NAFDMA Convention Coming To Wisconsin in February

The North American Farmers' Direct Marketing Association (NAFDMA) will be holding their annual international convention in Wisconsin in 2008.  NAFMDA is a trade organization comprised of farm markets, apple orchards, pumpkin farms, and agritourism destinations across the US and Canada.  The convention will be in cooperation with the Wisconsin Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Conference.

The Convention will be held February 15-20, 2008 at the Kalahari Water Park & Convention Center in Wisconsin Dells.  The Convention begins with 3 days of bus tours to some of Wisconsin's more popular ag-tourism businesses.  Monday, Februrary 18 is Workshop Day with various speakers covering both marketing and production topics.  The Conference will begin that evening with a reception and the opening of the Trade Show.  Tuesday and Wednesday (2/19-2/20) are the Conference Sessions featuring interesting speakers from the industry. 

Attendees can sign up for the entire Convention or just certain days of the Conference.  Breakfasts, lunches, and the reception are included in the Conference fees.  For more information, see the NAFDMA website.

Enjoying The Harvest

The cost per copy is only 25¢ (plus  mailing cost).  To order, print the mail-in form or call (920) 478-3852.

A new booklet designed for primary school-age children is available now.  Enjoying the Harvest - Journey to Wisconsin's Harvest is a 24-page activity book created by the Wisconsin Fresh Market Vegetable Growers Association in cooperation with the Wisconsin Berry Growers and Wisconsin Apple Growers Associations.  The book takes students on a month-by-month look at growing vegetables and fruits in Wisconsin - from spring planting and pruning through the harvest.  Each page has number or word activities that utilize math, reading, writing, science, or investigative skills.

Calendar of Events & Meetings
North American Farmers Direct Marketing Convention - February 18-20, 2008 - Kalahari Resort, Wisconsin Dells

 

Information on the use of Spartan® can be found on the WI Dept of Agriculture's website at www.datcp.state.wi.us.  For a copy of the 2007 label, log in the 'Members Only' section.

2005 JUNEBEARING STRAWBERRY CULTIVAR TRIALS   PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR BRIAN R. SMITH UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-RIVER FALLS, WI  54022-5001   The Junebearing strawberry cultivar trial contains 27 entries (22 cultivars, 5 advanced breeding selections – 3 and 2 selection(s) respectively, from Italy and Nova Scotia. The experimental plot design was a randomized complete block with 3 replications.   Methods   Location/ Climate:         University of Wisconsin-River Falls; USDA Hardiness Zone 3b (-15°F guaranteed, -42°F possible)   Soil Type:                        Sparta Sandy loam, 2.1% organic matter, pH of 7.1   Planting:                        Bare root plants set 6/9/04   Spacing:         1’ x 4’ within and between rows, respectively, 25 plants per plot. Plant density = 10,890 plants per acre. Plot size was 4 feet x 20 feet.  Row width = 1.5’   Mulching:         Plots were mulched with 6 inches of rye straw on December 2, 2004.                         Plots were uncovered April 28, 2005.   Irrigation:         Overhead sprinkler irrigation was applied as needed according to Irrometer® tensiometer readings.   Fertilizer:                      1.             Boron at 2 lbs/acre on 8/20/04. 2.      45-0-0 broadcast at 30 lbs/acre (8/20/04) and 80 lbs/acre (9/25/04)   Weed control:         Mechanical cultivation as needed during first growing season. Devrinol (50% WP), 8 lb/acre on November 5, 2004.   Pest control:         Thiodan (50% WP) – 2 lb/acre on May 30 for tarnished plant bug @ 1.5 qt/A.   Harvest season:            Early season: 6/1 (2 harvests) Cultivars placed in to season categories based on % of total             crop harvested on 6/1.                                     Total season: 6/1 – 7/5/05 (6 harvests)    Results   The Summer/Fall of 2004 was one of extremes; July and August were drier than average and August was colder (light frost on August 21) than September (2nd frost September 28). This was the third warmest fall on record. Three solid weeks of clouds, 1.5 days sun from early October on. The ’04-’05 winter was generally mild with below average snowfall.  Temperature extremes/snowcover conditions were:            -12°F December 9  0" snowcover           51°F December 30                              -14°F  January 14 (-30° windchill) 0" snowcover                     January 17 114 years since there was a winter with this low a cumulative snowfall      50-51°F  February 3, 4, 5           60°F  March 6                     April 15 warmest start to April since 1910 (20 consecutive days above average)                           First and last snowfall of the season was Thanksgiving (3.5”) and March 19, 2005 (5”) respectively, with a total of 22.5” for the season.  The 2005 spring season was characterized by early warmth in April followed by 3 weeks of cold in latter April into May.  Strawberry plants flowered on normal date (May 30) but matured quickly with earliest cultivars harvested on 6/21/05.  Temperature extremes during the 56 day bloom/berry development and harvest period ranged from 51°F (May 30) to 96°F (June 23).    The harvest season began on June 21, (average for this area) and extended to July 5.  Yield, yield ranking and fruit size (1st and all harvests and rankings) for all cultivars and selections are presented in the table on the following page.          YIELD FRUIT SIZE Cultivar Lbs/Acre Rankz Gm/Fruit (1st harvest) Rank Gm/fruit avg (all harvests) Ranky Early Seasonx Annapolis 11,966 2 18.4 5 10.6 12 Sable 9,185 8 13.9 16 8.8 19 K96-1 (Kentville) 8,133 11 15.2 14 10.0 15 Veestar 4,858 17 9.9 22 8.8 18   Early MidSeason Redcoat 9,615 5 11.3 21 8.2 20 Brunswick 9,385 7 19.5 2 12.5 5 Evangeline 8,210 10 17.8 8 11.5 9 Honeoye 6,996 14 18.2 6 12.7 4   MidSeason Mesabi 12,642 1 17.5 10 10.4 14 Glooscap 11,459 3 17.5 9 11.2 10 Mira 8,059 12 15.2 15 11.8 7 K93-20 (Kentville) 7,210 13 17.9 7 10.4 13   Late MidSeason Sparkle 10,160 4 12.2 20 8.2 21 E9-A5-13 (Italian) 9,180 9 17.0 11 12.0 6 Sapphire 6,654 15 12.3 19 9.9 16   Late Seasonx Winona 9,468 6 16.8 12 11.7 8 Serenity 6,060 16 19.5 1 13.6 2 Bounty 4,375 18 12.4 18 7.6 22 MicMac 3,215 19 13.2 17 9.4 17 91-80-2 (Italian) 2,595 20 19.0 4 15.2 1 88-74-1 (Italian) 1,240 21 15.4 13 11.1 11 Ovation 960 22 19.0 3 12.8 3  Z Yield ranking of all 22 genotypes and advanced selections relative to one another. 1 = Best; 22 = Worst. When two genotypes performed identically, the next higher or lower rank consecutive number was assigned randomly.  Y Fruit size ranking of all 22 genotypes – selections relative to one another for all harvests. 1 = Largest; 22 = Smallest.  X Cultivars/selections categorized by ripening season based on percentage of crop ripe in 1st harvest.

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