Join Cornell Cooperative Extension's Lake Ontario Fruit Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County, and the CCE-Eastern NY Horticulture Team on April 4th for a remote GAPs training. Instructors will walk growers thru how to conduct a risk assessment on their farm utilizing the seven areas of farm food safety. Participants will gain hands-on experience in creating a traceability system for their farm, as well as learn about packing house design with food safety principles guiding placement of equipment and suggested materials. Students will also learn about how to train their employees related to food safety and understand what they will need to implement on their farm in order to pass a third-party food safety audit, such as GAPs.

Dr. Betsy Lamb, NYS IPM, will be presenting about integrated pest management in greenhouses and about the use of biologicals to control greenhouse pests. Chris Stoltzfus will provide a tour of the greenhouses and discuss their best practices for transplant production. 

Join Dr. Margaret McGrath, Vegetable Plant Pathologist, Cornell University, to hear the latest disease management considerations for pumpkins and vine crops including Cucurbit Powdery Mildew and Cucurbit Downy Mildew. Learn from Dr. McGrath what fungicides are working and which ones are not and get the latest developments on disease progression from across the region. 

University of New Hampshire Extension Field Specialist Emeritus, George Hamilton will demonstrate the importance of and best techniques to calibrate air blast sprayers. Proper calibration will ensure effective, efficient, economical and legal spraying.  Inadequate spray coverage is usually the cause of poor spray efficacy and additional spray applications. Overuse of some sprays results in unhealthy residues and can lead to fines.

Calibration should be done several times each season, or when you incorporate any new equipment or repairs - from the tractor to the nozzle.  Join us for a refresher or send new employees for training.  This workshop is open for any grower that relies on an airblast sprayer to deliver plant protectants to fruit or vegetable crops. 

Supervisors are critical to the success of farm businesses. They have a major impact both on employees' daily work experiences and on the production performance of the business. The  agricultural Supervisory Leadership certificate helps farm supervisors and managers learn and apply human resource management practices and leadership skills that foster rewarding workplaces and drive business results. Confident managers who thoughtfully apply leadership and management skills improve employee performance, develop teams, reduce employee turnover, and increase employee engagement. The courses within the certificate program will offer extensive practice and engagement activities to build confidence and skill sets.