{"id":8229,"date":"2021-10-06T13:46:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T17:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/?p=8229"},"modified":"2024-01-24T11:58:04","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T16:58:04","slug":"small-farm-conference-carries-on-despite-covid-19-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/uncategorized\/small-farm-conference-carries-on-despite-covid-19-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Farm Conference carries on despite COVID-19 challenges."},"content":{"rendered":"
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The theme from the 17th<\/sup> annual Small Farm Conference sums it up, \u201cRemaining Resilient and Innovative.\u201d  Organizers rose to the pandemic-era challenge of shifting to a hybrid format per responses from a pre-event survey to provide an experience that met the needs of both in-person and virtual attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe uncertainty of the times combined with the many considerations on how to ensure the safety of attendees led to changes that we certainly never anticipated,\u201d said Berran Rogers, coordinator of UMES Extension\u2019s Small Farm Program<\/a> and chair of the conference.  \u201cNonetheless, with the efforts of everyone involved, it was impressive to see how everything came together for the benefit of our stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Field tours limited to 15 people per session on Friday, Nov. 6 offered participants an opportunity to visit the UMES Education and Demonstration Farm on Stewart Neck Road in Princess Anne, the Coops to Co-ops Farm<\/a> on Peggy Neck Road and the UMES Sheep and Goat Farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UMES Extension\u2019s alternative crop specialist Dr. Nadine Burton negotiated the myriad of demonstration plots and high tunnel greenhouses to show her audience specialty crops grown there, including hibiscus<\/a>, turmeric, ginger and callaloo.  She hopes to introduce them in the Delmarva cropping system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The calyces of hibiscus plants, she explained, can be harvested and sold for about $15 to $20 per pound.  Although labor intensive, the crop can be used not only for teas, but also for wine, beer and jams.  Callaloo, a green leafy vegetable originating in the Caribbean, is high in iron and may be useful in controlling hypertension, while turmeric might relieve inflammation, she said. Other specialty crops like hibiscus and especially aronia berries, are antioxidant-rich.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIn addition to learning about the specialty crops we’re growing out at the farm, participants were impressed with how we’re helping farmers see the value-added opportunities associated with growing such crops,\u201d Rogers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on the Demonstration Farm, specialty herbs consultant Henriette den Ouden, highlighted some 20 different specialty herbs, mostly medicinal herbs, but also some ethnic and culinary herbs.  She discussed choices for starting material, pest management, harvest methods and estimates of time input and production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cParticipants are looking forward to additional workshops that allow for hands-on opportunities to learn more about specialty crops and herbs,\u201d Rogers said.  \u201cIn exit surveys, conference attendees found the presentations to be informative and the presenters knowledgeable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Another highlight of the first day of the conference according to Rogers was the farm tour stop at the Coops to Co-ops farmers market.  The Co-op is a unique study in \u201chow you can repurpose abandoned chicken houses into multi-use spaces that support agritourism, community farmers markets and controlled vegetable production opportunities.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of Friday\u2019s offerings, conference-goers also watched a vegetable fermentation demonstration and visited the Sheep and Goat Farm where Associate Administrator for UMES Extension<\/a> Dr. E. Nelson Escobar shared his expertise as a small ruminant specialist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 100 registrants took advantage of virtual sessions on Saturday.  Some of the most popular topics were \u201cBio-Dynamic Farming Principles and Advantages,\u201d \u201cFinancial Planning and Management Strategies in Uncertain Times,\u201d and \u201cDevelopment of African Caribbean Specialty Crops.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UMES\u2019 Dr. Simon Zebelo, an associate professor of entomology and plant biology, and University of Maryland\u2019s Dr. Cerruti Hook spoke during a webinar on \u201cWeeds and Integrated Pest Management.\u201d Hook suggested farmers alter their routine to combat weeds, such as varying crops, planting times, harvesting times and tillage methods.  He pointed to quality seeds, planting more densely, cleaning equipment between fields and post-harvest care in fields as advantageous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zebelo, in turn, shared his integrated organic pest management practices involving the effect of trap crops on insect pests.  As part of his research, he planted squash as a perimeter around test watermelon plots on UMES\u2019 Agricultural Experiment Station and on Delmarva farmers\u2019 fields in an effort to attract cucumber beetles.  The results, he said, were that the beetles preferred the squash, the trap crop, allowing the watermelons to grow larger and more plentiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The virtual aspect of the conference, Rogers said, made it possible \u201cto attract participants from across the country and as far away as Nigeria.\u201d  Conference registrants, he said, will also have the ability to view sessions for up to 60 days following the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media associate, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 410-621-3850, <\/em>gcstephens@umes.edu.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photos by Todd Dudek, agricultural communications, UMES Extension, tdudek@umes.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Dr. E. Nelson Escobar conducts the tur of UMES sheep and Goad Farm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Conference-goers attend the vegetable fermentation workshop.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The theme from the 17th annual Small Farm Conference sums it up, \u201cRemaining Resilient and Innovative.\u201d  Organizers rose to the pandemic-era challenge of shifting to a hybrid format per responses from a pre-event survey to provide an experience that met the needs of both in-person and virtual attendees. \u201cThe uncertainty of the times combined with the…Read more Small Farm Conference carries on despite COVID-19 challenges.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-8229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8229\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8229"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=8229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}