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December 12, 2022

Webinar series on specialty crops to be held January-March, 2023

The University of Missouri Extension is offering an eight-week winter webinar series on growing specialty crops in tunnels.

"Growing Specialty Crops in Tunnels - Protected Agriculture" runs 6:30-8pm Tuesdays, January 24-March 14, 2023.

Extension educators and researchers from the Midwest, as well as high tunnel growers, will teach the classes. Topics include an overview of structures and mulches, high tunnel fruit production, irrigation, fertility management and soil issues, insect and disease management, the economics of diversifying crop rotations, high tunnel tomato production, a grower panel on winter production, and benefits of low tunnel production.

'There has been an increased interest in the production of specialty crops in high, medium, and low tunnels over the past several decades,' says MU Extension horticulture specialist Justin Keay. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service offers cost-share programs to support the purchase of high tunnels.

Presenters will explain how tunnels can give growers more control over temperature, light, and water, improving growing conditions for plants. Keay says extending the growing season by using tunnels lets growers market before and after the peak of the season when a glut of produce often leads to lower prices and smaller returns for growers.

The series will detail both the opportunities and challenges that come with growing in these systems, Mr Keay says.

Recordings of classes will be available for registrants who can't attend the live sessions.

Scholarships are available to Missouri beginning farmers and can be redeemed at registration.

For more information or to register visit the website, HERE. 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

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