Jan 5, 2023

SE Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference kicks-off

Vegetable Growers News managing editor Chris Koger is attending the Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference in Savannah, Georgia.

The large grower conference is under way with day-long educational sessions, including this one on the banks of the Savannah River at the convention center. Here, John Buchanan from the University of Tennessee uses irrigation demos to discuss treating water.

In its 21st year, the conference touts itself as the South’s premier growers’ show for fruits and vegetables. The show is billed as the largest educational conference and trade show in the southeastern U.S. that unites growers, vendors and suppliers.

The educational sessions cover a large variety of southeastern fruits and vegetables, including onions, peaches, blackberries, and other crops and topics such as agricultural robots and protecting growers’ income. Sessions also delved into precision agriculture, management of neopestalotiopsis with fumigation, nitrogen management and food safety. The sessions also explored the pros and cons of single and multiple farm ownership.

In a session on “Taking insect pest management to the next level with cultural controls,” attendees heard how to improve insect pest management. Through this year’s Caneberry Educational Conference, participants learned about caneberry fertility management, blackberry disease management and herbicide trials.

The event is co-sponsored by the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association of LaGrange, Georgia, and the South Carolina Peach Council, based in Columbia, South Carolina.

PHOTO ABOVE: At the Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference, growers are attending sessions, including this one on treating water, on the banks of the Savannah River at the convention center.  

-By Chris Koger, Managing Editor