Strawberry Pre-Plant Meeting
July 28, 2021 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Strawberry Growers et al.:
We (Gail Milteer, VDACS; Sarah Sharpe, VCE-Greene; the Virginia Strawberry Association; and Roy Flanagan, VCE-Virginia Beach) sincerely hope you had a prosperous and copesetic 2021strawberry harvest, it is hard to believe, but the time to get ready for the2021-2022 strawberry crop is upon us.
We are grateful that COVID protocols have relaxed to where we can hold our in-person meeting and want to make you aware of what we have planned.
The flier is attached for the 2021Preplant strawberry meetings to be held in Stanardsville, Wednesday, 7/28/2021and Virginia Beach, Wednesday, 8/4/2021 this year. The Stanardsville meeting is seeking to have private pesticide applicator recertification credits for Cat. 90 as well, so that one will have an additional presentation at the end of the specialists’ talks, that way if you are seeking recertification you will stay a little longer, if you are not seeking credits you will be allowed to exit before that presentation commences.
Both meetings are requiring rsvp to secure yourself a meal at no cost to you.
We have Dr. Jayesh Samtani presenting on “preplant considerations: varieties, nitrogen dose rates, and disease management”, Jayesh did some excellent work this season with varying nitrogen rates for different varieties and I think you will find this information informative and impactful.
The other two specialists we have presenting are fresh from University of Florida (UFL) to us in Virginia, located at the Eastern Shore AREC. Both have excellent qualifications and work experiences that have led them to positions in Virginia. I have enjoyed my time with them on farms so far, find them to be extremely knowledgeable individuals, and am flat stoked that they are here serving fruit and vegetable farmers in Virginia.
Dr. Emmanuel Torres Quezada, spent quite a few years in the UFL strawberry breeding program and will be presenting on “How flower induction shapes strawberry production systems around the world”.
Dr. Lorena Lopez, was the specialist that found cyclamen mite this season on strawberries in Chesapeake (never a good day when the entomologist gets excited) and is working now to get us the best information possible about management strategies for our upcoming crop. She will be presenting on “Insect and mite management in Virginia’s Strawberries”.
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Sarah WeaverSharpe
Extension Agent, Agriculture and Natural Resources
Virginia Cooperative Extension- Greene
10013 Spotswood Trail
Stanardsville, VA 22973
(434)985-5236 I seweaver@vt.edu