610th Meeting of the New England Vegetable & Berry Growers’ Association

The New England Vegetable & Berry Growers Association (NEVBGA) is the oldest vegetable growers association in America. We support and promote the vegetable and berry industry in New England. The NEVBGA hosts a series of winter grower meetings each year as an opportunity for growers to learn about ongoing research projects, variety trials, new equipment, growing techniques, and business topics to strengthen their businesses. Winter meetings are open to all!

Agenda

• 9:00 - Registration 
• 9:30 - Biomass allocation and decomposition pattern of roots and shoots of three summer cover crops - Dr. Masoud Hashemi, Extension Professor, UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture
  
  Cover cropping is an effective strategy to rebuild soil quality through decreased erosion, recycling soil nutrients, and building soil organic matter. However, the root of cover crops is often overlooked. A two-year study was conducted in 2022 and 2023 to investigate the allocation of biomass between roots and shoots, and the nutrient release from root and shoot of three common summer crops, including buckwheat, peas, and oats.
• 10:15 - Sweet Corn & Pumpkin Variety Trial Results - Dr. Mark Hutton, Associate Professor of Vegetable Crops and Extension Vegetable Specialist, UMaine
  
  UMaine strives to identify crops and varieties that growers in the region can rely on for yield, quality, pest resistance, and consumer preferences that will lead to the overall profitability of their operations. Key pest and diseases are a focus of the trials including the susceptibility and control of corn earworm and European corn borer in sweet corn as well as cucumber beetle, squash bugs, and squash vine borer on pumpkin crops which are all increasing in pressure due to changing climate conditions. The result of the trials will yield a core roster of varieties proven to withstand pests and diseases in the seasonal New England weather extremes.
• 11:00 - The Future of Berry Plant Production Business - Amanda Emond, Sales Manager Nourse Farm, Whately, MA
  
  Nourse Farm has been a longtime supporter of the NEV&BGA. The leading source of berry plants in the region has undergone some major changes in the past few years in leadership, acquisitions, and technology to expand their offerings of high-quality berry plants for the future. The acquisition of a plant propagation and growing facility in North Carolina will allow Nourse Farm to produce plug plants of strawberries which are becoming more popular with growers for many reasons. Plug plants allow for faster and more successful stand establishment later in the season lessening the need for months long control of pests and disease in immature plantings on both bare ground and plasticulture. Longer establishment times of traditional dormant bare root crowns has been increasingly challenging for growers with high weed pressure costing both time and money.  Plug plant viability and vigor has been key in quick establishment lessening the reliance on herbicide for annual and perennial weed pressure for the establishment phase of strawberry plantings. 
• 12pm - LUNCH & Commercial Member introductions, Extension updates, NEVBGA updates
• 1:15 - Ag Water and Traceability Rules – Lisa McKeag, UMass Extension Food Safety Specialist
  
  The FSMA Ag Water and Traceability Rules are finally final—learn about conducting an ag water assessment for pre-harvest water and how to get started with the Food Traceability Rule if you hold or pack any foods on the traceability list.
• 1:45 - Herbicide Update - Dr. Maria Gannett, UMass Extension Weeds Specialist
  
  Dr. Gannett will discuss product and label updates from the New England Vegetable Management Guide that will affect vegetable and berry growers.
• 2:30 - Avoiding Landfills - A Look at Plastic Use in Agriculture and the Avenues for Disposal - John Gove
  
  John Gove is a freelance photographer, filmmaker, writer and farmer from Leominster Mass. John has written for the Boston Globe, PBS, and other regional and national publications. John received funding from NEV&BGA to undertake a project chronicling the use of agricultural plastics on his farm that was published in Atlantic Magazine.
  
  The US uses 126 million pounds of plastic mulch, annually, to both improve crop yields and decrease inputs. This dirty plastic film lacks the infrastructure for recycling, leaving most of it destined for landfills of burn piles. A silver bullet solution may not exist, but a murky path forward and opportunities for innovation across the industry point in a sustainable direction.
  
  Plasticulture has been a game changer in the use of expensive specialty herbicides use in vegetable and fruit crops. The annual decision weighed by farmers to continue to use plastic or alternative films is coupled with the use of more specialty chemical products and equipment or cultivation equipment. Gove employs the use of plastics for its ability to limit complete ‘over the crop herbicide’ treatment and targets aisleway application in addition to cultivation when necessary. 
• 3:15 - Adjourn

1 pesticide recertification credits has been approved for this meeting