The Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association Annual meeting is next week in Denver, with a full slate of sessions and speakers on both Monday, Feb. 28, and Tuesday, March 1. The event is being held at the Renaissance Denver Central Park.
The conference gets underway at 8:30 a.m. with opening remarks from Bruce Talbott, president of the Association.
Sessions at the event on Monday include “Unpacking the Agricultural Workers’ Rights Act,” with remarks from Hollis Glenn of the Division of Inspection and Consumer Services, Colorado Department of Ag; Lisa LaBriola with Husch Blackwell Strategies; and Scott Moss with the Division of Labor and Standards, Colorado Dept. of Labor and Employment.
Onsite and virtual exhibits will be available during the event as well.
John Recca with Brandwerks Group will look at business development in a session entitled “Built to Last: Colorado Melons, Chiles, Peaches… and more.” In addition there will be a session on soil health and disease management for veg crops, with Beth Gugino, Prof. and Vegetable Extension Pathologist with Penn State. Attorney Kathie Troudt Riley will look at developing contract for goods or services that protects transactions.
Daniel Drost, Veg Specialist at Utah State, will give a presentation on “Low Tunnels, High Tunnels and Shade – Systems to Enhance Specialty Crop,” and Whitney Pennington with the High Plains Intermountain Center for Ag Health and Safety will look at the Ag Workers’ Rights Bill and specific new rules for protection during hand weeding and working in the heat.
“Expecting the Unexpected: Emergency Planning and Response for Fruit and Veg Operations” will feature Susa Carter from CSU Extension, and “Taking the Gaps out of GAP Audits” will have speakers Brian Pauley with the Colorado Department of Ag, Kay Harmon with AgCheck Compliance Services and Steve Lopez with the Colorado Department of Ag looking at the ins and outs of Good Ag Practices audits.
Tuesday’s agenda features Kate Greenberg, Colorado Commissioner of Ag, at the opening session, followed by Eduardo Gutierrez-Rodriguez from CSU’s Food Safety Systems.
“Remote Sensing and Other Technologies for Specialty Crop Farming” will be discussed by Jeffrey Orrey with GeoVisual Analytics, and “Cultivate. Connect. Grow.” will feature Libby Stauffer and Tera Keatts with Philosophy Communication looking at social media strategies.
Adrian Card with CSU Extension and Colorado F&V Association will be joined by Beth LaShell of Fort Lewis College, Katie Russell of CSU, Mark Uchanski of CSU, and Rosalind May with Colorado F&V Association to give “Colorado Specialty Crop Block Grant Program project reports – round one.”
Environmental monitoring will be looked at by Laura Strawn with Virginia Tech; and ag-tech for labor savings will be discussed by Allan Fetters with AGceleration Advisory Service, Brent Shield with Stout Industrial Technology, Ingrid Sarlandie with Naio Technologies, Pauline Canteneur with FarmWise, and Wayne Duflock with Western Growers.
“How H-2A Can Work for Small Farms” will feature Kerri Owen with the Colorado Division of Labor and Employment and Tom Bortnyk with MAS Labor 2A.
The second session of Colorado Special Block Grant Program project reports will include Adrian Card, Ana Cristina Fulladosa from CSU, Ioannis Minas from CSU, Jane Stewart from CSU, Kevin Oster from GoFarm, and Mark Uchanski.
Also on Tuesday will be “Hands in the Soil, Produce on Our Plates” with Alisha Knapp, Amber Strohauer of Strohauer Farms, John Recca, Michael Moss of Kilt Farm, and Tera Keatts.
For more information on the conference, email admin@coloradoproduce.org or call 303-594-3827.
