Blueberry harvest is less than a month away and some growers are facing challenges from winter injury in some fields and diseases associated with these injuries. Most growers also need to review their controls for spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) and fruit diseases before harvest begins, and understand food safety.

Michigan State University Extension’s small fruit team has scheduled two blueberry meetings Tuesday, June 16. These meetings will focus on dealing with winter injury and insect and disease control before and during harvest and include an update on food safety.

The first meeting will be in the early afternoon in Van Buren County at Beeches Golf Club, 9601 68th Street, South Haven, MI 49090, from 1:30- 3:30 p.m. The second meeting will be in the evening at the Ottawa County Fillmore Complex, 12220 Fillmore Street, West Olive, MI 49460 from 6-8 p.m.

The agenda for both meetings will be:

• Welcome and introductions – Mark Longstroth and Carlos Garcia, MSU Extension
• Winter injury management including irrigation and nutrient management – Mark Longstroth, MSU Extension, and Eric Hanson, MSU Horticulture
• Blueberry disease control in pre-harvest – Annemiek Schilder, MSU Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences
• Preparing for SWD management in 2015 – Rufus Isaacs, MSU Entomology
• Food safety update – Carlos Garcia, MSU Extension

Growers attending these meeting will receive 2 restricted use pesticide (RUP) credits. Meetings are free, but we ask you register with the meeting hosts (see below) to estimate number of handouts and refreshments. Those with special needs may request assistance by calling the meeting hosts.

For the Van Buren County meeting, contact Mark Longstroth at 269-873-8983 or longstr7@msu.edu. For the Ottawa County meeting, contact Carlos Garcia at 616-260-0671 or garcias4@msu.edu.