CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2004

3/1-4              IDFTA Tour/Conference
                       Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy

3/3                 Field Crop and Pest Update
                       Boyne City Hall, Boyne City

3/4                 Farm Safety & Water Use Reporting Seminar
                       NWMHRS

3/4-5             Michigan Wine Industry Annual Mtg.
                      Crystal Mountain Resort

3/5-13          Agriculture & Natural Resources Week
                     MSU campus

3/10              Fruit Crop Ecology – Managing Water Without Irrigation
                      NWMHRS

3/11-12        2004 Produce Marketing Conference
                     Hilton Inn, Grand Rapids

3/29-31        First World Congress on Organic Food
                      Kellogg Center, MSU

3/31-4/1       Benzie/Manistee Hort Show
                     Crystal Mt. Resort, Thompsonville

4/8,4/15,      Tractor Safety Training Program
4/22,4/ 29    TBA Career Tech, Traverse City
5/1

8/26              NWMHRS Open House - 25^th Anniversary Celebration
 

FARM SAFETY & WATER USE REPORTING SEMINAR
By Jim Bardenhagen, Leelanau MSU Extension

When: March 4, 2004
Location: NW MI Horticultural Research Station
Cost: $15 including lunch
Catered by Maple Leaf Restaurant
$5 without lunch

Pesticide Recertification Credits – 2 (AM Program)

The morning program will focus on Farm Safety centered around shop safety, mobile maintenance on equipment and general farm/equipment maintenance practices. The afternoon session will focus on the new water legislation, water usage reporting and irrigation practices.

Seminar Agenda

8:30 – 9:00 am         Registration, rolls & coffee
9:00 – 9:10               Introductions
9:10 – 9:25               Report on 2003 farm fatality cases in Michigan
9:25 – 10:15            Shop safety, mobile maintenance, general farm/equipment 
                                   maintenance practices
10:15 – 10:45         Working in, on or under elevated equipment & confined spaces
10:45 – 10:55         Hearing, eye, and other personal protections when working on
                                  contaminated equipment
11:15 – 11:45         Proper and safe pesticide storage
11:45 – 11:55         Maintaining a secure farm, hazardous materials and pesticide storage
11:55 – 12:00 pm   Evaluation and certification credits

12:00 – 1:00 pm     LUNCH

1:00 – 1:30             Water use legislation & impact on agriculture
1:30 – 2:30             Water use reporting options and forms
2:30 – 2:45             Break
2:45 – 3:15            Water use scenarios
3:15 – 4:00            New irrigation generally accepted agricultural management 
                                practices (GAAMPS)
4:00                         Evaluation and Conclusion

Resource persons for the morning session will be Craig Anderson, Michigan Farm Bureau, RCAP and Jeff Rogers, Farm Bureau Risk Management. Resource persons for the afternoon session will be Scott Piggot, Farm Bureau Ag Ecology Department and Mike Gregg, Michigan Department of Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Division.

To register for the Farm Safety & Water Use Reporting Seminar please fill in the registration form below and send the form and payment to the Leelanau MSU Extension office.

FARM SAFETY & WATER USE REPORTING SEMINAR REGISTRATION FORM

NAME: ___________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

PHONE: ______________________________ EMAIL: _____________________
 

____ Seminar with lunch @ $15.00 ea = ________

____ Seminar without lunch @ $5.00 ea = ________

FRUIT ECOLOGY WORKSHOP – MANAGING WATER WITHOUT IRRIGATION
Jim Nugent, District Horticulturist, MSU Extension

Date: Wednesday, March 10^th
Time: 8:30-9:00 a.m.         Registration & coffee
           9:00-3:30 p.m.        Educational sessions
Where: NW MI Horticultural Research Station
Cost: $15 (includes lunch)

Water is critical for orchard and vineyard growth and quality fruit production, but often it becomes the major factor limiting growth and/or production in NW Michigan. Irrigation is an effective option to add supplemental water (a topic we plan to address in depth next year), but what are the alternatives to improve water management without irrigation?

This workshop will address water-related issues. Topics will include:

• fruit crop water demand
• rainfall and evaporation patterns and trends
• the role of soil carbon, soil micro-organisms, and soil amendments (including compost) in water infiltration and holding capacity
• the role of water in nutrient flows
• grower experiences with methods to add mulch and organic matter

The workshop is co-sponsored by the Integrated Fruit Systems Think Tank and MSU Extension. To register, please contact the NW MI Horticultural Research Station at 946-1510 or 888-749-3019 by Friday, March 5^th.

2004 PRODUCE MARKETING CONFERENCE

Fresh fruit and vegetable growers, shippers and packers need timely information about marketing strategies, consumer preferences, national and international competition, and ideas to improve income and earnings to remain competitive in today’s dynamic business environment. Creating linkages across the value chain, from grower to consumer, is the focus of the 2004 Produce Marketing Conference March 11-12 at the Hilton Inn, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Registration for the two-day conference is $50 for the first person from a business and $20 for each additional person. Lodging is available at the Hilton Inn.

For more information about the conference, contact Tom Kalchik, associate director of the MSU Product Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, by telephone at 517-432-8752 or e-mail at kalchikt@msue.msu.edu;

The 2004 Produce Marketing Conference is sponsored by MSU’s Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs) and Cornell Cooperative Extension.

FIRST WORLD CONGRESS ON ORGANIC FOOD

The First World Congress on Organic Food will be held at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center at MSU, March 29-31.

This international conference will focus on the challenges faced and initiatives taken to address important food safety, quality, and other issues affecting organic food producers. Sessions will review and explore the production and safety of organic food globally, and provide government perspectives on what is expected. There also will be sessions highlighting research findings to date, and questions for future research. In addition, economic and marketing questions, as well as consumer perceptions of organic agriculture and products, will be explored.

The conference will feature experts from academia, government and industry, and will provide a dialog for participants from academia, the scientific community, industry and government to share knowledge, raise questions, and pursue answers and future directions for the organic sector.

For more information, contact Kirsten Khire, khirek@cvm.msu.edu, 517-432-3100.

GUTHION LABEL CHANGES
By Jim Nugent, District Horticulturist, MSU Extension

New restrictions on the Guthion label establish new limits for seasonal use. The new maximum seasonal use rates for Guthion Solupak 50WP are: apples – 8 lbs/a; pears – 6 lbs/a; peaches and nectarines – 4.5 lbs/a; cherries – 3 lbs/a. Guthion now also has some very long re-entry intervals, i.e., 14 days for apple and peach, 15 days for cherry, etc. plus 30 days of restricted entry for the general public in pick-your-own operations.

NEW WATER USE REPORTING REQUIRED
By Jim Nugent

Does your farm have a high capacity well? Two recent water use laws were passed in Michigan that will affect farm operations with high capacity water use. High capacity water use for farms is defined as a site where water use averages 100,000 gallons or more per day, for any 30 consecutive day period. One hundred thousand gallons per day is equivalent to pumping at 70 gallons per minute for a 24 hr. period. This pumping capacity per site can be from a single well, a combination of more than one well, a surface water pump, or a combination of ground and surface water use.

If a producer has a site that exceeds this threshold, then annual water use reporting is required, beginning in 2004. The following information must be reported:

a) The amount and rate of water withdrawn on an annual/monthly basis in either gallons or acre inches.
b) The type of crop irrigated, if applicable
c) The acreage of each irrigated crop, if applicable
d) The source or sources of the water supply
e) If the water withdraw is not used entirely for irrigation, the use or uses of the water withdrawn
f) If the source of water withdrawn is groundwater, the static water level of the aquifer or aquifers needs to be identified
g) Applicable water conservation practices and an implementation plan for those practices.

Estimating the producer's water use could be accomplished by several methods:

• Pump capacity multiplied by run time: run time timers are less costly and more trouble free than flow meters
• Flow meter: meters actual flow, maintenance and calibration
• Water application multiplied by number of applications, plus estimate of additional water use
• Industry average numbers (Mid West Plan Service or ASAE) with appropriate adjustments.

CROP DISASTER DESIGNATION
By Jim Monroe, Farm Service Agency

The action State Executive Director for the Michigan USDA Farm Service Agency has announced that 77 Michigan counties, including Northwest counties, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Kalkaska, have been designated as agricultural disaster areas. The designations came as a result of various weather events including:

• Drought since July 1, 2003
• Freezing rain and abnormally warm weather followed by very low temperatures from February 28 to July 21, 2003
• Heavy rain, hail and wind from May 7 to July 21, 2003
• Hail, wind and rain storms between August 1 to September 22, 2003

The designation also enables eligible farmers to request assistance under the Disaster Set-Aside (DSA) Program. Under the DSA Program you may be permitted to defer any or all of your FSA farm loan payments due this year (2004) or next year (2005).

The deadline for filing for these programs is September 23, 2004. Contact your local Farm Service Agency office for more details.

YOUTH WORK PERMITS
By Jim Bardenhagen

This is a reminder that all youth under 18 working on farms that are organized as partnerships or corporations must have work permits from the local school.

TRACTOR SAFETY TRAINING PROGRAM
By Jim Bardenhagen

If you plan to hire 14 or 15 year olds to work on your farm this summer, please contact them to register for the Tractor Safety training program being offered for youth in the Northwest Michigan area. Youth that will be 14 as of June 1, 2004, are eligible.

Under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Hazardous Occupation Order, successful completion of a tractor operation and safety course is required for hired youth under the age of 16 who perform farm jobs classified as hazardous. Even though this training is not required for sons or daughters of farm families operating as sole proprietorships, we strongly encourage this comprehensive training for farm family youth that are under age 14, since many start operating tractors before age 14.

Instructor: Robert Fortine
Dates: Thursdays, April 8, 15, 22 and 29, from 6:00-9:00 pm
Test - Saturday, May 1 or May 8 from 8:00 am-3:00 pm
Location: TBA Career Tech Center
880 Parsons Road, Traverse City

To become certified, participants must attend all five sessions of the course, pass a written test, and pass a tractor driving test. Growers and MSU Extension agents will be assisting with the hands-on tractor safety training.

Cost for the program is $55, which is due at the time of registration. Registration deadline is Friday, April 2 and is limited to 25 participants on a first-come, first-served basis, so encourage youth to register early! The cost covers the course manual. Participants should dress to be outdoors. For Saturday, May 1 or 8, please bring a sack lunch (pop will be provided).

This Tractor Safety Training Program is a joint effort between Career Tech Center, MSU Extension and Northwest area growers.

If you have any questions, please contact the MSU Extension offices in Leelanau County (231-256-9888) or Grand Traverse County, (231-922-4620) or the Agri Science & Natural Resources Department located at the Career Tech Center (231-922-6284).

2004 Tractor Safety Registration

(Please print clearly & copy form as needed)

Name ________________________________ Phone __________________

Address ______________________________________________________

(Street or Route and Box) (City, State and Zip)

Date of Birth ____________ Sex______Ethnic Origin ___________________
(Month-Day-Year)                  (Male or Female) (              Optional)

Optional (circle): Do you live on a farm? Yes No    Do you have a disability? Yes No

Return form along with $55 by Friday, April 2, 2004 

Make checks payable to: TBA Career Tech Center
Mail to: TBA Career Tech Center
Attn: Mrs. Moss
 880 Parsons Road
Traverse City, MI 49686
Registration fee is non-refundable (unless class is cancelled due to low enrollment).

Please send any comments or suggestions regarding this site to: 
Bill Klein, kleinw@pilot.msu.edu

Last Revised: 2-16-04