Beginning Farmer Field Day

July 22, 2025 9:00AM - 4:00PM Registrations begins at 8:30 a.m.

West Central Michigan Research and Extension Center, 5185 N. Oceana Dr, Hart, MI 49420

Contact: Emily Lavely, lavelyem@msu.edu, or Lynda Herremans, lynda.herremans@macd.org

If you are new to farming or considering starting a farm, this field day is a great opportunity to learn and network. Experts from across west Michigan will present on important topics like irrigation, pest and disease scouting, food safety, community food systems and farm business. There will also be short, in-depth sessions on producing vegetables, fruit, Christmas trees and chestnuts. These sessions are divided into stations, and attendees can pick two sessions to attend.

Presenters will provide hands-on experiences with demonstrations inside and in the field. We will also discuss important topics such as pollinator habitat, soil health and protecting soil, water, wildlife and forests.

The cost is $20 per person which includes a catered lunch, hat and handouts.

Agenda

8:30 a.m. Registration and snacks
8:50 a.m. Head to the field for presentations
9:00 a.m. Introduction – Emily Lavely, MSU Extension Tree Fruit Educator
9:10 a.m. Protecting Soil, Water, Wildlife and Forests, MAEAP Intro - Lynda Herremans, Oceana Conservation District Conservation District, Dan Busby, MDARD MAEAP Verifier
9:25 a.m. Beneficials and Disease Scouting 101 – Ben Werling, PhD, MSU Extension Vegetable Educator, and Lavely
10:00 a.m. Recruiting Pollinators – Laura Ackerman, Oceana Conservation District Manager
10:10 a.m. Soil Station: Exploring Soil Health and the Rainfall Simulator – Cheyenne Sloan, MSU Extension Blueberry Educator, Alex Svoboda, MDARD Regenerative Agriculture Field Coordinator, and Herremans
11:00 a.m. From Blossom to Basket: Essential Produce Safety Guidelines – Allissa Conley, Produce Safety Technician
11:30 a.m. Walk back to parking lot to look at equipment and front pollinator planting, then head in to conference room for lunch
12:00 -1:00 p.m. Lunch and Ice Cream Bar, catered by Joanne Clark
12:30 p.m. The Ins and Outs of Pesticide Certification – Lavely
12:45 p.m. Developing a Farm Business Plan – Florencia Colella, MSU Extension Farm Business Management Educator
1:15 p.m. Plugging Into Your Community Food System – Mariel Borman, MSU Extension Community Food Systems Educator
1:45 p.m. Getting Started With Irrigation – Brenden Kelley, MSU Extension Agriculture Water Use Efficiency and Irrigation Educator
2:15 p.m. We're Here to Help Session – Lightning Round Intros – (5 minutes near tables) USDA-NRCS, USDA- FSA, OCD, MSU Extension, MDARD, Smart Gardening, WCMREC, Farm Bureau
3:00-4:00 p.m. Rotating Specialty Crop Stations – Pick Two – 30-minute stations (site preparation, what and how to plant, management and more)
- Vegetable Station – Werling and Salta Mambetova, MSU Extension Vegetable Educator
- Fruit Station – Lavely and Sloan
- Christmas Tree Station – Bill Lindberg, MSU Extension Christmas Tree Educator
- Chestnut Station – Corey Allen, Benona Chestnuts