Kick off 2020 at the KentuckyFruit & Vegetable Conference By Christy Cassady, Extension Specialist, Center for Crop DiversificationWhy should growers attend the 2020 Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Con-ference, set for Jan. 6th and 7th at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lexington? a) informative educational sessions b) opportunities to network/learn from other growers c) acquire contacts for seed, equipment, fertilizer, etc. d) the price is right e) all of the above

The correct answer is e) all of the above. “It’s a very beneficial meet-ing for producers of all sizes, and a great place to network, get ideas, see what other producers are doing, what’s working and not work-ing,” said Joel Wilson, president of the Kentucky Vegetable Growers Association (KVGA). “That’s been the benefit to me over the years. You can always learn something new at the conference.”

The 2020 conference offers some new opportunities for growers, includ-ing two pre-conference sessions on the afternoon of Sunday, Jan. 5th. A Farm Food Safety Plan Writing Workshop will be offered from 3 to 6 p.m. EST, and a Farmers Market Short Course will be held from 3 to 6:30 p.m.

“That’s an exciting chance to do a write-shop,” Cindy Finneseth, ex-ecutive director of the Kentucky Horticulture Council, said of the food safety workshop. “Growers will be in a really good position to polish up their food safety plans.” The Farmers Market Short Course is intended for both growers and market managers, she said. The conference will also feature programming targeted to beginning growers, who can sometimes be overwhelmed by the amount of in-formation presented at a statewide conference.

“We have a whole section on getting started,” Finneseth said, refer-

What’s insideNAP deadline coming up ... 2CCD resources update ...... 5

Coming upNov. 6 - Growing Your Farm and Food Business work-shop, 4:30-8:30 p.m. CST, Hopkins Co. Extension Of-fice, Madisonville, KY. For details about this and other workshops, see Page 3.

Nov. 7 - Got Farm Records .... Now What? Managing Risk & Improving Farm Business Skills workshop, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, Boone Co. Extension Office, Burlington, KY. For details about this and other work-shops, see Page 3.

Nov. 12 - Evaluating Eco-logical Weed Management Strategies Using a New On-line Decision Support Tool webinar. See Page 6.

Nov. 19-21 - Kentucky State University Small, Limited Resource, Minority Farmers Conference, Frankfort. For details, see Page 4.

October 2019Brett Wolff, EditorChristy Cassady, Editor/Designer

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Cooperative Extension Service University of KentuckyDepartment of HorticultureN-318 Agricultural Science CenterLexington KY 40546-0091(859) 257-1477Fax: (859) 257-2859extension.ca.uky.edu

Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of economicor social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed,religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, maritalstatus, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability. University of Kentucky,Kentucky State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Kentucky Counties, Cooperating.

ring to Tuesday sessions on Vegetable Production for New Growers, and Getting Started with Fruit and Vegetable Production. The conference will also offer sessions on fruit and vegetable produc-tion for experienced growers, as well as on mar-keting, organic production, protected ag produc-tion, Produce Best Practices Training/Food Safety Modernization Act, and the annual Grape and Wine Short Course. “Anyone growing produce crops in Kentucky should be able to find some-thing they need,” Finneseth said.

Speakers will include a number of growers as well as researchers/extension personnel from other states, in addition to speakers from the University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, the Ken-tucky Department of Agriculture, and addition-al agencies that assist growers in Kentucky. The

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trade show will feature 40-plus vendors.

Pre-registration (which must be received by Dec. 13th) is $40, making this “one of the least expen-sive conferences you’ll go to anywhere,” Wilson said. The price will be $60 after that date. The sup-port of event sponsors (Kentucky Farm Bureau, Waters Agricultural Laboratories, Harris Moran Seed Company) helps keep the cost down for growers. The fee includes a year’s membership in the KVGA, Kentucky State Horticultural Society or the Organic Association of Kentucky, and en-trance into the Grape & Wine Short Course.

You may pre-register online at https://2020kyfruitvegconference.eventbrite.com. Hotel and additional information, including the confer-ence program, is or will soon be available on the event website at https://kyhortcouncil.org/2020kyfruitandvegconf/.

KY growers urged to consider NAP risk protection coverageFrom the USDA Farm Service AgencyThe USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) reminds producers to review available USDA crop risk protection options, including federal crop insur-ance and Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) coverage, before the crop dead-lines in November.

Federal crop insurance covers crop losses from natural adversities such as drought, hail and ex-cessive moisture. NAP covers losses from natural disasters on crops for which no permanent federal crop insurance program is available, including perennial grass forage and grazing crops, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, floriculture, ornamental nursery, aquaculture, turf grass, ginseng, honey, syrup, bioenergy and industrial crops.

The following crops in Kentucky have a NAP ap-plication deadline of Nov. 20th, 2019: Apples, Aro-nia, Blueberries, Caneberries, Cherries, Chestnuts, Grapes, Honey, Jujubes, Nectarines, Pawpaws, Peaches, Pears, Pecans, Persimmons, Plums, Quinces and Rhubarb.

Producers can determine if crops are eligible for federal crop insurance or NAP by visiting https://webapp.rma.usda.gov/apps/ActuarialInforma-tionBrowser2018/CropCriteria.aspx.

The 2018 Farm Bill reinstates higher levels of cover-age, from 50 to 65 percent of expected production in 5 percent increments, at 100 percent of the aver-age market price. Producers of organics and crops marketed directly to consumers also may exercise the “buy-up” option to obtain NAP coverage of 100 percent of the average market price at the cover-age levels of between 50 and 65 percent of expected production. NAP basic coverage is available at 55 percent of the average market price for crop losses that exceed 50 percent of expected production.

For all coverage levels, the NAP service fee is the lesser of $325 per crop or $825 per producer per county, not to exceed a total of $1,950 for a pro-ducer with farming interests in multiple counties. Beginning, limited resource and targeted under-served farmers or ranchers are eligible for a waiver of the NAP service fee and a 50 percent premium reduction in buy-up provisions.

Federal crop insurance coverage is sold solely through private insurance agents. Agent lists are available at all USDA Service Centers or at USDA’s online Agent Locator. Producers can use the USDA Cost Estimator to predict insurance premium costs.

To learn more about NAP, click here, or contact your local USDA Service Center.

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From KCARD The Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural De-velopment (KCARD) and the Agribusiness Grant Facilitation Program, a program of KCARD, will be hosting a series of four “Growing Your Farm and Food Business” workshops this fall to assist agri-cultural producers and food businesses with busi-ness fundamentals, identify grant opportunities and develop a strategy for seeking out those funds.The Growing Your Farm and Food Business work-shops will provide an in-depth understanding of business plan development along with an over-view of funding options for farmers and agribusi-nesses in Kentucky. Each workshop will bring to-gether speakers who work directly with national and state funding programs. Programs from USDA, the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Poli-cy, Kentucky St. University, Kentucky Department

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of Agriculture, and other agencies will be covered, with many of them present to answer questions.

Schedule (4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. local time) • Hopkins County – November 6th

• Boone County – November 12th

• Adair County – November 14th

• Wolfe County – December 10th

The cost is $18 per person, with dinner and education-al materials provided. For further information and to register, visit the KCARD website or contact Kati Bow-man at kbowman@kcard.info or 859-415-4909. The Agribusiness Grant Facilitation Program, funded by the Kentucky Agricultural Develop-ment Board and led by KCARD, helps agricultural producers and rural businesses in Kentucky learn about, apply for, and receive funding available through numerous programs.

Record-keeping workshops to be offered around KYThe University of Kentucky MarketReady team is partnering with the University of Tennessee’s Center for Profitable Agriculture to provide a record-keeping training to area growers. Eight workshops, designed for existing or would-be operators of a value-added farm business, are be-ing offered around the state. Using records devel-oped for an example farm with value-added en-terprises, presenters will teach how to export the example farm records into a spreadsheet and how to analyze and use them in making business man-agement decisions. Participants will be provided a jump drive with records from the example farm and will learn to use spreadsheets, budgets and other tools to evaluate those records.The first training was held Oct. 24th in Warren County. Upcoming workshops will be held in Burlington (Nov. 7th), Winchester (Nov. 21st), Som-erset (Dec. 5th), McKee (Dec. 12th), Owensboro (Jan. 14th), Pikeville (Jan. 29th), and Shelbyville (Feb. 12th). Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops loaded with Microsoft Excel. If growers do not have one, contact Alex Butler at 859-218-4383 or alex.butler@uky.edu. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. local time, with

the workshop running from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The registration fee is $20, which includes lunch. To register, go to www.uky.edu/marketready/up-coming-events. Space is limited and pre-registra-tion is required five days before each workshop.

KCARD offering Growing Your Farm and Food Business workshops

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The 21st Annual Kentucky Small, Limited Re-source, Minority Farmers Conference will be held Nov. 19th-21st at the Capital Plaza Hotel, Kentucky State University (KSU), and the KSU Harold R. Benson Research and Demonstration Farm in Frankfort. The theme of the conference is The Future of the Small Farmer: Innovation to Success in the 21st Century.The program will include round table discus-sions featuring a variety of programs and agen-cies, including Community Farm Alliance, Farm Service Agency, the Governor’s Office of Agri-cultural Policy, Grow Appalachia, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, the KSU Grant Pro-gram, and the Center for Crop Diversification, among others. Conference presentations will in-clude Market Access: Understanding Your Mar-ket and Overcoming Barriers; Urban Garden-ing: Strategies for Maximizing Small Spaces; Laws for Hemp Production; Industrial Hemp Disease; panel discussions of Hemp Production and Drone Technology; and much more.Wednesday’s activities will include afternoon tours, and the conference will close with the Third Thursday Thing on Nov. 21st.The registration fee is $50. Click here to register online, and here for more information.

From the Organic Association of KentuckyThe Find-A-Farm Directo-ry makes it easy for people to connect to local organic food. Search it for farm-ers markets, CSAs, retail-ers, fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, chicken, eggs, lamb, hemp, grains and more. Access the directo-ry here. Meanwhile, save the date for the 2020 OAK Conference, March 6th-7th in Louisville.

Looking for organic? Try OAK’s Find-A-Farm Directory

KSU Small Farm Conference coming up November 19th-21st

Small Fruits Initiative offers growers education, resourcesBy Cindy Finneseth, Executive Director, Kentucky Horticulture CouncilThe Kentucky Horticulture Council is partnering with the University of Kentucky Department of Horticulture to spon-sor a small fruits initiative that will provide educational opportunities and resources to current and prospective small fruit crop growers across rural Kentucky.

To participate, a grower must farm in a designated rural area, as the USDA Rural Development grant supporting this program is specific to developing entrepreneurs in rural areas of Kentucky. Growers in Fayette and Jefferson counties are not eligible for the reimbursement component of the program, but any grower in these counties interested in commer-cial production of small fruit can contact their coun-ty extension office for technical assistance.

Supplies/services up to $1,250 per grower/farm may be eligible for reimbursement. Eligible crops include black-berries, blueberries, strawberries, elderberries, jujube, table grapes, gooseberries and June-bearing raspberries (red and black). For more information, go to https://kyhortcouncil.org/kentucky-small-fruits-initiative/.

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CCD resources update3-Year Kentucky farmers market prices fact sheet, variety of videos, and moreThe Center for Crop Diversification has rolled out a new fact sheet, 3-Year Average Weekly Prices at Kentucky Farmers Markets: 2016-2018 (CCD-FS-12). This report compares average prices for the 17 most commonly reported crops from Kentucky farmers markets. Each crop page provides annual average prices broken down by rural, urban and all markets, and shows prices across the last five years to provide historical perspective.

A new profile, Movable High Tunnels: Opportu-nities and Challenges for Producers (CCD-SP-15) is now available on the CCD website. This pub-lication offers practical examples and experienc-es from research and commercial farm environ-ments regarding movable high tunnels.

Meanwhile, the CCD has been working on pro-ducing video content! You can check out our You-tube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQfp0ujIfpXEVX3GadvSr7g

Videos include:Cut Flower Basics SeriesSetting prices for retail marketsSoil blocking for transplantsIrrigation basics (available here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOlibGxnKwE) and more!

Recently updated crop profiles include Shiitake

and Oyster Mushrooms (CCD-CP-82), and Celery and Celeriac (CCD-CP-92).

Look for additional new and updated resources in the coming months at www.uky.edu/ccd.

From USDA Food and Nutrition ServiceThe Office of Community Food Systems has an-nounced the release of the fiscal year (FY) 2020 Farm to School Grant Program Request for Applications (RFA). Farm to school programs support local com-munities through a variety of activities, including taste tests, farm visits, local purchasing, food and agriculture education, and farmer training.

USDA will award up to $10 million in competi-tive grants to eligible entities through the Farm to School Grant Program in FY 2020. Each grant helps implement farm to school programs that increase access to local food in eligible schools, while also supporting local producers.

2020 Farm to School Grant Program releases Request for ApplicationsThe RFA includes three tracks — Implementation, Planning, and a new State Agency track — to sup-port a variety of projects and implementation stag-es. Schools and school districts, local agencies, In-dian tribal organizations, small- to medium-sized agricultural producers or groups of producers, and non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for Planning and Implementation grants. State agen-cies may apply for a State Agency grant. See the Farm to School Grant Applicant Resources Page (https://www.fns.usda.gov/cfs/resources-farm-school-grant-program-applicants). Click here for the Grant RFA. Applications must be submitted on www.Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec 13th.

OEFFA’s 2020 Conference scheduled for February 13th-15th in DaytonFrom the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s 41st annual conference, A Climate for Change, will return to the Day-ton Convention Center this winter. Ohio’s larg-est sustainable food and farm conference will feature: • Nearly 80 education-al workshops on sustain-able farming, livestock, homesteading, garden-ing and business on Fri-day and Saturday; • A three-day trade show with 90-plus businesses, organizations, and government agencies offering food, books, equipment, products, information and services; • In-depth, full day Food and Farm School cours-es on Thursday; • Engaging nationally recognized keynote speak-ers Laura Lengnick and Eric Holt-Giménez; • Made-from-scratch, local, organic meals; • Kids’ conference, child care, and more!

Registration opens this fall. Sign up to receive conference updates at www.oeffa.org/confer-ence2020.

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Free weed management webinarscheduled for November 12th

From the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm AssociationA free webinar/phone session, Evaluating Eco-logical Weed Management Strategies Using a New Online Decision Support Tool, is sched-uled from noon to 1 p.m. EST on Nov. 12th.Without the benefit of synthetic herbicides, or-ganic farmers must rely on a host of ecological weed management (EWM) practices to control weeds. Integrating EWM strategies on the farm can be challenging, however, due to the complex-ity in designing and evaluating these practices, the tendency for university outreach to focus on the risks of EWM strategies rather than their ben-efits, and an unclear understanding of how EWM strategies help farmers meet their on-farm objec-tives. Dr. Doug Bessette of Michigan State Uni-versity, Dr. Robyn Wilson and Dr. Doug Doohan, both of Ohio State University, will discuss a new, easy-to-use online decision support tool, Organic Weed Manager, which can help organic farmers in identifying their on-farm objectives and evalu-ating EWM strategies and their performance. No registration is necessary. Join online at https://osu.zoom.us/j/541632734, or join by phone at (646) 876-9923 (Phone meeting ID: 541 632 734). For details, click here.

By Fran McCall, Kentucky Farm BureauThe enrollment period for the 2020 Kentucky Farm Bureau Certified Farm Market Program is now open. The Certified Farm Market Program is celebrating its 25th anniversary of supporting farm market operations that are committed to providing customers with locally grown, quality products and valu-able services. Participating farm markets adhere to program requirements set forth by Kentucky Farm Bureau and will maintain a reputation for meet-ing the highest standards of quality, freshness and market appeal.

Markets certified through this program will iden-tified with our newly designed, modern logo and name and will receive our new and exciting member benefits for 2020. For eligibility require-ments, member benefits, enrollment fees or to enroll in our program, visit kyfb.com/cfmenroll20. Kentucky Farm Bureau membership is required to be part of the Certified Farm Market Program. The deadline to apply for the 2020 Certified Farm Market Program is Dec. 31st, 2019. Upon receipt of your enrollment, we will contact you. Final accep-tance would occur after a Kentucky Farm Bureau staff member has visited your market to ensure program requirements are met. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 502-495-5000 ext. 7238 or Fran.McCall@kyfb.com.

Enrollment is open for 2020 KFB Certified Farm Market Program

Thanks for reading!If you know someone who would enjoy our newsletter, or you’re not subscribed yet yourself, visit www.uky.edu/ccd/newsletter and click “Subscribe Now.” Or call Brett Wolff at 859-218-4384 , or Christy Cassady at 859-257-1477. Stay up to date with the Center on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ccduky/

Christy Cassady, Extension Specialist

From the Kentucky Department of AgricultureThe Kentucky Department of Agriculture will be-gin accepting applications for 2020 hemp licenses on Nov. 15th. Among the major application chang-es for 2020: * KDA will accept grower applications from Nov. 15th, 2019, to March 15th, 2020. * KDA will accept processor/handler applica-tions beginning on Nov. 15th, 2019. * The KDA will host an online application on this web page. * The new online application will include a map-ping function that will automatically upload the GPS coordinates.The KDA will host a Kentucky Hemp Summit on Dec. 4th at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Lou-isville. The summit is for applicants, licensed grow-ers, processors and other interested parties to inter-act and learn more about hemp and the Kentucky Hemp Licensing Program. The event will feature a trade show, university presentations, updates on the hemp program, and full details of the 2020 applica-tion. Check the KDA’s KY Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program web page for more announcements.For more information about KDA’s hemp research pilot program, go to kyagr.com/hemp.

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Also, the KY Hemp Industries Association (KY-HIA) and the Hutson School of Agriculture at Murray State University (MSU) will host a Holi-day Conference and Tradeshow on Thursday, Dec. 19th, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central time at the CFSB Center on the MSU campus in Murray.

The event will offer an opportunity for licensed hemp program participants and others to meet face-to-face with leading hemp growers, proces-sors, retailers and other industry stakeholders. Early-bird tickets can be obtained here at a dis-count through the end of October. To obtain a booth or sponsor the event, click here.

KDA to begin accepting 2020 hemp license applications Nov. 15th

Cooler, drier than average start to November expected across KYBy Joshua Knight, Senior Extension Associate, HorticultureThe NOAA’s Long Range Climate Prediction Center is forecasting cooler and drier than average conditions for the first 10 days of November across Kentucky. Drier than average weather is expected to last for the entire month, especially in the south-ern parts of Kentucky stretching down into the Mississippi Delta region of the southeastern U.S.

Cooler than average temperatures are forecast across most of the Midwest and Kentucky for the first 10 days of November. The most recent climate forecasts show this pattern giving way to warmer than average temperatures in the second half of November, though this data is less detailed and does not indicate when the warmer temperatures will arrive.

Department of HorticultureN-318 Agricultural Science CenterLexington, KY, 40546-0091