM Weed and farm management using robotics and computer vision – Pauline Canteneur, FarmWise, San Francisco, CA
4:45 PM Cultivation guidance systems available in the eastern U.S. – Michael Smith, KULT Kress, Gordonville, PA

A Five Year Lens – How Growing Produce is Changing

Friday, January 15, 2021
Session Organized by: Elizabeth Buck, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
3:30 PM Welcome, sponsor info – Elizabeth Buck, CCE Cornell Vegetable Program
3:40 PM Setting up for crop protection in 2026 – Larissa Smith, Syngenta Crop
Protection, King Ferry, NY
4:00 PM The intersection of farming, climate variability, and digital agriculture
Abe Stroock, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell, and Art
Degaetano, Dept. of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell
4:30 PM A future with fewer pesticide tools? Perspectives from Ontario, Canada
Jim Chaput, Provincial Minor Use Pesticides Coordinator, Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and Chris
Duyvelshoff, Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association, Guelph, Ontario,
Canada
5:00 PM Adjourn

Expo Registration Fees

$45/day ($40 for each additional individual per farm)
$80/2 days ($75 for each additional individual per farm)
$100/3-4 days ($95 for each additional individual per farm)

Pre-registration is required (no deadline) up until day of event.

For more information and to register for the 2021 Empire State Producers Expo: http://nysvga.org/expo/information/