By Alison Robertson, Brent Pringnitz
The annual Integrated Crop Management Conference will be held Dec. 2-3, 2015 at the Scheman Building on the Iowa State University campus. This year, the conference has added additional speakers to its program, providing topics and information on the latest in crop production and technology from around Iowa and the Midwest. Online registration is available at http://www.aep.iastate.edu/icm.
“Our goal is to construct a program that provides in-depth cutting edge topics, transfers the latest research findings, and still provides practical, take-home information to use in Iowa crop production,” said Alison Robertson, associate professor and extension specialist in plant pathology and microbiology at Iowa State University and planning committee chair.
The conference will include 41 workshops led by Iowa State faculty and staff, along with speakers from Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota and Kentucky. Presenters will provide research updates and information on crop management, pest management, nutrient management, soil and water management and pesticide applicator training. Attendees can choose from up to six topics each hour.
“Concurrent sessions allow attendees to tailor the conference experience to their interests and needs,” said Brent Pringnitz, program services coordinator.
Sessions available include an interactive session of plant disease diagnosis trivia, a presentation on tractor and planter adjustments to improve profitability and lowering input costs while maintaining or increasing yields, and a discussion of recent advances in the application of transgenic technology in generating disease resistance crop species. Participants can also earn up to 14 Certified Crop Adviser continuing education credits and recertification for Commercial Pesticide Applicators in categories 1A, 1B, 1C, 4 and 10.
“New information on crop production and protection technologies will provide producers and agribusiness professionals with the knowledge they need for their operations,” Robertson said.
Other topics will include: herbicide and insecticide resistance, variable seeding rates, crop weather risk and market outlook for 2016 and managing low to negative crop margins. Precision agriculture, nitrogen application and input decisions, new decision-maker tools, integrated management of white mold, and a corn disease update are also on the list for discussion.
“The conference allows for a large number of participants to gather each year, and provides practical, need-to-know information from several invited speakers across the Midwest,” said John Sawyer, professor and extension specialist in soil fertility and nutrient management at Iowa State. “Not only do attendees have the opportunity to interact with extension specialists from Iowa State and others, but it’s an opportunity for them to network with each other and talk about what’s going on in the industry.”
The annual event attracts almost 1,000 participants each year.
“Enrollment to the conference is limited and we encourage people to register early,” Pringnitz said.
Register by going to the conference website at http://www.aep.iastate.edu/icm/. Early registration is $200 and runs until midnight Nov. 20, when the fee increases to $250. Pre-registration is required and no registrations will be accepted at the door. Registrations will be accepted, as space allows, until noon on Nov. 30.
The Integrated Crop Management Conference is hosted by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the departments of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Agronomy, Economics, Entomology, and Plant Pathology and Microbiology.