March 2007 Regional Fruit Grower Newsletter
| 3/8 | IPM Think Tank Workshop 2007 NWMHRS |
| 3/13 - 3/15 | Benzie / Manistee Hort Show Crystal Mtn Resort |
| 3/16 | SE Michigan Spring Fruit Tree Meeting Walli's Restaurant, Flint |
| 3/20 | Vineyard Mechanical Dormant Pruning Demonstration NWMHRS |
| 3/21 | Farm Safety & Farm Seasonal Labor Meeting NWMHRS |
| 4/1 | Water use Reporting Due |
| 4/12 | Tractor Safety Begins NWMHRS |
| 4/6 | Wine Grape IPM Day NWMHRS |
| 4/10 | First Fruitful Horizons Session Pleasanton Township Hall, Bear Lake |
| 5/4 | Antique Apple Pruning Workshop Port Oneida Rural Historic Dictrict |
| 5/12 | Tractor Safety Training Ends |
| 5/15 | Last Fruitful Horizons Session |
| 8/23 | NW Michigan Horticultural Research Station Annual Open House |
IPM THINK TANK
Dr. Nikki Rothwell, District Horticulturist
IPM Think Tank Workshop 2007 Agenda
Alternative Marketing Strategies
March 8, 2007
9am – 4:30pm
8:30 – 9:00 Registration
9:00 – 9:10 Welcome - Dr. Nikki Rothwell, District Horticulturist
9:10 – 9:45 How the NMC Great Lakes Culinary Institute can better utilize local products – Fred Laughlin, Director of Great Lakes Culinary Institute
9:45 – 10:30 Taste the Local Difference, how the Michigan Land Use Institute’s Entrepreneurial Agriculture Project impacts all local growers – Patty Cantrell, Director, Entrepreneurial Agriculture
10:30 – 10:50 BREAK
10:50 – 11:20 A look into some new marketing opportunities at Shoreline Fruit
Kate Gregory, Shoreline Fruit, Inc.
11:20 – 12:10 The nuts and bolts of certifying a farm for the Food Alliance, a new way to market low input agriculture - Jim Krenek, MIFFS Market Development Director
12:10 – 1:25 LUNCH
1:25 – 2:10 Focused market potential for commodity crops
Tom Kalchik, Associate Director of MSU Product Center
2:10 – 2:40 Getting involved in programs that provide agricultural products to local institutions - Mark Doherty, HortSystems, Inc.
2:40 – 3:00 BREAK
3:00 – 3:30 Alternative marketing strategies for processing crops
Todd DeKryger, Sr. Scientist, Product Safety and Regulatory Affairs,
Gerber Products Company
3:30 – 3:45 Current and potential market for dried cherries in the U.S.
Derek Klein, National Sales Manager, Graceland Fruit, Inc.
3:45 – 4:15 How marketing strategies will impact future fruit farmers—a look at a past program as a means to the future - Jim Nugent, retired District Horticulturist and Don Ricks, Professor Emeritus, Ag Economics, MSU
4:15 – 4:30 Conclusions and parting remarks – Dr. Nikki Rothwell, District Horticulturist
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN SPRING TREE FRUIT MEETING
A spring tree fruit meeting is scheduled for March 16th at Walli’s Restaurant in Flint. The program starts at 8:30 and will conclude at 3:45 p.m. A great deal of the meeting will focus on growing and marketing quality Honeycrisp apples. Dennis Courtier from Minnesota will be the featured speaker. This meeting is packed full of topics and information you can use this season to improve your fruit quality and profitability.
Registration cost is $25 and recertification credits have been applied for through MDA. For further information, contact Bob Tritten, District Extension Fruit Educator, Genesee County, at 810/732-2177 or your county Extension office.
VINEYARD MECHANICAL DORMANT PRUNING DEMONSTRATION
Tom Zabadal, Paolo Sabbatini, and Duke Elsner
Tuesday, March 20, Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station
10:00 am – Noon Station vineyard pruning bee after lunch
Dr. Tom Zabadal will be demonstrating mechanical dormant pruning of grapevines at the NWMHRS vineyard on Tuesday, March 20.
This will be our first chance to see such equipment at work in
northwest Michigan. This is the start of a research project to
determine the effectiveness and costs of mechanical dormant pruning
methods under our conditions. We will discuss what needs to be done to
prepare a vineyard for mechanical pruning and what follow-up hand work
needs to be done to complete the process. The research project will
include time studies and cost comparisons in addition to vine
performance, fruit quality and wine quality evaluations over the coming
years. If you have a digital camera that can take movie clips, bring
it along because it will be hard to describe how this machine works to
your friends with just words.
Following the equipment demonstration, Tom Zabadal, Paolo Sabbatini,
and Duke Elsner will demonstrate hand pruning and vine training
systems, with plenty of hands-on time for you to refresh your skills or
learn something new.
At 1:00 we will hold a pruning bee to finish up the rest of the station vines. We need numerous volunteers to complete this job. Experience is not necessary, as you can always come before lunch and learn from those with experience. Lunch will not be provided, so if you are planning to come early, please pack a lunch. If you plan on volunteering for the pruning bee, please let Duke know at elsner@msu.edu or (231) 922-4822. We welcome everyone to come for pruning and fun!
FARM SAFETY & SEASONAL LABOR
By Jim Bardenhagen, Leelanau County Director Emeritus
Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Time: Farm Safety & Emergency Preparedness: 8:30 am – Noon; $12/person
Lunch: Noon – 1:00 pm; $10/person
Seasonal Labor: 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm; $14/person
Location: NW MI Horticultural Research Station
Credits: 2 Recertification Credits for Farm Safety Portion
Farm Safety (Emergency Preparedness) Portion:
Morning Agenda
9:00 am Introduction & Registration
9:10 am Preparedness & Response Review
9:30 am MIFACE 2005 Report
9:45 am Small Tractor Overturn
10:05 am Hazard Identification on the Farm
10:35 am Break
10:45 am Food Security: Safety Requires a Comprehensive Approach
11:10 am Transportation Issues – Road Operation of Farm Equipment
11:30 am Local Issues: Security Plans & Transportation
11:50 am Evaluation & Certification Credits
12:00 pm Adjourn & Lunch - Catered by Ethnic Garden Catering, Peggy Donaghy
Speakers: Craig Anderson, Farm Bureau RCAP
Deb Chester, MSU Department of Medicine
Farm Seasonal Labor Portion:
Afternoon Agenda
1:00 pm Update on Immigration Reform…What is Happening with Legislation in
Washington DC? – Sharon Huges, National Council of Ag Employers
1:35 pm Immigration Enforcement Update – Blair Babcock, US Immigration and Custom Enforcement
2:05 pm Social Security Mismatch Letters – What is Your Responsibility as an Employer?
A Panel Discussion:
Blair Babcock, US Immigration and Custom Enforcement
Teresa Hendricks, Migrant Legal Assistance Program
Craig Anderson, Farm Bureau RCAP Division
2:35 pm Break
2:45 pm State Unemployment Tax Rates/Policies & Dumping/STUA
Employer Advocate, State Unemployment Tax Agency
Craig Anderson, Farm Bureau RCAP
3:15 pm Labor Outlook & Recruitment
Statewide – Craig Anderson, Farm Bureau RCAP
Local – Amador Diaz, Michigan Works-Migrant Recruitment Specialist
3:45 pm Business Rules Reminders - Craig Anderson, Farm Bureau RCAP
State Unemployment Tax Act Dumping / STUA – Craig Anderson, RCAP
4:15 pm Adjourn
Registration Deadline: March 16, 2007
Registration Form: Farm Safety & Seasonal Labor
Name(s): ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Address: ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Phone: ____________________________ Email: ______________________________
Farm Safety (AM): ________ x $12 = $_____________
Lunch: ________ x $10 = $_____________
Seasonal Labor (PM): ________ x $14 = $_____________
Total: $_____________
Make checks payable to MSU Extension and mail this form and payment to
MSU Extension-Leelanau, PO Box 987, Leland, MI 49654.
Or RSVP to Leelanau MSU Extension @ 231-256-9888 and pay at the door.
If you have questions, please call Jim Bardenhagen @ 231-218-3199.
HORN-FACE BEE MEETING
Dr. Nikki Rothwell, District Horticulturist
A horn-face bee (HFB) informational and brainstorming session will be held at the NW MI Hort. Research Station on March 22 from 9:00-11:30 a.m. As many of you know, we received funding for this project starting in 2006, and we would like to update growers on our preliminary results. We would also like to hear how your HFB performed on your farms, and we welcome any additional input regarding these experimental pollinators. Please join us for a great discussion in March.
WATER USE REPORTING DEADLINE APPROACHING
Reminder that farmers who have a well that has a combined pump capacity of 70 gallons per minute need to complete a water use report form and submit to MDA no later than April 1. This includes all wells regardless of whether they are used for irrigation, watering livestock, cooling cherries or providing spray water and portable pumps used to pump out of ponds or streams. This is the last chance for farmers to report before the $1,000 fine for non-reporting and the permit fee for additional wells kicks in. Even if you have portable pumps that you think you may want to use for irrigation at some point in the future, you should report before April 1, 2007.
If you put in a new well or new pump after March 1, 2006, you need to register that pump or well as a new water source. If you have increased your pump capacity on a previous well, you also must register the well as a new water system.
New this year in the reporting process is the groundwater withdrawal location by latitude/longitude. This information may be provided by handheld GPS units or the groundwater mapping website http://gwmap.rsgis.msu.edu. Providing the latitude/longitude location of withdrawal will allow mapping and analysis of effect on groundwater and stream base flow by withdraws in the watershed basin.
To assist you in the water use reporting process, go to the MDA website: http://www.michigan.gov/mda/0,1607,7-125-1567_1599_29980---,00.html
TRACTOR SAFETY TRAINING
Mark Breederland, Interim Leelanau County Extension Director
Included in this newsletter is a registration form for the Tractor Safety Training Program for 2007, which will be held at the NW Michigan Horticultural Research Station on Thursdays, April 12, 19, 26 and May 3 from 6 – 9 pm. The written and driving tests will be held on Saturday, May 12 from 8am – 3pm. Participants must attend all five sessions. Chris Garthe will be the instructor.
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 Program. It's very important for our 14 & 15 year old workers to sign up for this program if they want the opportunity to work on farms this summer. Please make copies of the form as needed.
Even though this training is not required for sons or daughters of farm families (sole proprietor only) working on your farm, I would still encourage you to use this training program to do comprehensive training for your own 14 & 15 year olds. If there is room in the program, they will try to accommodate training for farm family youth that are under age 14 since many start driving before age 14.
Please note that to be certified, youth must be 14 years of age by June 1, 2007. To register, use the enclosed form. Registration deadline is Friday, March 30, 2007. Encourage the youth to register early because space is limited! Click here for registration form.
If there are any questions, please feel free to call the Leelanau MSU Extension office at 231-256-9888.
2007 WINE GRAPE IPM DAY
Dr. Nikki Rothwell, District Horticulturist
Dr. Duke Elsner, District Wine and Grape Agent
The third annual Grape IPM Day will take place at the NWMHRS on April 6. The morning will feature Drs. Annemiek Schilder and Rufus Isaacs discussing the most recent research regarding insect and disease pests. They will also cover the new pesticide registrations for grapes. The meeting will begin at 9am.
The meeting will have a catered lunch from 12:00-1:00 p.m. In the afternoon, we will host an interactive brainstorming session with our new viticulturist, Dr. Paolo Sabbatini as well as Drs. Schilder and Isaacs. The researchers are looking for input and direction from the growers. They are also interested in hearing from you on how entomological, pathological, and horticulture methods worked or did not work in your vineyards. We hope this session will generate new ideas for the future of our industry. Please come and give us your two cents!
The meeting will cost $15 for lunch. So that we may have a count for lunch, please call Jackie at 946-1510 by April 2.
FRUITFUL HORIZONS
Steve Fouch, Benzie Co. CED
A program entitled "Fruitful Horizons" is a series of sessions to evaluate the production and marketing of agricultural and natural resource products in our area. If you have property available for planting or have been looking to diversify, this program is for you. Cost of land and production are on the rise and landowners are searching for profitable crops and resources.
This series of educational sessions will be held at the Pleasanton Township Hall, just North of Bear Lake on six consecutive Tuesday nights in April and May from 7:00 – 9:30 pm. You can select to attend all sessions or pick and choose. Note the discount for couples who wish to attend together.
The first session is critically important with speakers from the Product Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources at MSU setting the pace as they share valuable tips on effective marketing and value-added production. The following sessions will focus on specific crops and livestock recommended for our area. Topics will include wine grapes, saskatoon berries, cold hardy tree fruits, small fruits, healthy meat and other animal production, fresh market vegetables, managing forests for profit, and plant biomass production for alternative fuel.
By the end of this workshop series, you will have enough information to formulate a basic business plan and have opportunity to collaborate with other professionals, such as MSU Extension staff or innovation counselors as you move ahead with your plan.
Fill out and return the registration form by the registration deadline of April 3rd. We will limit this program based on space available and to assure as much as possible one-on-one and hands-on time. I look forward to seeing you there. For questions, call Benzie Co. MSUE office at 231/882-0025.
PARK ANNOUNCES ANTIQUE APPLE TREE PRUNING WORKSHOP FOR 2007
The park will again be hosting a pruning workshop on May 4th in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. The workshop will be held at the Miller Farmstead in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District 4 miles north of Glen Arbor on M-22. The Miller orchard is located off of Port Oneida Road and down Miller Road. Follow the signs to the workshop site.
The workshop will focus on maintenance of neglected apple trees and how to bring them back into production, and maintain their health. The course will include 1) how to identify and properly remove dead materials from abandoned trees 2) proper pruning of the canopy for optimum maintenance and apple production, 3) maintaining tree health, 4) how to maintain ground cover under the tree, 5) watering and care of the tree, and 6) equipment safety.
The park is pairing up this workshop with the Leelanau Conservation District, MSU Northwest Michigan Horticultural Station, and the County Extension Master Gardener Program to offer this hands-on training workshop. Experts from the three County offices will provide the technical information and the park will serve as the host for this annual event. This marks the third year that these organizations have come together to participate in this event.
The course is set up so participants receive "hands on" training of all techniques. The workshop hours are 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Participants should meet at the Port Oneida Schoolhouse on Port Oneida Road 4 miles north of Glen Arbor on M-22. An orientation and introduction will begin at 1:00 p.m. There is no cost to participants. Tools and materials will be provided. Participants should wear sturdy shoes and gloves. Handouts will be provided. In case of rain, the event will be rescheduled to May 7th at the same time and location.
Workers are not required to be skilled. The purpose of the workshop is to teach the techniques and train homeowners and the interested public how to restore to health and maintain antique apple trees.
Interested parties should contact the park historical architect, Kimberly Mann (231)326-5135 ext. 501, to sign up for the workshop. To sign up by email: kimberly_mann@nps.gov
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Clip and Return to: Kimberly Mann, Sleeping Bear Dunes N.L., 9922 Front St., Empire, MI 49630
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RETURN FORM BY April 27, 2007
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Last Revised: 3-8-07
Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station
6686 S. Center Hwy • Traverse City, Michigan 49684
Tel: 231/946-1510 Fax: 231/946-1404