by Dave Nicolai, Institute for Ag Professionals program coordinator
The three-day Minnesota Crop Pest Management Short Course program and Minnesota Crop Production Retailers Trade Show starts Tuesday, December 10th and continues through Thursday, December 12th. The Crop Pest Management Short Course educational sessions will begin on Wednesday, December 11th from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and continue on Thursday, December 12th from 8:00 AM to 2:20 PM. The trade show and educational sessions will take place at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The University of Minnesota educational session agendas and session descriptions may be accessed at the Crop Pest Management Short Course website.
The registration fees, online registration and hotel information for the 2019 Crop Pest Management Short Course and MCPR Trade Show can be accessed at the Minnesota Crop Production Retailers website. Please note that the early pricing discount concludes on Tuesday, November 19th.
Highlights of the three-day Crop Pest Management Short Course
Tuesday, December 10
- MCPR Plenary Sessions (1 pm to 3 pm) with speakers:
- Mitchell Hora, an Iowa grower, who will provide his experience and data he is collecting from other growers and his views on soil health through cover crops and the problems of lack of quantifiable soil health data and standards. Mitchell has gained notoriety through the MN Public Radio podcast “Field Work” and is promoted as a grower who has pulled back the curtain on life on the farm. He will share his ideas on how cover cropping can be part of the emerging regenerative agriculture movement and payment system.
- Anna Cates is the Soil Health Specialist leading the MN Office for Soil Health. Anna will describe the complex interactions between soil biology, soil structure and plant growth that is the baseline for the function of any product, and give MCPR members an idea of how and when to apply soil health testing.
- Lara Moody is the Vice President of Stewardship and Sustainability Programs at The Fertilizer Institute (TFI). Lara will discuss the 4 R Certification Program and progress of adoption in the United States, Canada and throughout the world. In addition, a small panel will discuss their experience as participants in the Minnesota 4 R Certification Pilot Project. Panelists will provide their “boots on the ground” viewpoint of the 4R Certification Program to gain insight on the potential effectiveness and resources available required for 4 R Certification going forward in MN.
- David Okerlund has been a professional salesperson – travelling over 100,000 miles per year, college administrator and teacher at Oxford University. David is an inspirational speaker who has seen the bad years and the great years of Agriculture, but most importantly David has learned how agriculture can make the best of a challenging situation. Expect a truly uplifting, motivational presentation to restore and renew your spirit David’s personal and humorous style delivers hope. He is a member of the International Hall of Fame for speakers.
- Information Technical Service Provider (TSP) recertification program from 10 am to 1 pm.
- Pesticide Applicator Recertification sessions will begin with category H (Seed Treatment) on Tuesday afternoon (2:00 to 4:00 pm).
- Trade show opens at 3:00 to 6:30 pm.
Wednesday, December 11
- The CPM Short Course’s General Session will start with the theme “Up The Odds – Increase Your Knowledge.” The program begins at 8:00 and runs until 11:00 am with a great lineup of keynote speakers including:
- Dr. Allan Felsot, Professor at the Department of Entomology and the school of Environment at Washington State University. During the period 2018-2019, California juries have ruled in favor of three plaintiffs who claimed that Monsanto (now Bayer), the manufacturer of Roundup products containing the active ingredient glyphosate, provided inadequate warning for use of the product and as a result had contracted a form of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, an immune system cancer. The basis of the liability lawsuit is arguably directly linked to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) conclusion that glyphosate is probably a human carcinogen. Dr. Felsot’s presentation will review the evidence on glyphosate toxicology and epidemiology, making the case that the actual epidemiological evidence does not support IARC’s conclusions. Implications of these glyphosate cases will be discussed.
- Dr. James Mintert is a professor and Extension economist in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics and serves as director of Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. Dr. Mintert will review and update the status of trade wars, commodity prices, regulations, interest rates and farm policy, as well as farmland values and rental rates, which can all affect farmers’ attitudes and well-being. Purdue’s Ag Economy Barometer will also be presented which is a monthly nationwide survey of U.S. crop and livestock producers that provides an ongoing measure of farmer sentiment and helps highlight the key factors driving shifts in farmers’ perspectives and what that means for the U.S. farm economy.
- Mr. Dan Luna, Meteorologist in Charge at the National Weather Service Chanhassen office, which directs the forecast, development and outreach activities for central MN and eastern WI, along with Mr. Steve Baun, the Hydrologist in Charge at the NOAA’s National Weather Service located at the North Central River Forecast Center in Chanhassen, MN will provide the specifics about the challenges of heavy precipitation forecasting and available tools that enhance the decision making process for agriculture and how our landscape and waterways were impacted this past year, from planting to market. In depth, we’ll take a look at new emerging tools that can help farmers and nutrient applicators avoid potential nutrient runoff situations, saving money and reducing non-point source runoff issues.
- Concurrent educational sessions from 1:00-5:00 p.m. will continue the strong educational program with a wealth of pest, crop and fertilizer management topics including making informed decisions about soybean yield genetics, cover crop selections, soybean insects such as the soybean gall midge and corn insect Bt management for 2019. Other sessions will include new research on the relationships of corn plant density to corn yields, pyrethroid rotations for soybean aphid control, increased herbicide resistance to Palmer amaranth and waterhemp in the Midwest.
- Trade show runs from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, December 12
- Concurrent educational sessions will continue from 8:00 am to 2:20 pm and will detail a number of important agronomic topics including fall urea application studies, micronutrient options, an update on in-season nitrogen applications in corn, invasive corn and soybean diseases, precision ag yield data cleaning and editing, remote sensing for soybean aphid scouting, side-dressing liquid manure, Minnesota fall nitrogen application restrictions, growing hemp in Minnesota and the use of biological crop stimulants.
- Trade show continues in the morning from 9 to 11 a.m.
Continuing education credits
Certified crop advisers will be able to collect a total of 15 CCA continuing education credits over the course of the 3–day program.
Pesticide applicator recertification
December 10, 2:00-4:00 p.m. and December 11, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
These MDA-approved sessions are for applicators that need recertification credit in Categories A (Core), C (Field Crop Pest Management), and/or H (Seed Treatment).
- Category A + C: Attend all of the December 11th recertification sessions.
- Category A + H: Attend December 10th from 2 pm to 4:00 pm and December 11th recertification sessions from 8 am to 2:45 pm.
- Category A + C + H: Attend all December 10th and December 11th recertification sessions.
Do you need to recertify? If you last attended a recertification workshop in 2016 or were newly licensed in 2018, you need to attend an MDA approved workshop in the correct categories in 2019. If you don’t attend a required recertification workshop, you must retest to be eligible to renew your license for 2020. Please contact MDA at 651-201-6615 with recertification or license questions.
Source: University of Minnesota Extension: Minnesota Crop News