December 2021 - 28

WINTER EVENTS
Southeast Regional Fruit &
Vegetable Conference, Jan. 6-9
The Southeast Regional Fruit and
Vegetable Conference returns to Savannah,
Georgia, Jan. 6-9, 2022 and will celebrate
its 20th anniversary.
In 2020, the virtual educational event
and trade show hosted more than 3,300
attendees and 290 vendor companies.
" This conference has become the
'premier fruit and vegetable event' in the
Southeast for growers to come and learn,
network with other growers and find the
latest in production practices, equipment,
seed varieties, and pest management to
make their operations more profitable, "
said retiring Georgia Fruit and Vegetable
Growers Association (GFVGA) Executive
Director Charles Hall.
Sponsored by GFVGA and the Georgia
Peach Council (GPC), the conference
will be held at the Savannah International
Trade and Convention Center. The
event features three days of educational
workshops and seminars, a two-day
trade show and several other evening
networking opportunities.
During the three-day educational
program, 70+ hours of concurrent,
commodity specific seminars will be
held, with topics spanning from pest
management to marketing and business
operations. Commodity conferences
include peach, vegetable, Vidalia onion,
watermelon, muscadine, blueberry,
strawberry, blackberry and raspberry.
There are also sessions on business
operations, food safety, roadside
markets, organic production and
precision ag technology.
" There are a number of new topics and
speakers for the 2022 conference, " said
Beth Oleson, director of education and
food safety for GFVGA. " We are hosting
a Social Media Boot Camp, Produce
Safety Alliance Grower Training Course
will be offered again, and a workshop for
beginning blackberry growers. "
Other special events during the
conference help facilitate networking and
personal connections. These include a
Friday night reception and live auction on
the trade show floor, an awards program
on Saturday morning and an Industry
Round Table on Sunday to close the
conference. The round table session serves
as a forum for discussion for growers and
suppliers to talk about issues affecting
the industry. This discussion helps align
both the GPC and the GFVGA leadership
boards with priorities that shape their
program of work for the upcoming year.
For more information on hotels,
educational sessions or to register for the
2022 SE Regional Fruit and Vegetable
Conference, visit
www.seregionalconference.org
or call 877-994-3842.
Take advantage of early bird discounts
by registering before Dec. 13, 2021.
GFVGA is a trade association
representing farmers producing fruits
and vegetables in the southeastern United
States. The organization provides a
viable and united voice to represent the
industry. Through support for educational
28 | FruitGrowersNews.com
East Coast. As with most similar events,
last year's convention was held virtually.
While the virtual event was successful in
providing a meaningful educational event
for growers, the overwhelming sentiment
was that it could not replace the in-person
interaction between fellow growers
and exhibitors that growers value at an
in-person event. Thus, the 45th annual
edition of the Mid-Atlantic Convention
will return to the Hershey Lodge in
Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Plans are being made to offer
SOUTHEAST REGIONAL FRUIT & VEGETABLE CONFERENCE
programs, agricultural research, member
services and marketing activities GFVGA
encourages efficient, cost effective
production for growers and increased
consumption by consumers.
GFVGA is managed by Association
Services Group, a professional
management firm with offices in
LaGrange, Georgia, and is accredited by
the Association Management Company
Institute.
The Georgia Peach Council is
an association of growers, packers,
researchers, allied industry and produce
buyers who seek to protect and advance
the production and marketing of peaches
in Georgia.
Illinois Specialty Crop
Conference & Trade Show,
Jan. 5-7
The 2022 Illinois Specialty Crop
Conference (ISCC) & Trade Show is
moving to a hybrid format offering
attendees the opportunity to attend in
person, view live sessions remotely or both.
The ISCC & Trade Show is provided by
the Illinois Specialty Growers Association,
the University of Illinois and the
Illinois Department of Agriculture. The
conference is aimed at meeting the needs
of agritourism businesses, irrigation issues,
pollinators, cut flower growers, organics,
and producers of vegetable, herb, and fruit
crops in Illinois and surrounding states.
More conference details and registration
information can be found at www.
specialtygrowers.org/isc2022
Lodging is available at the conference
site, the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield,
Illinois. A block of rooms has been
reserved at a discounted rate of $105
per night (single or double) plus 13%
tax. Lodging room internet fee charges
have been waived for this conference. To
register, call the Crowne Plaza Hotel at
217-529-7777, and use the group code:
" I9G. " Or register online.
Empire State Producers Expo,
Jan. 10-13
The Empire State Producers Expo will
be held Jan. 11-13, preceded by the 2022
Becker Forum on Jan. 10. It will be held
at the Oncenter, 800 State. St., Syracuse,
New York 13202. The conference hotel
is the Marriott Syracuse Downtown, 100
East Onondaga St., Syracuse, New York
13202. The event will follow all local
COVID-19 rules.
The New York State Vegetable Growers
Association sponsors the Empire State
Fruit and Vegetable Expo with Cornell
Cooperative Extension, the New York
State Horticultural Society and the New
York State Berry Growers Association. The
expo is held in January and is a premier
education event that features current
and beneficial information for growers
of processing, fresh market and storage
vegetables, as well as tree fruit, stone fruit
and berry growers.
A variety of topics are covered in
these educational sessions, including
presentations on cabbage, onions, potatoes,
vine crops, apples and sweet corn. A trade
show and related meetings are also part
of the important conference with the
opportunity to earn certified pesticide
applicator credits.
Exhibitor/trade show information is
available at www.Leetradeshows.com.
A preconference program is available in
December from this organization and
from Cornell Cooperative Extension
Offices.
The 2022 Becker Forum will be held at
the Oncenter on Jan. 10 from 8:30 a.m.5
p.m. " Addressing 2022 Ag Workforce
Challenges " is the title of the program. It
features presentations on Immigration
Policy and Washington Update from
Craig Regelbrugge, AmericanHort, and
Overtime and Labor Costs: Compliance
and Management Strategies from attorney
Chris Schulte of Smith Gambrell Russell.
A panel of farm employers will also be
included.
For a complete agenda and to register,
visit www.nysvga.org/expo/information, or
email: nybegetablegrowers@gmail.com.
Mid-Atlantic Fruit and
Vegetable Convention,
Feb. 1-3
The 2022 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and
Vegetable Convention will be held inperson
at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey,
Pennsylvania, on Feb.1-3, 2022. David
Kohl, noted agricultural economist and
presenter, will be the keynote speaker. A
farm market bus tour and several preconvention
workshops will be offered on
Jan. 31, 2022.
Normally over 2,400 fruit, vegetable,
and berry growers and other industry
personnel from throughout the midAtlantic
region and beyond gather in
Hershey each year for what has become
one of the premier grower meetings on the
exceptional educational sessions on
a full-range of topics in tree fruit,
vegetable, small fruit and potato
production plus retail and wholesale
marketing. Greenhouse ornamental and
cut flower sessions will also be offered
along with a special session presented in
Spanish for Spanish-speaking industry
members. A more detailed schedule with
topics and speakers will be announced in
the coming weeks.
The day before the main convention
opens, growers can choose between
a bus tour of farm markets or several
different workshops. The workshops
include FSMA Grower Training, Basic
Greenhouse Floriculture School,
Conducting and Analyzing On-Farm
Research, New Technology in Agriculture,
Hemp Production, Farm Transition and
Pennsylvania Pesticide Applicator License
Training.
On the opening day of the convention,
besides Kohl's keynote presentation,
there will be production sessions on vine
crops, pumpkins/winter squash, tree fruit,
general vegetables, peppers/eggplant,
asparagus, soil geath/cover crops, snap
beans, alliums and controlled environment
ag plus marketing sessions on What is
the Return on Your Marketing Dollars,
Comparing POS and Reservation Systems,
and Wholesale Marketing.
Sessions on the second day include
tomatoes, tree fruit, stone fruit, sweet
corn, general vegetables, greenhouse
ornamentals, small fruit and organic
vegetable production plus Marketing 101
and Agritourism marketing sessions and
two Labor/Farm Management sessions.
Also offered will be the session
" Técnicas de Producción de Frutas
y Hortalizas " especially for Spanish
speaking workers in the fruit and vegetable
industries. It will feature various relevant
production presentations in Spanish.
On the final day of the convention,
sessions on tree fruit, small fruit,
high tunnels, year-round high tunnel
production, potatoes, winter storage
vegetables, general vegetables, cut flowers,
innovative crops forsmall farms, retail
marketing and digital/social media will be
featured.
The Mid-Atlantic Convention has
been jointly sponsored by the State
Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania,
the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers
Association, the Maryland State
Horticultural Society and the New Jersey
State Horticultural Society for the past 44
years, making this year's convention the
45th meeting. In 2014, the Virginia State
Horticultural Society also began meeting
http://www.Leetradeshows.com http://www.specialtygrowers.org/isc2022 http://www.nysvga.org/expo/information http://www.seregionalconference.org http://www.FruitGrowersNews.com
December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2021
