CMantiaster Farming, Saturday, March 21, 1998 ITHACA. N.Y. The 1998 New York State Vegetable Con ference Feb. 10-12 was another outstanding event for New York’s vegetable industry. More than 1,300 growers, processors, and al lied industry representatives came from around die state, die North east, and Canada to attend this ma jor event that, now in its 10th year, is consistently one of the top vege table industry conferences in the Northeast It is co-sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension/NYS Col lege of Agriculture and Life Sci ences, the NYS Vegetable Grow ers Association, die Empire State Potato Club, and the Associated NYS Food Processors Associa tion. New at the Conference this year were the annual meetings of the NYS Berry Growers Associa tion, adding more than 100 at tendees to the first day. These educational meetings for fresh market and processing vege table producers have been the fo cus of this statewide conference since its inception in 1989. In gen eral. for each crop covered, talks include information on new varie ties and plant breeding research updates; weed, pest and disease control options; soil and fertility management; marketing; and a wide variety of related key topics of concern to commercial produc ers. This year, the all-day educa tional sessions this year Joe used on potatoes, berries and other small fruits, transplants, and on ions. The half-day sessions in cluded sweet com, cabbage, snap beans, soil fertility, leafy greens, pesticide application technolo gies, biological controls, organic matter management, culinary herbs, pumpkins and greenhouse tomatoes. Several important vegetable-re lated organizations also hold meetings during the conference, in addition to the Processing Com modity Advisory Committees at their specific commodity sessions. The NYS Seed Potato Growers met for their statewide meeting prior to the first day of die confer ence, with a full program and ex cellent speakers. Donald Shard low of Cornell University is the program’s manager. Special ses sions were held on the latest in to mato late blight research and con trols, updates on labor regulations for the coming year, and the many opportunities that on-line services and related technology resources offer for the coming year offer for growers. In addition, an all-day meeting was held with nationally known researchers on the golden nematode problems in potatoes. “What’s New from Industry” speakers who were exhibitors in the trade show or sponsors of the conference gave updates on the new items and services from their companies in many of the ses sions. Both Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) credits for advisors in New York and New England and NYS pesticide recertification credits were given for topics on each of the three days in the sessions. Conference attendees had many opportunities to visit about 80 ex hibitors with the latest in seeds, biological and chemical crop pro tectants, packaging, irrigation supplies, vegetable equipment and machinery, computer applica tions, refrigeration and storages, business services, safety equip ment and many other resources vi tal to commercial vegetable pro . N.Y. Vegetable Conference Attracts 1,300 duction for fresh markets as well as processing growers, and for operations large and small As in tiie past, tables loaded with in dustry publications, catalogs, bro chures and related resources for growers to pick up were a part of the trade show. A press conference was held at noon on Feb. 10 by Dr. Darryl Lund, dean of the NYS College of Agriculture & Life Sciences at Cornell University, and Dr. James Hunter, director of the NYS Agri culture Experiment Station at Geneva, N.Y.. to announce the re lease of six new varieties of fruits and vegetables. It was unusual since new varieties are the result of long-term collaboration among researchers and industry, some times taking as long as 10-15 years to breed, test and evaluate, with another 10-20 years before they are commercially accepted. Lund and Hunter credited the po tato, vegetable, and berry growers for helping the public and the col lege to fund the long-term re search necessary for the develop ment of these new varieties. The two new red raspberries “Prelude” and “Encore” bred by John Sanford and Kevin Ma loney will extend the production season for NYS berry growers, en abling New York consumers to eat locally produced berries from June through September, rather than those shipped in from else where. The “Whitaker” Coco zelle-type summer squash and “Onondaga” Ithaca-type head let tuce, bred by Richard W. Rob inson and Joseph W. Shad, are re markable for their disease resis tance, which came from hundreds of crosses from wild species known for their resistance charac teristics. Robert Plaisted, Cor nell’s highly-respected potato breeder, introduced his new “Salem" and “Reba” varieties. “Salem” is an early-emerging, mid-season potato with high yielding ability, bred for table stock, while “Reba” is a mid- to late-season potato bred for both the potato chip market and table use. One of Plaisted’s hallmark contributions to the New York po tato industry is that all potatoes re leased by his program are resistant to the golden nematode a pest that is unique in the U.S. to New 'York, can significantly impact yield and marketing of the crop. In addition, certified seed for both of these new varieties will be avail able for the 1998 growing season. The Annual Meeting of the Em pire State Potato Club also was on Feb. 10. Officers re-elected were John Meyer of Cohocton as presi dent, Ralph Child of Malone as vice president, and Larry Bowman of North Collins as secretary/trea surer. Gary Pryputniewicz of Wa terville was re-elected to the board as well. Melanie Wickham of Stanley continues as executive secretary of the Empire State Po tato Club and show manager of their huge, annual Empire Farm Days held each summer in August Nearly 200 attended the in formal Social Hour on Wednes day. Feb. 11. Special guests and legislators were introduced by Larry Eckhardt, president of the NYS Vegetable Growers Associa tion, followed by several speeches and awards. Dr. James Hunter, director of the NYS Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, ad dressed what’s ahead for the sta tion and Cornell University and the importance of the private-pub lic sector partnership and industry support for research, particularly in light of the continued funding uncertainties from Albany. Two awards for outstanding work in integrated pest manage ment woe made during the Con ference’s Social Hour. Dr. James Tette, director of the IPM Program at the NYS Experiment Station, presented awards to Tim and Col leen Stanton ofFeura Farm at Feu ra Bush, N.Y„ for their rotational practices, use of resistant varie ties, conservation tillage and other IPM method, and to Richard Wildman, president of Agricultur al Consulting Services of Roches ter, a private crop-consulting firm in the state offering production ad vice to some 70,000 acres of vege tables and field crops. In addition. Curt Petzoldt, assistant director of the IPM Program and vegetable IPM coordinator for NYS. was honored for not only his work with the IPM Program but also for be ing a co-founder with Timothy Weigle of the Northeast Weather Association (NWA), a non-profit membership organization that provides growers with timely weather data and pest forecasts to aid growers in determining when diseases and pests need to be con trolled and to what extent Starting this year, the NWA will offer this information to producers of orna- m BriUion m v mmmmm mmmmmmmrnmmmmmmmmmmmm t ; i When You Buy A You Get The Best r 5’ SURE STAND SEEDER 1 SSPT 604 This 5’ model has a single box with two compartments. The capacity of the front box (for chaffy seeds) is 1 1/4 bushels, the rear box (for legumes) holds 3/4 bushel. This model fits 1 three point hitch. . 3 PT. GRASS SEEDERS 1 B' - 10’ - 12’ Available in 3 point or pull type Pictured SSPIO it has a 4 3/8 Bu. meter box capacity, 4 3/8 brome box capacity, Standard front wheel, and a 10’ rolling width. The overall width is 11’4” and weight is 2018#. 'pull type sure stand seederl B- 10’- 12' Pictured The SSI2 Pull Type is a 5 1/4 bu. meter f box capacity, 5 1/4 bu. optional brome box capacity, and standard front wheel. It has a rolling width of 12’ . The overall width is 15’ with an LVapprox. weight of 2547#. ) mentals and field crops. Frank Wiles of the 160-member NYS Berry Growers Association, a long-time berry and vegetable grower as well as a former Cornell cooperative extension agent, was also honored for his leadership and achievements with IPM and berry growers statewide, through scouting, selection of disease-re sistant varieties, and cropping practices. A two-year grant from the Pesticide Environmental Ste wardship Program has helped to initiate die NYS Berry IPM Label ing Program for New York. The NYS Vegetable Growers Assoc., held its Annual Meeting and Breakfast on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Business of die associa tion was conducted, along with the election of officers and board of directors for 1998. Re-appointed were Larry Eckhardt of Stephen town as president, Mark Henry of Eden as vice president, and Ed Hansen Sr. of Stanley as treasurer. Four of the five board members re-elected to three-year terms were Larry Eckhardt, Jack Gill of Hurley. Jeff Green of Whitney Point, and Jeff Kubecka of Kirk ville. Jackie Gurda of Gurda Gar dens, Goshen, N.Y, was elected as a director on die board for a three-year term, replacing out-go ing director Gregory Yurchuk Jr. of Florida. Jean Warholic of Free villc continues as executive sccre- tary and newsletter editor for the Association. Those present at the breakfast were given an update of associa tion activities, updated on the new Fresh Market Vegetable Research Fund’s first round of grants and projects in 1997, and other major projects that had been of primary focus in the past year. Laura Pedersen of Cornell Cooperative Extension/Ontario County gave an update on the summer tour be ing planned for EPA and other key officials. Progress in dealing with the forthcoming Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) was dis cussed. Gary Rich of Agricultural Affiliates gave a brief summary of what’s ahead for labor in the vege table industry in 1998. Gary Rich of Agricultural Af filiates and a panel of growers, along with representatives from die NYS Department of Labor, held sessions on Feb. 11 and 12 on what’s ahead for NYS labor in the 1998 season, along with a review of die latest INS activities and the new enforcement mode by NYS DEC for die federal Worker Pro tection Standards. The unpredict able labor supply for the coming season continues to be among the top concerns for many growers around the state, legislation pending in Albany and in Washington, D.C. was also dis cussed. Pennsylvania ADAMSTOWN Adamstown Equip. Inc. ALLENTOWN Lehigh Ag Equipment BECHTELSVILLE Miller Equip. Co. CARLISLE Gutshalis Inc. CENTBEHALL Dunfcte & Grieb, Inc. CRESSON & BELLWOOD Hines Equipment, Inc. DOVER George N. Gross, Inc. EASTON Qeo.V. Seiple ELIZABETHTOWN Messick Farm Equipment Co. INTERCOURSE C.B. Hoober & Son GREENCASTLE Meyers Implement GREENSBURG J&M Machinery Co. LEBANON Umberger’s of Fontana LOYSVILLE Gutshali’s, Inc. OAKLAND MILLS Peoples Sales & Service OLEY Pikeville Equipment, Inc. QUARRYVILLE Grumelli Farm Service TAMAQUA Charles Snyder, Inc. WATSONTOWN Deerfield Ag &Turf Center, Inc. | Maryland | RISING SUN Ag Industrial Equipment | New Jersey | BRIDGETON Leslie Fogg ELMER Pole Tavern Equip. Sales Corp | Virginia | HARRISONBURG Rockingham New Holland, Inc. wmHmSSTi
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