2020 Field Crops Virtual Breakfast starting April 16
The free Virtual Breakfast series helps growers and agribusinesses make informed decisions during the growing season.
Spring planting season has already started in parts of Michigan and the Michigan State University Extension field crops team has scheduled the 2020 Virtual Breakfast Series to help growers and agribusiness professionals make informed decisions during the growing season.
How can field crops producers get timely weather, crop management and pest information?
Every Thursday at 7 a.m. from April 16 through Sept. 10, 2020, you can get the latest information from our MSU field crop specialists and educators. The scheduled topics will be fluid, flexible and focused on the most current topics. All field crop producers, agribusiness professionals, government agency personnel and others interested in field crops production and management are encouraged to participate in our annual virtual meeting series.
What’s planned?
The virtual meetings have two segments each week. The first part of the meeting will focus on a specific topic such as early season weed control—a very hot topic this year—or mitigating rutted and rough fields. The second portion of the meeting will be devoted to weather featuring MSU agricultural meteorologist Jeff Andresen. A question and answer period is available every week.
In 2019, the MSU Extension field crops team was able to provide up-to-date information on delayed planting due to the excessive wet spring and fall. This segment was neither planned nor anticipated when we started in the spring, but it was important and necessary information last year. In a nutshell, we want to provide what the producers need to be successful.
Scheduled topics and dates
- April 16 – Dealing with rough soil conditions with Tim Harrigan
- April 23 – Early season weed control with Christy Sprague
- April 30 – Corn and soybean planting considerations with Manni Singh
- May 7 – Soil fertility issues with Kurt Steinke
- May 14 – Postemergence weed control with Erin Burns
- May 21 – Wheat issues for 2020 with Dennis Pennington
- May 28 – Dry bean planting with Scott Bales
- June 4 – Alternative forages with Kim Cassida
- June 11 – Sugar beet Cercospora anf BeetCast with Daniel Bublitz
- June 18 – Drainage design considerations with Ehsan Ghane
- June 25 – Farm stress with Eric Karbowski
- July 2 – Organic field crop production with Vicki Morrone
- July 9 – Insects taking flight with Chris DiFonzo
- July 16 – Stored grain with special speaker
- July 23 – Tar spot and white mold with Martin Chilvers
- July 30 – Cover crops after wheat with Dean Baas
- Aug. 6 – Irrigation and diseases with Lyndon Kelley and Martin Chilvers
- Aug. 13 – Alfalfa autotoxicity with Kim Cassida
- Aug. 20 – Grain marketing with Aleks Schaefer
- Aug. 27 – Wheat planting with Dennis Pennington
- Sept. 3 – Corn silage mycotoxins with Manni Singh
- Sept. 10 – Industrial hemp with Kurt Thelen
How can I join the free live session?
Participating is easy and free! You can join the live meeting via Zoom using a computer, tablet, mobile device or regular phone line. If you are new to Zoom, simply download the Zoom app and you will be ready to join online every week to see visuals shared by presenters. A call-in by phone option is also available but note that you will only hear the audio portion.
Participants must sign up to receive an email notification with instructions for joining the Virtual Breakfast. You only need to do this once and you will receive the Zoom link and call-in phone number, as well as weekly reminders every Wednesday.
Sign up to receive Virtual Breakfast Zoom information
If you are unable to sign up online, call the Lapeer County MSU Extension office at 810-667-0341.
What if I miss the live session?
If you can’t participate in the live session at 7 a.m., you can view the recorded version at any time. Recordings will be closed-captioned and available at the Field Crops Virtual Breakfast page and the MSU Extension Field Crops Team social media platforms: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Need a weekly reminder?
By signing up for the Virtual Breakfast series, you will automatically receive a reminder every Wednesday with the topic, time and link for the Virtual Breakfast.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for breaking news @MSUEFieldCrops.
For more information, contact Phil Kaatz at kaatz@msu.edu or call 810-667-0341.