Water management toolsfor specialty crops are result of five-year study

By Joshua Knight, Senior Extension Associate, HorticultureA five-year study funded by the National Institute of Food and Agri-culture’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative involving 22 researchers spread across nine universities is concluding this year. This project is called Clean WateR3. The primary objectives are the three R’s: to Reduce contaminant loading into recycled water sources, evaluate treatment technologies to Remediate pathogen, pesticide and nu-trient contaminants, and provide online/published information to help growers Recycle water (see https://www.cleanwater3.org/).

At the website linked above, growers can subscribe to or look through dozens of short, focused articles on a variety of topics re-lated to water management, submit a question via Ask An Expert, and find upcoming workshops/training opportunities.

There is a collection of free, online tools designed to help growers make informed decisions about water quality issues (https://www.cleanwater3.org/growertools.asp):

• The WaterQual tool allows growers to get detailed recommenda-tions for management decisions based on results from water test-ing by providing science-based interpretation and links to resources and practical solutions to address detected problems.

• The Waterborne solutions tool provides growers with detailed information from published research about managing algae, wa-

What’s insideCSA resources ................. 2 New Hort, CCD videos .... 2,3Weather outlook ............... 5

Coming upFeb. 28-March 2 - Indiana Small Farm Conference, Danville, IN. For details, go to https://www.purdue.edu/dffs/smallfarms/.

March 1-2 - Organic Asso-ciation of Kentucky Confer-ence, Lexington. For com-plete program, click here.

March 11 - Spring Viticul-ture Workshop, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. EDT at the University of Kentucky Horticulture Re-search Farm, 4321 Emmert Farm Lane, Lexington, KY. For details, see Page 4.March 25 - Ohio Agritour-ism Conference, Hartville, OH. For details and registra-tion information, click here.

March 29-30 - 2019 Small Farm Conference & Trade Show, The Ohio State Uni-versity South Centers, Piketon, OH. For details, see Page 3.

February 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.

terborne plant diseases, and water treatment sys-tems.

• The Parts Per Million (ppm) calculator helps growers calculate dosage requirements for both sanitizing chemicals and water-soluble fertilizers.

• Alkcalc determines the amount of acid to add to neutralize alkalinity of your irrigation water. Due to Kentucky’s topography and the abundance of limestone, high alkalinity from groundwater sources is a common concern of our growers.

• GroZone Tracker helps growers and larger en-terprises record, monitor and share water testing results within a company. A single company with multiple growers can create multiple accounts with GroZone, allowing this tracker to keep all test results in a single location for system-wide analysis and interpretation. The data logged is not shared publicly and is only accessible within your organization.

• The Pipe Volume Calculator helps growers cal-culate volumes of mixing tanks and pipes.

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Time has marched on, and we have found our-selves again in the signup season for Community Supported Agriculture. The decision to sign up for a CSA during the coldest and bleakest months of the year means fresh, colorful, and delicious prod-ucts throughout the coming season. Last summer, we asked some of our local CSA producers to send us a picture of their beautiful summer shares. You can take a look back at that newsletter http://www.uky.edu/ccd/sites/www.uky.edu.ccd/files/ccdnewsaugust2018_0.pdf, or go directly to our photo album https://flic.kr/s/aHskDr4TkK to see what those weekly shares look like.

If you’re not familiar with CSA, it is a subscrip-tion or ‘share’-based service where customers pay at the beginning of the season and then receive a weekly ‘share’ of products through the season. In addition to helping farmers access capital early in the season when they need it, it also invites the customer to share in the risk and reward of sea-

Share in the bounty, sign up for a CSAsonal growing and eating. Though we are in the signup period for traditional season CSA, some farms offer fall or even winter CSA shares as well. Others will be taking new members in the win-ter and late spring. Contact the farms directly for questions about their share options.

The Center for Crop Diversification has a variety of resources available for those interested in Community Supported Agriculture. We offer: - CSA overview http://www.uky.edu/ccd/marketing/market-resources/direct/csa - CSA Health Research at UK http://www.uky.edu/ccd/csa-research - CSA Economic Analysis http://www.uky.edu/ccd/tools/budgets/ukcsaeconomicanalysis - Budgets http://www.uky.edu/ccd/tools/budgets/ and crop profiles http://www.uky.edu/ccd/production/crop-resources for many of the crops you may grow in CSA.

UK Hort video shows blueberry growers how to manage volesUniversity of Kentucky Horticulture Extension Associate Chris Smigell demonstrates the proper management of voles in the production of blue-berries in a new video from the UK Department of Horticulture. The video is available online at https://youtu.be/WvFJobCKo8M. For more in-formation on this topic, contact your county’s extension program. Production of this video re-ceived support from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund via a grant from the Kentucky Horticulture Council.

From the Kentucky Department of AgricultureBEREA — The Kentucky Association of Food Banks (KAFB) was recently awarded a $15,000 grant, made possible by the S.L. Gimbel Foundation, a component fund at The Community Foundation, to purchase seconds for their Farms to Food Banks program.

The intent of the Farms to Food Banks program is to increase access to nutritious produce among Kentuckians who are facing hunger, while at the same time supporting farmers and reducing the amount of wasted food.

Granted funds will help Kentucky farmers recoup 3

Hops workshop among sessions at Ohio StateSmall Farm ConferenceThe Ohio State University South Centers in Pik-eton, OH, will host the 2019 Small Farm Confer-ence & Trade Show March 29th-30th. The confer-ence will feature Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) training from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, March 29th, with a “Hops Workshop - Getting the Whole Picture” scheduled for 6 to 9 that evening. Educational tracks on Saturday will include horti-culture, aquaculture, forestry, livestock, soils, mar-keting, farm management, hands-on training, and a miscellaneous track.

The deadline to register is March 22nd. The cost for the FSMA training and hops workshop will be $10 each. The cost to attend Saturday only is $60, while the cost to attend both Friday and Saturday is $75.

For more information, go to https://agnr.osu.edu/events/new-and-small-farm-confer-ence-southern-ohio. To register online, visit go.osu.edu/OSUFarmConference2019, or call 740-289-2071, extension 132. A confer-ence brochure is available at https://agnr.osu.edu/sites/agnr/files/Southern-Small-Farm-Conference-Brochure-2019.pdf.

Like video? Check out the CCD’s library

Since last year, the CCD has been expanding our video library. We’ve produced videos on transplant basics, pricing, we’ve visited a few cool places working with specialty crops, and we have more content in the works. Now we need your help! We’d love to hear from you about what kind of content you’d like to see on video in 2019. You can visit our YouTube page here (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Qfp0ujIfpXEVX3GadvSr7g) and take a look at what we have so far, then let us know what other video types or topics you’d like to see covered by going here: http://www.uky.edu/ccd/vid-eosuggestions.

You can also always email suggestions to brett.wolff@uky.edu or call (859) 218-4384.

Grant to help Kentucky Association of Food Banks purchase secondslosses associated with the harvest and delivery of their surplus and Number-2 grade produce. This is fresh, healthy food that would otherwise go to waste due to lack of a market for it. In 2018 alone, over 3.1 million pounds of fresh produce and 270 dozen eggs were distributed across the state. This nutritious food came from 349 farmers from 64 Kentucky counties.

Participation in the Farms to Food Banks program is open to any Kentucky farmer. For more information about the Farms to Food Banks program, visit https://feedingky.org/farms-to-food-banks/ or call (859) 986-7422.

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Renewable energy grants availableFrom USDA Rural Development The Rural Energy for America Program is accept-ing applications until April 1 for Renewable En-ergy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement guaranteed loans and grants. This program pro-vides grants and guaranteed loans to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to purchase and install renewable energy systems and make energy efficiency improvements to their opera-tions. Eligible renewable energy systems provide energy from wind, solar, renewable biomass (in-cluding anaerobic digesters), small hydro-electric, ocean, geothermal, or hydrogen derived from these renewable resources. For details, click here, or contact Scott Maas at 859-224-7435, or scott.maas@ky.usda.gov.

Terry Creech of Appletree Orchard in Harlan County gave an overview of his apple produc-tion system to Eastern Kentucky Farmer Conference participants last Saturday at UK’s Robinson Center for Appalachian Resource Sustain-ability.

Photo by Brett Wolff, UK

OAK Conference a selloutFrom the Organic Association of KentuckyThe 8th annual Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK) Conference, scheduled for March 1st-2nd at the Clarion Hotel in Lexington, has sold out. The conference will feature farm tours and short courses on Friday, and numerous educational sessions on Saturday. The Friday evening keynote, An Agrarian Conversation, will feature Wendell Berry, David Kline and Wes Jackson.

For more information about OAK, including upcoming field days, the Transition Trainer Program, and its work with the Kentucky Farm Share Coalition, visit the OAK website at https://www.oak-ky.org/.

Spring Viticulture Workshop set for March 11th in LexingtonBy Patsy Wilson, UK Extension Viticulture SpecialistPlease mark your calendars and plan to attend our Spring Viticulture Workshop on March 11th.

This workshop will include:

1) Sprayer calibration demonstrations2) Pruning technique essentials and demonstra-tions3) Assessing and compensating for winter injury

This will be a great time to gather, educate and prepare for the 2019 growing season.

The workshop will be held at the UK Horticulture Research Farm (4321 Emmert Farm Lane, Lexing-ton, KY 40514) from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. EDT.

This event is free, but please register by sending an email or text by March 8th to Patsy Wilson (patsy.wilson@uky.edu, 859-494-1657) with information regarding who and how many will be attending.

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/CenterforCropDiversi-fication/

Christy Cassady, Extension Specialist5

Cooler and wetter than average start to MarchBy Joshua Knight, Senior Extension Associate, HorticultureUnfortunately for those hoping to get into the fields anytime soon, the higher-than-average trend for precipitation we have been experiencing across the commonwealth will continue into March. The first 10 days in March are predicted to be colder than average, though that pattern is predicted to shift soon after the first full week of March, when warmer than average temperatures are expected. While the temperatures and cold/warm weather patterns will be variable throughout March, we can expect above average precipitation rates throughout the month.

Appalachia Cooperates Initiative to meet at West Virginia StateFrom the West Virginia University Extension Service Small Farm Center and The Ohio State University Center for Cooperatives

Interested in community, business and economic development in Central Appalachia? Join the in-augural session of the Appalachia Cooperates Initiative! This peer-exchange network will be a place to learn about the co-op model as a develop-ment strategy and to foster relationships to help recognize and catalyze cooperative opportunities in Central Appalachian communities.

The event will take place on Friday, March 22nd, from 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. EDT at the West Virginia State University Economic Development Center in Charleston, WV. Registration is $25, and includes lunch. For more information and to register, go to go.osu.edu/appalachiacooperates.

Position available for nursery crops extension associateA full-time position is available at the University of Kentucky for a nursery crops extension asso-ciate. This entry-level position involves consult-ing with nursery growers, conveying relevant research-based information, and assisting farm-ers who want to diversify into nursery crops; planning and conducting on-nursery work-shops or demonstrating production techniques during industry tours, etc.; and conducting trials at commercial nurseries and/or on the UK Horticulture Research Farm. In collaboration with other extension associates and faculty, the person in this position will produce education-al resource materials in support of the defined program focus of the Kentucky Horticulture Council grant. A complete job description will be available soon at https://ukjobs.uky.edu/.

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