New England Vegetable & Berry Growers Assoc 580th Meeting

FIVE HUNDRED EIGHTIETH MEETING

New England Vegetable and Berry Growers Association

Co-Sponsored by New England Cooperative Extension Systems

Note: location change from Chicopee, MA.

9:30 - Regiatration: There is a $10 Registration fee.  This fee is waived for NEV&BGA members.

10:00 - Update on the Spotted Wing Drosophila, a new and dangerous pest.  Richard Cowles, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

10:50 - Update on Blueberries; soil pH, varieties and bird control.  Sonia Schloemann, UMass Extension

11:30 - Applying Fertilizer through Drip Irrigation: Equipment, Set Up and Calculating Amount Needed.  George Hamilton, UNH Extension

NOON - Lunch buffet $16.  To order lunch contact the Secretary by Dec, 30, 2011 at howell@umext.umass.edu.  If you order lunch and cannot attend, please call to cancel.  We will have to bill you for unpaid meals.

1:00 - NEV&BGA Business meeting

1:10 - Soil and Fertility Basics: Understanding a Soil Test, Determining Need for Nutrients, Managing Crop Nutrition and Soil pH.  John Howell, New England Vegetable and Berry Growers' Assoc.

2:10 - Organic Matter and Soil Health: Types and Sources of Organic Matter, Nutrients from Organic Matter, How it is Affected by Deep Zone Tillage. Vern Grubinger, UVM Extension

3:00 - Fertilizer Sources; Choosing the Appropriate Materials, When and How Much to Apply.  John Howell, New England Vegetable and Berry Growers' Assoc.

Note: There will be one hour of credit toward pesticide recertification credit for this meeting.