The Great Plains Growers Conference and Trade Show will be Jan. 10-12, 2013 at the Fulkerson Center on Missouri Western State University’s campus in St. Joseph, Mo. The event is a five-state collaborative effort of growers associations and University Extension from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota.
"Interesting and useful information will be presented on production and marketing of vegetables, cut flowers and fruit," said Ajay Nair, extension vegetable specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. "Experienced commercial vegetable growers and those with a dream of starting to grow and sell produce will find value in the conference.”
Six day-long workshops begin the conference on Thursday, Jan. 10. Participants will select one topic from the following: high tunnel production, soils and irrigation, fruit production, honeybees and beekeeping, introduction to vegetable production for Spanish speakers, and farm to school program.
More than 60 presentations covering organic and conventional crop production are planned for the second and third days of the conference, including opportunities to follow tracks on small fruit, tree fruit, cut flowers, beginner and advanced organic, marketing and beekeeping. Sessions on urban horticulture and community gardens have been added this year.
Conference registration
Registration for the Jan. 10 workshop is $55 per person, except for the Introduction to Vegetable Production (Spanish) track, which is $35 per person due to grant funding. Early bird registration for the Jan. 11 and Jan. 12 sessions is $45 per day; after Dec. 27, registration is $55 per day. Reduced registration for students is $25 per day. Registration includes meals and breaks.
Source: ISU