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Organic Fruit Farming the Upper Midwest (with the Organic Fruit Growers Association)

Session: Half Day Sessions

Start / End: 01:00 PM - 05:30 PM Thu

Presenters:

  • Chris McGuire
  • Madeline Wimmer
  • David Roy Bohnhoff
  • Ben McAvoy
  • Rachel Henderson
  • Juli McGuire
  • Deirdre Birmingham
  • Andrew Zwald

Join the Organic Fruit Growers Association for an afternoon of learning about the challenges and rewards of growing organic fruit! We’ll focus on farmers’ practical experience and encourage open discussion. After a welcome and introductions, we will divide the afternoon into three sub-sessions: at 1:30 pm, an agricultural engineer and two farmers will discuss alternatives to treated wood posts on organic fruit farms: can we use posts made from metal, concrete, or untreated rot-resistant woods to support trees, trellises, deer fencing and bird netting? At 3:00 pm, we will have an open facilitated discussion on challenges faced and lessons learned during the varied weather of 2023 and 2024. At 4:15 pm, a panel of organic fruit farmers will discuss value-added processing: on our busy farms, how can we efficiently process blemished or excess fruit into valuable foods?