Pa. Soybean Field Workshops to be Held at Ten Locations
HARRISBURG, PA (June 4, 2013) –This spring and summer, soybean farmers from throughout Pennsylvania will open their farms to share best practices with other growers in Soybean Field Workshops, conducted by Penn State Extension educators and sponsored by the Pennsylvania Soybean Board. The workshops, which are offered free to current and potential soybean growers, will be held at ten locations throughout the state.
Two workshops will be held at each site: one a few weeks after planting, and the other later in the season around canopy closure. The post-planting workshop will focus on plant emergence, populations, soil fertility, row widths, and growth stages. The canopy closure workshop will address pests, diseases, crop scouting, populations, nodulation, and reproductive growth stages.
“The workshops will be formatted as Growers’ Panels,” says Jennifer Bratthauar, Franklin County Penn State Extension educator. “Growers will hear from the field host and other producers in their area who are willing to share their experiences in producing soybeans.”
Soybean Field Workshops will be hosted by soybean growers at farms in Erie, Fayette, Indiana, Jefferson, Franklin, York, Lancaster, Lebanon and Berks Counties. Growers in Potter and Tioga Counties are invited to attend the field workshops in Wellsboro. The dates and times of the workshops are contingent on the state of the crop and the weather, so growers are urged to contact their County Extension Educator for the time and date of the workshops. Information is available on the Pennsylvania Soybean Board website under “Events.”
About the Pennsylvania Soybean Board
The Pennsylvania Soybean Board is a farmer-controlled Board responsible for managing Pennsylvania’s share of funds received from the nationwide Soybean Checkoff program. The funding is available under an assessment program, approved by Congress in 1990, under which soybean farmers contribute 50 cents of every $100 they receive for their beans at the first point of sale. Funds are used to develop markets, educate consumers, and research new ways to utilize and produce soybeans more efficiently.