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December 1, 2003

Purdue-Illinois program offers new insight for vegetable industry

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Midwest commercial vegetable growers can gain new insights on vegetable growing on Jan. 8 during the Illiana Vegetable Growers School.

The Illiana Vegetable Growers School begins with registration at 8 a.m., and the program starts at 8:30 a.m. The event takes place at Teibel's Restaurant in Schererville, Ind., at the intersection of U.S. 41 and U.S. 30.

Registration is $20 at the door and includes lunch and informational handouts. There also will be continuing education and recertification credits available for private pesticide applicators for an additional $10.

"There will be experts available from Purdue University, the University of Illinois and private businesses to help growers plan for a successful year in vegetable growing," said Liz Maynard, Purdue regional Extension specialist. The program targets commercial vegetable growers who want to improve their operation and business.

The morning program includes:

• Rick Weinzierl, professor of crop science and Extension entomologist from the University of Illinois, who will talk about soybean aphids and what they mean for vegetables.

• Rick Foster, Purdue professor of entomology, will report on new insecticides and some new uses for existing insecticides.

• M. Babadoost, assistant professor of vegetable and fruit crop diseases at the University of Illinois, will discuss vegetable diseases and those that are becoming, or have the potential to become, a problem for the vegetable industry.

• Steve Weller, Purdue professor of horticulture and landscape architecture, will present results from research on Sandea herbicide in vegetables and carryover of the herbicide Callisto on vegetables.

• Jim Neibauer, vegetable consultant and retired Michigan State University Extension district agent, will share his experiences with vegetable producers in Azerbaijan and other central Asian countries.

Afternoon speakers are:

• Eric Biddinger, Purdue Extension Porter County, will discuss vegetable marketing.

• Bill Field, Purdue professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue, and Gail Deboy, Purdue agricultural safety specialist and professor of agricultural and biological engineering, will talk about how farm managers can minimize risk from agricultural machinery for themselves and their employees.

• Alan Miller, Purdue professor of agricultural economics, will discuss how farm managers can plan in advance so that it is easier to keep the farm operating when an unexpected event makes a key employee unavailable for work.

• Chris Gunter, Purdue Extension specialist, will share the latest research on tomato fruit color disorders and report on muskmelon and watermelon field trials.

• Maurice Ogutu, Extension educator from the University of Illinois, will talk about strip-till pumpkin production.

• Maynard will report on field trials of pumpkin varieties.

• Maynard and Bill Shoemaker, senior research specialist from the University of Illinois, will report on field trials of sweet corn varieties.

The program is co-sponsored by the Cooperative Extension Services of Purdue and the University of Illinois.

Writer: Meggie Issler, (765) 494-8402, agnews-stories@purdue.edu

Source: Liz Maynard, (219) 785-5673, emaynard@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722; Beth Forbes, bforbes@aes.purdue.edu
Agriculture News Page

Related Web site:
Purdue Fruit and Vegetable Connection


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