March 17-18, 2017

MSU Darr Agricultural Center

2401 S. Kansas Expressway

Springfield, MO 65807

and 3 area blueberry sites

The 2017 Missouri Blueberry School

2017 Blueberry School Questions: Call Patr ick Byers at 417-881-8909/email: byerspl@missouri.edu or Kelly McGowan at mcgowank@missouri.edu Make check payable to Greene County Extension, mail to or drop by: Greene County Extension Center, 2400 S. Scenic Avenue, Springfield, MO 65807 Your Name and Farm Name: ____________________________________________________________ Additional Members from Farm:__________________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip:________________________________________________________________________ Daytime Phone:_______________________________________________________________________ Or register and pay online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/missouri-blueberry-school-tickets-31999504379

Establishing new blueberry plantings

Blueberry cultivars-past, present, future

Update on blueberry insect issues, including spotted wing drosophila and brown marmorat-ed stink bug

Replanting blueberry sites

Blueberry production practices

Blueberry growers profile

On-farm tours of innovative blueberry produc-ers

Blueberries offer huge potential for Missouri farmers. Though a challenging crop to produce, blueberries are in high demand for many mar-kets. The Missouri Blueberry School will offer educational sessions and a tour of innovative blueberry farms. Join local and nationally known blueberry specialists to gain expertise on a wide range of blueberry issues, including:

$80 for first member of farm $60 for additional members of a farm Fee includes Friday educational sessions, Saturday bus tour and Saturday lunch and educational materials

Blueberry School Website: www.extension.missouri.edu/blueberry

The Missouri Blueberry School

Friday, March 17, 2017 Blueberry Educational Sessions

8:30 Registration 9:00 Welcome Dr. Del Vecchio, Jay Chism 9:15-10:15 Choosing blueberry cultivars Bill Cline, NCSU 10:15-10:30 Break 10:30-11:15 Getting started with blueberries Jennifer Morganthaler, MSU 11:15-12:00 SWD and BMSB – serious pests for Missouri Grant Bolton, LU 12:00-1:30 Lunch on your own 1:30-2:30 North Carolina experiences with replanting blueberries Bill Cline, NCSU 2:30-3:00 NRCS opportunities for blueberry farmers Diana Sheridan, NRCS 3:00-3:15 Break 3:15-4:15 Blueberry grower profile: Robertson’s Blueberry Farm Samantha Warren 4:15-5:00 Blueberries and soil health TBA 5:00-5:15 Updates in the Small Fruit and Grape Spray Guide Patrick Byers, MU 5:15 Missouri Blueberry Council meeting

Saturday, March 18, 2017 Blueberry Tour

8:30 load vans at Bond Learning Center 9:00-10:30 Stop 1 – Sunshine Valley Farm, Rogersville 10:30-11:30 Travel time 11:30-12:30 lunch – MSU State Fruit Experiment Station, Mountain Grove 12:30-2:00 Stop 2 – MSU State Fruit Experiment Station, Mountain Grove 2:00-2:30 Travel time 2:30-4:00 Stop 3 – The Blueberry Patch, Seymour 4:00-5:00 Travel time, return to Bond Learning Center

Tour Stops Sunshine Valley Farm, Rogersville, MO Sunshine Valley Farm is located east of Springfield in Greene County. Owned and managed by Jan and Mike Wooten, the farm produces blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, apples, peaches, plums, pears, and asparagus. A high tunnel for berry production was added in 2011. Sunshine Valley Farm was established in 1990. Discussion topics at Sunshine Valley—disease management, marketing, berry opportunities. See http://www.sunshinevalleyfarm.com/.

MSU State Fruit Experiment Station, Mtn. Grove, MO The MSU State Fruit Experiment Station was established in 1899 and has been a part of MSU since 1974. Research and outreach projects focus on grapes, small fruits, nuts and tree fruits. High tunnel raspberry production is a focus of a recent research project. Discussion topics at the State Fruit Experiment Station—berry and tree fruit opportunities, berry cultivar trials, HT raspberry production. See http://mtngrv.missouristate.edu/.

The Blueberry Patch, Seymour, MO Joe and Marcia Blaine are the owners of The Blueberry Patch, located between Seymour and Mansfield, MO. The farm is a U-Pick operation. It was started over fifteen years ago, and through the years it has grown to approximately 2000 plants placed over four acres. Recently the farm has expanded with a new planting. See Discussion topics at The Blueberry Patch—blueberry pruning, soils. See http://www.upickblueberries.com/info.htm.

Ronald Del Vecchio, Dean of William H. Darr College of Agriculture, Missouri State University Dr. Del Vecchio provides leadership to Missouri’s agricultural community as Dean of the MSU William H. Darr College of Agricul-ture and Director of the Missouri State Fruit Experiment Station.

Jay Chism, Southwest Regional Director, University of Missouri Extension Jay Chism directs MU Extension activities in the 17-county southwest region of Missouri.

Grant Bolton, IPM graduate student, Lincoln University Grant Bolton provides support to Lincoln University’s statewide extension and research activities in integrated pest management, and is working towards a PhD degree focused on spotted wing drosophila biology and management.

Patrick Byers, Horticulture Specialist, MU Extension Patrick Byers has worked with blueberry research and outreach education for the past 30 years. His particular interests lie with production systems for blueberry growers in Missouri, and blueberry marketing.

Jennifer Morganthaler, Clinical Instructor, MSU William H. Darr College of Agriculture Jennifer Morganthaler directs outreach education at the MSU State Fruit Experiment Station, teaches in the William H. Darr Col-lege of Agriculture, and participates in fruit research.

Diana Sheridan, USDA-NRCS, Springfield, MO Diana Sheridan, District Conservationist, directs Farm Bill programs (including NRCS cost share programs and oversees staff in Dallas, Greene, Polk and Webster counties.

Samantha Warren, Robertson Family Farm, Joplin, MO Robertson Family Farm is located in Saginaw, MO, just south of Joplin. The farm features blueberries, peaches and honey. Blueberries are sold PYO, as well as prepacked at the farm and at Webb City Farmers Market. See https://www.facebook.com/robertsonfarm and https://robertsonfamilyfarm.wordpress.com/ .

Dr. Bill Cline, Research and Extension Specialist, De-partment of Plant Pathology, North Carolina State Uni-versity Bill Cline has an appointment that is 50 percent research and 50 percent Extension. He works specifically with blueberries and muscadine grapes focusing on disease issues these small fruits face. With production of both crops concentrated in the eastern part of North Carolina, Bill’s office is located at the Horticultural Crops Research Station in Castle Hayne. A member of the De-partment of Plant Pathology, his research interests include inte-grated pest management, cultural practices and disease re-sistance screening of blueberry.

Since 1995, Bill has served as the blueberry extension horticulturist for N.C. State, supporting Cooperative Extension agents statewide. He organizes the state’s annual blueberry meeting and conducts regional workshops on blueberry site selection, planting, growing, pruning and all other aspects of blueberry production. Cline also maintains the N.C. Blueberry Journal, a blog where he posts information about the latest disease concerns, cultivars, propagation and guidelines for timely blueberry maintenance, such as pruning or fertilizing.

Presenters

Featured Speaker

Meeting Information

Friday, March 17, 2017 Blueberry Educational Sessions

The March 17 Blueberry Educational Sessions will take place at the Bond Learn-ing Center, located at the MSU Darr Agricultural Center, 2401 S. Kansas Ex-pressway, in Springfield. The Friday program includes presentations on a wide range of blueberry topics, by national experts and local blueberry specialists. Blueberry establishment, blueberry replanting, cultivars, and pest management, are focus topics. The Missouri Blueberry Council will hold its annual meeting Friday evening.

Saturday, March 18, 2017 Blueberry Farm Tour

The Missouri Blueberry School tour will visit two premier blueberry sites and the MSU State Fruit Experiment Station, interact with growers and researchers, and provide plenty of time to ask questions. Learn how to get started in blueberries, how to address the challenges related to blueberry production, and how to market the blueberry crop. In addition, we will focus on several aspects of blueberry pro-duction during the tour, including pruning, disease management, and opportuni-ties for diversifying a blueberry farm with additional fruit crops.

Our thanks to the following supporters of the Missouri Blueberry School, who have provided financial and/or other support:

Lincoln University Integrated Pest Management Program University of Missouri Extension-Greene County Missouri State University William H. Darr College of Agriculture Missouri Blueberry Council Sunshine Valley Farm Persimmon Hill Berry Farm Highland Blueberry Farm

Organizing Committee for the 2017 Missouri Blueberry School:

University of Missouri: Donna Aufdenberg, Rober t Balek, Patr ick Byers, Kelly McGowan Missouri State University: Jennifer Morganthaler , Mar ilyn Odneal, Mar tin Kaps Lincoln University: Nahshon Bishop, Chr is Boeckmann, Tour ia Eaton