September 2020 - 10

INDUSTRY NEWS
... continued from page 8
Are your plants
getting the
right light?
Record spectral profiles and
intensities with the LI-180
Spectrometer.
Shorten Production Time
Enhance Disease Resistance
Improve Your Yield Quality
Be enlightened at
licor.com/LI-180
" We have long said that
MANTS means business, and
that has traditionally meant
in-person and face-to-face, but
over the next few weeks, we are
working on an alternate way to
keep that business relationship
between exhibitor and buyer
healthy and available through
2021. "
Visit www.MANTS.com for
more information.
GREAT LAKES
FRUIT, VEGETABLE & FARM MARKET
IMPROVING YOUR
SOIL AT THE 2020
GREAT LAKES EXPO
When it comes to priorities for greenhouse
growers, the fertility and quality of your soil
is about as important as anything. At the
2020 Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm
Market EXPO, a couple of the highlighted
sessions will focus on not only producing
quality soil, but educating growers on how
to identify areas of need.
In the " Virtues of Cover Crops to Support
Soil & Crop Health " and " Observing
and Assessing Soil Health Indicators on
your Farm " sessions, Julie Grossman, an
associate professor in soil, agroecology
and organic food systems at the University
of Minnesota, will be presenting on the
importance and benefits of cover crops for
providing nutrients and improving
soil health.
Grossman, who is also the organic
programs coordinator for the College of
Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource
Sciences, works in the university's
Department of Horticultural Science, and has
formal training as a soil biologist. She says
that while she primarily works specifically
with organic management approaches,
farmers and growers of all types will be
able to walk away from her sessions with
valuable information.
" The information we provide aims to be
really useful to everybody, not just organic
producers " Grossman says. " What we're
discussing will be applicable to any grower
interested in improving their soil. "
The goal of the sessions will not only be to
inform growers and educate them about the
benefits of utilizing cover crops to promote
healthier soil, but about equipping the
growers themselves to apply what they learn
to their own operations.
" (Growers) that come to these sessions
will learn about cover crop species that
can be used to improve soils, and when to
use them, " Grossman says. " We will cover
everything from how to manage cover crop
growth and termination, to calculating the
amount of nitrogen provided via legume
cover crops, and help farmers understand
the difference between myths and realities
of what we know, and we don't (yet)
understand. In both sessions we will provide
tips, tools and tricks farmers can use to help
improve their soil health. "
Grossman says that attending sessions on
soil health isn't as much about explaining
research as it is helping farmers and
growers learn to " be scientists themselves, "
by diving into the science and the " how-to "
of soil management.
" Soil is the foundation of our agricultural
systems, and we have to take care of (those
systems), " Grossman says. " These sessions
will help growers know what they can do,
as stewards of the land, to produce better
crops and sustainably manage their farms
and their soil. "
While this will be Grossman's first
time presenting at the Great Lakes Fruit,
Vegetable & Farm Market EXPO, she notes
that attending, whether as a business or an
individual, can be incredibly beneficial for
growers from all crops and industries.
" I think it's really important to attend
sessions presenting information gained
via research, so that farmers can build on
their own good information, and add-on to
what they know does and doesn't work for
their farms, " Grossman says. " By attending
sessions and learning to be scientists
themselves, they can learn how not to rely
solely on scientists and labs, and can do
these things for themselves based on their
own farm or their own soil. "
To learn more about the 2020 Great Lakes
EXPO, virtual sessions and more, visit www.
glexpo.com.
http://www.MANTS.com http://www.licor.com/LI-180 http://www.glexpo.com
September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2020
