Programs and Events

2016 NW Ohio Greenhouse Winter Conference

Please join OSU Extension, Maumee Valley Growers Association, and USDA-ARS for the 2016 Greenhouse Winter Conference in NW Ohio!  Located in Delta, OH, the program includes a tour of Schmidlin Greenhouse and their new tomato growing operation and solar array, 1 hour of private CORE re-certification, 1 hour private Category 5 re-certification, lessons from a Kentucky food hub, and catered lunch. Please see the attached flyer for registration details and the RSVP deadline.

Program

  • 8:15       Registration and coffee
  • 8:30       Tour of Schmidlin Greenhouse – Don Schmidlin
  • 9:00       Schmidlin Solar Project and USDA-REAP Funding – Mike Litman, Sunlit Solar
  • 9:30       Pesticide Applicator and WPS Updates – Beth Scheckelhoff, OSUE (1 h private CORE)
  • 10:30     Research updates for greenhouse application – Jennifer Boldt , USDA-ARS (1 h private Category 5)
  • 11:30      Lessons Learned from a Food Hub – Lilian Brislen of Food Connection
  • 12:30      Lunch and depart

 

For additional information, please click here: 2016 Winter Conference Flyer

2015 Greenhouse Growers Expo features sessions on diverse topics

The 2015 Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo, in coordination with the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo, will feature numerous sessions for greenhouse floriculture and vegetable growers. The Greenhouse Growers Expo will be held Dec. 8-9, 2015, at the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Highlights of this year’s conference will include information on production practices, how to become more profitable and reduce inputs, and how to grow niche crops.

Entry-level employees will learn the fundamentals of floriculture crop production from Roberto Lopez of Purdue University. The session will be offered in Spanish and English. Growers and assistant growers will also be interested in:

  • Grower experiences with insect biocontrol for spring crops – a panel presentation
  • Greenhouse disease control update
  • Greenhouse insect control update and the latest neonicotinoid research results
  • Growing leafy greens and herbs in hydroponic systems
  • Keys to successful containerized herb production

Owners or general managers of greenhouse businesses will be interested in sessions on how to boost their profits, cut their input costs and learn how to manage their businesses. Owners or managers will be interested in:

  • How I grew my business: Recent adaptations we’ve made to stay competitive and profitable – a panel presentation
  • Conventional lamps or LEDs? Factors you should consider
  • Boomers or bust? Drawing GenX and GenY to the garden center
  • Marketing strategies for novices, intermediates and experts
  • Best performing annuals from the 2015 Michigan Garden Plant Tour
  • How to reduce your fertilizer use
  • MSU floriculture research update
  • Transitioning your business
  • Are using good bugs a cost-effective strategy for controlling insect pests of spring crops?
  • Labor sessions: Review of seasonal labor supply for Michigan specialty crops, H2A and MIOSHA consultation
  • Family business workshop: The Top Ten Mistakes that Break up a Family Business (Dec. 10)

In addition to the two talks on containerized herbs and leafy greens, greenhouse vegetable growers will be interested in the following sessions in the vegetable and general interests track:

  • Prepare now, sweat less later: Key elements of greenhouse sanitation
  • Cucumber production
  • Pollination in the greenhouse
  • Leafy greens production
  • Food safety: FSMA final rules, environmental sampling in packhouses, sanitizer options for dunk tanks
  • Food safety workshop (three-hour, hands-on workshop on Dec. 10, additional $25)

For an overview of the educational sessions at the Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo, visit the 2015 Greenhouse Growers Expo website. Visit the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo website for additional information, including the large trade show and how to register.

Michigan Greenhouse Expo to offer basics of floriculture production in Spanish

By Tom Dudek
Senior Extension Horticulture/ Marketing Educator
MSU Extension-Ottawa County
Telephone: 616-994-4542
Email: dudek@anr.msu.edu

 

A new training opportunity will be available to entry-level, Spanish-speaking greenhouse workers employed in floriculture operations in Michigan in December. According to Michigan State University Extension, The Basics of Floriculture Crop Production will be offered in Spanish at the Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo at the Devos Place downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015.

This two-hour educational session will be taught by Roberto Lopez, floriculture extension specialist at Purdue University’s Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Department. Lopez has designed this entry-level presentation for workers that need the fundamentals of greenhouse crop production. Topics will include watering, fertility, substrate pH and EC, plant growth regulators and management of light and temperature. The importance of each parameter and effects on overall crop quality will be shared in this session.

I encourage all greenhouse growers send any Spanish-speaking workers to this program that they want to help improve or enhance their skills.. Registration details and the full program is available at Michigan Greenhouse Growers Expo website.

The same program will be offered Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. in English by Lopez.

Greenhouse Bioproducts Workshop

The rapid growth of the bioproducts market is outpacing the dissemination of knowledge on how to integrate these different products into a sustainable and profitable greenhouse production system. A coordinated effort is needed to address the research and educational needs of the greenhouse industry relative to bioproducts. This workshop will bring together industry and academic leaders to present research and develop a strategic vision for bioproduct use in the greenhouse industry. Participants will identify perceived obstacles to the adoption of bioproducts by the greenhouse industry and work to resolve these problems with targeted research projects and educational programs.

USE OF BIOPESTICIDES, BIOSTIMULANTS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS IN ORNAMENTAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTION IN CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENTS

January 13-15th 2016
Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center
Columbus, OH

Bioproducts workshop flyer

WORKSHOP AGENDA:
January 13th, 2016
Research presentations and stakeholders panel discussion, FREE FOR THE FIRST 75 REGISTRANTS

  • Update on current use of biopesticides, biostimulants, and beneficial insects
  • Application technologies
  • Economic analysis – cost/benefits, consumer preferences
  • Stakeholders panel discussion – greatest benefits and barriers to the use of bioproducts in commercial greenhouses

January 14-15th, 2016
Grant development activities

  • Working groups with breakout sessions
  • SCRI proposal plan

To register, visit: http://go.osu.edu/bioreg

 

The following industry, academic, and greenhouse collaborators have confirmed their attendance to date:
DRAMM Corporation, AmericanHort, Biobest, BioWorks, Chase Agricultural Consulting, University of California Cooperative Extension, OSU Extension, C. Wayne Ellett Plant & Pest Diagnostic Clinic, IR-4 Ornamental Horticulture, USDA-ARS, The Center for Applied Horticulture Research (CA), Altman Plants (CA), C. Rakers & Sons (MI), Metrolina Greenhouses (NC), Green Circle Growers (OH)

For general workshop information contact Eileen Ramsay (ramsay.18@osu.edu).  For information on the SCRI grant development (Jan 14-15) contact Michelle Jones (jones.1968@osu.edu).  This workshop is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture SCRI Planning Grant – Award # 2015-51181-24284.

Website Updates

Thank you for visiting our new research and outreach site for all things related to greenhouse production in the Midwestern United States and beyond!  We recently migrated articles and content from the old site (go.osu.edu/firm) to here and may have a few remaining kinks to work out.  Our team will have post new content weekly – so please sign up with your email address to subscribe to updates and encourage your industry peers to do so as well!  Please visit our Twitter and Facebook sites for additional information!