By Clint Thompson
Registration is underway for this year’s Florida Ag Expo, scheduled for Nov. 18 at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC) in Wimauma, Florida.
Florida Ag Expo is a partnership between AgNet Media, Inc. and the UF/IFAS.
Vegetable and specialty crop producers interested in attending can learn about various facets of production, from the future of artificial intelligence to strawberry breeding to insect pest management, Best Management Practices, nematode management and disease control.
It is an important conference for growers who want to receive timely updates and information about ongoing research, says Gary Vallad, professor of plant pathology at the UF/IFAS GCREC.
“I think like any of these commodity meetings, it’s important for growers to see what’s going on, research-wise, to get up-to-date information about the best approaches, management practices and pesticide use so that they can try to make themselves as successful as possible,” Vallad said. “It’s all about squeezing the most out of the crop that you can. We’re always tinkering and trying to give them the best tools that we can.”
There will also be alternative crop field tours, which will feature topics like disease management of tomato and watermelon; breeding for mechanical harvesting; effects of cover crops on vegetable production and artichoke and hops production in Florida.
Opening remarks will begin at 8:45 a.m. The first presentation will start at 9 a.m.
Click here to register for the event.