Press Release

The Ohio State University Extension Office in Sandusky County, along with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s North Central Ag Research Station near Fremont will be hosting a vegetable production workshop series throughout the 2016 growing season.  The meeting series, which will be free and open to the public, will be targeted towards an audience of vegetable producers in the county and surrounding area, as well as anyone interested in learning more about the research conducted at the station, and its impact on the community and the food industry.

The goal of the workshop series is to provide hands on training and pertinent growing season information to producers in a more relaxed, informal learning environment than provided by traditional afternoon or evening field days held at the research station in the past.

“By moving to a monthly meeting, we can offer several topics throughout the year, as well as add in timely information as specific challenges occur during the season,” reported Allen Gahler, Extension Educator for Sandusky County, and organizer of the series.

Matt Hofelich, manager at the research station, added, “By making it a regularly occurring event we can include many different faculty, staff, industry reps, and growers that may not be able to attend one specific date, allowing greater outreach from the station and Extension. This should also benefit growers by providing regular fellowship and opportunity to network and swap growing notes.”

The meetings will be offered on the second Thursday of each month, April through October, and will begin at 7:00 a.m. with breakfast provided by OSU Extension and sponsors.  Industry representatives and researchers will be introduced during breakfast, and at 7:30 a.m., a featured speaker will present a specific topic relating to vegetable production.  At the conclusion of the talk, participants are invited to walk the fields, visit with OSU researchers and industry sales representatives, and network with other producers.

According to Gahler, participants are also encouraged to bring plant disease samples and insects with them to the meetings for identification by OSU staff, or for same day transport of the samples to the OARDC lab in Wooster, where full diagnostics can be run and reported back to the grower electronically.  “Timely diagnosis in vegetable disease is key to managing the crop, and we want to do all we can to help ensure growers produce a wholesome product at a reasonable cost to them and to consumers,” he stated.

Specific topics and dates for the workshop by month will include the following:

  • April 14: New Fungicide Strategies with Orondis by Dr. Sally Miller,

OSU/OARDC Plant Pathologist

  • May 12: Scouting Cucurbits with drones, by Jim Jasinksi, OSU IPM Coordinator
  • June 9: Alternative Crop Enterprises – is Malting Barley an option for you? 

Dr. Eric Stockinger, OSU/OARDC Department of Horticulture & Crop Science

  • July 14: The OSU Food Safety Program – what it can do for you

Dr. Beth Scheckelhoff, Extension Educator – Greenhouse Systems

  • 11: Sweet Corn Evaluation, field walk, and taste it for yourself

Mike Gastier, Extension Educator – Huron County

  • 8: Pepper Evaluation and field walk

                                – Bells, Bananas, Jalapenos

Allen Gahler, Extension Educator – Sandusky County

  • 13: Soil Health and Water Quality – How does it affect me?

                                A look at edge of field studies and NCARS water samples

Libby Dayton, OSU Soil Scientist

For more information, contact Gahler at OSU Extension, Sandusky County at 419-334-6340.