Category Archives: Field Days and Events

Invitation to NRCS/VCE Cover Crop Training–April 12, 2018

You are invited to attend the 2018 Natural Resources Conservation Service/Virginia Cooperative Extension Cover Crop Training on Thursday, April 12, 2018 (9:00 am to 3:30 pm) at the Virginia Tech Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center (6321 Holland Rd., Suffolk, VA). The event is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided–please RSVP to Gail White (guwhite@vt.edu) by April 5 so that she can get a head count for lunch. Here is the agenda: Final Agenda_April 12 2018

If you are a person with a disability and desire any assistive devices, services or other accommodations to participate in this activity, please contact the Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center at 757-657-6450 during business hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to discuss accommodations 5 days prior to the event.  *TDD number is (800) 828-1120.

The Virginia Grain & Soybean Conference is less than 2 weeks away!

On behalf of both the Virginia Soybean and Virginia Grain Producers Associations, I invite you to join me for the 2018 Virginia Grain and Soybean Annual Conference on February 20-21, 2018. The conference will span two days and is being held at the Richmond Westin Hotel to provide a convenient, comfortable and inviting environment for attendees and their families. In response to increased interest, this year the conference will have a greatly expanded exhibit hall providing a larger and more prominent space for exhibitors and attendees to network.

Continuing to honor your requests that we not include information that you received at the county and regional meetings, we continue to include exciting, innovative, and largely non-production  oriented speakers.  Furthermore, following the success of last year’s two-day program, the conference has added even more breakout topics, speakers, and programming to help you run a strong, profitable operation. The program will feature keynote speakers and topics certain to bring value to your operation, including:  Smithfield Foods’ Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Commodity Hedging Officer Dhamu Thamodaran; The Port of Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Area Manager Kara Matzko; and FBI Counterintelligence Training Center Special Agents Mark Betten and Matthew Seckers discussing the topic of intellectual property security and the agriculture industry.

As always, your registration includes all meals including a full dinner that will follow the networking reception Tuesday evening, giving you additional time to network and spend time with colleagues and speakers.

Click Here for Individual Registration

Click Here for Sponsorship Opportunities & Sponsors Registration

What’s on the Agenda?

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

10:30am Registration & Exhibitor Trade Show Opens

11:30am Lunch Buffet Opens

12:00pm Lunch & Commodity Market Speaker

Robert Harper, Grain Division Manager, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation

1:00pm Breakout Sessions – Choose One

Weed & Pest Management in Grain & Soybeans

Charlie Cahoon & Michael Flessner, Virginia Tech

Soil Health Strategies for Increased Yields

Chris Lawrence, NRCS Cropland Agronomist & Dr. Mark Reiter, Eastern Shore AREC

Opportunities & Challenges on the Horizon

Dicamba Update from Monsanto

Rapeseed & Organic Opportunities for a Profitable Rotation, Jeff riddell, Perdue AgriBusiness

2:15pm Break & Visit with Exhibitors

2:30pm Breakout Session Repeated – Choose One

3:45pm Break & Visit with Exhibitors

4:00pm Globalization of Agriculture & Commodities

Dhamu Thamodaran, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Commodity Hedging Officer of Smithfield Foods

5:00pm Reception & Networking in the Exhibit Hall

6:00pm Awards Dinner

This includes corn and soybean yield contest winner presentations.  Although we did not break Keith Brankley’s 2012 Virginia record of 109 bushels per acre, we did induct 3 new members into the 100-bushel club, 3 new members into the 90-bushel club, and 4 new members into the 80-bushel club.  Of course David Hula and other corn farmers continue to break yield records in that crop – the number of winners is too large to list in this small space.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

7:30am Breakfast Buffet Opens

8:00am Annual Meetings, Elections, and Reports

8:30am Updates from Secretary of Agriculture & Forestry Bettina Ring

Break & Visit with Exhibitors

10:00am Managing Security Risks in Agricultural Trade

Special Agent Matthew Seckers, FBI, Richmond Division and Special Agent Mark Betten, Unit Chief for the FBI’s Counterintelligence Training Center, FBI Academy, Quantico, VA

11:00am The Agriculture Industry and the Port of Virginia: Growing New Markets

Kara Matzko, Mid-Atlantic Area Manager, Port of Virginia

12:00pm Dicamba Training & Certification Lunchon

Chelsea Valenti, BASF Crop Protection

Where Can I Stay?

We have reserved a room block at the Richmond Westin at the discounted price of $129 per night. Reservations must be made on or before February 6, 2018 by calling 1-888-627-7786. Reference the “Grain & Soybean Annual Conference” rate. You may also visit:

https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/VGASA2018

 

Dicamba Training: Tuesday February 6, 2018 Paul D. Camp CC

For those of you near Franklin, VA, I wanted to let you know of another dicamba training scheduled.  BASF will be holding a dicamba training on Tuesday February 6th, 2018 at 4:15pm at the Paul D. Camp Community College Regional Workforce Development Center ( 100 North College Drive Franklin, VA 23851).  The training should last about 1 hour.
Just to be clear, this training has been scheduled immediately after the 2018 Virginia Cotton Production Meeting, however, it is not associated with the Virginia Cotton Producers Association nor Virginia Cooperative Extension.
As always, feel free to reach out to Michael or myself with any questions or concerns.

Eastern Shore AREC Field Day CANCELED!

Due to impending rain Tuesday and Wednesday and already saturated soils, the Eastern Shore AREC field day scheduled for Wednesday, September 13, 2017 has been canceled. Let’s hope Hurricane Irma keeps tracking further west. We certainly do not need any more rain!

Eastern Shore AREC Field DAY: September 13th, 2017

Please join us for Virginia Tech’s Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center (ESAREC) 2017 Research Field Day on Wednesday, September 13th. Registration is free, open to the public and will begin at 8:00 AM at the ESAREC complex located at 33446 Research Drive, Painter, Virginia 23420. The field tour will begin at 9:00 AM and conclude with lunch at 12:30 PM.  See the attached flyer for specific projects to be highlighted and more information.

If you would like more information or are interested in sponsoring this event, please contact Lauren Seltzer at 757-414-0724 ext. 11 or email at mlpeyton@vt.edu.

2017 ESAREC Field Day Announcement

What You’ll See in the Field at the Virginia Ag Expo

As another reminder, the Virginia Ag Expo is Thursday, Aug. 3 at Renwood Farms in Charles City.  The event opens at 7:30 am and will run through mid-afternoon.

There is something for all corn and soybean farmers in the field this year.  Go on the field tour and you will be able to chat with Extension Specialists, company reps, and others about the research being conducted or anything else on your mind.

As always, the Ag Expo is home of one of our numerous on-farm corn hybrid and soybean variety tests.  This year, you will view 31 corn hybrids from 11 companies and 47 soybean varieties from 14 companies.  Drs. Mike Flessner and Charlies Cahoon will demonstrate off-site herbicide injury with some of our newest seed/chemical technologies.  Dr. Wade Thomason is evaluating in-furrow and starter fertilizer in corn.  The soil fertility team, led by Dr. Mark Reiter, is investigating fertilizer recommendations to ensure optimum production for high yielding soybeans.  You will view one of Dr. David Holshouser’s seeding rate trials as he is in the process of establishing variable rate seeding recommendations.  You will also see an experiment that you may have viewed at last year’s Ag Expo investigating the interaction of planting date with relative maturities.  Companies are participating in our plots with in-furrow and foliar sprays that offer potential to enhance yield potential under high-yielding conditions.  Finally, you’ll go below ground to view Virginia’s state soil, a Pamunkey loam, and discuss this yield contest-winning properties with NRCS personnel.

This is a walking, go-at-your-own-pace tour designed to fit your interest and schedule.  Buses will be running continuously to take you to and from the plots.  Enjoy!

2017 Virginia Ag Expo Returns to Charles City County

Please note: the date for the Virginia Ag Expo is August 3, 2017.

“Focused on Productivity, Management and Stewardship” is the theme for the 2017 Virginia Ag Expo.  The Virginia Ag Expo, hosted by the Virginia Grain Producers Association and the Virginia Soybean Association in partnership with Virginia Cooperative Extension, is the largest agricultural field day held in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  As an educational, marketing and social event farmers and agribusiness look forward to the Virginia Ag Expo each year.

Renwood Farms, owned and operated by The Stanley Hula Family, will be hosting this year’s Ag Expo on August 3.  The Hula Family’s farm is a diversified operation growing over 6,000 acres of corn, soybeans and small grains; along with seed conditioning and sales.  A focus on management and productivity at Renwood Farms has produced the world record corn yield of 532 bushels per acre by David Hula.  In addition, the USG soybean seed that produced the world record yield of 172 bushels per acre was grown and conditioned at Renwood Farms.

Over 150 exhibitors and sponsors will have on display all of the most up to date equipment, goods and services for agricultural producers and property owners no matter how large or small.

The event opens at 7:30 am.  The field tour, starting at 8 am, is a walking, go-at-your-own-pace tour designed to fit your interest and schedule.  Buses will be running continuously to take you to and from the plots.

Breakfast and lunch will be provided by Virginia food vendors. Attendees will be able to eat any time from 6:30 AM to 2:00 PM.

Renwood Farms is located at 17303 Sandy Point Road, Charles City, VA 23030.

Herbicide Resistant Common Ragweed Plot Tour

Having trouble controlling herbicide resistant common ragweed? Make plans to attend the field tour, this coming Thursday (June 22nd, 2017) near Lawrenceville, Virginia. Complete information is below. Please RSVP as soon as possible.

View a complete spectrum of preemergence and postemergence herbicides in soybeans in the field to see what works best for yourself. Also, learn about integrated weed management approaches that work within our cropping systems.