Submitted by Tim Baker, MU Extension Professional Field Specialist in Horticulture

We will have two special tracks about climate and herbicide drift at the Great Plains Growers Conference in St. Joseph, Missouri. The date will be Friday, January 11, 2018.  The conference will be held January 10-12 with other topics.

The climate session will be focusing on drought issues. Our first speaker is Pat Guinan, Missouri State Climatologist, who will discuss how you can participate in the drought reporting process, and why it is important. Our next speaker will be Kelly Helm Smith from the National Drought Mitigation Center. She will discuss drought planning. This center is the organization that puts together the drought monitor each week.

We will also hear from Dennis Todey, who directs the USDA Midwest Climate Hub. He will discuss weather and climate information for specialty crops, and how to improve it. Finally, Beth Hall, Director of the Midwest Regional Climate Center, will discuss monitoring and tool development for climate and drought.

Our afternoon session will focus on herbicide drift and volatilization injury in horticultural crops.  Andy Luke, MU Extension Agronomy Specialist, will give an introduction to herbicide drift and volatilization, and how to file a complaint with your state Department of Agriculture. This will be followed by Brian Dintelmann, a MU graduate student, who will present research on the impacts of 2,4-D & dicamba drift on common fruit, nut, and shade tree species.

Pat Guinan will be back to show how the Missouri Mesonet can be used to monitor for temperature inversions. These conditions can lead to widespread damage with certain herbicides.

Ray Massey will give a presentation on insurance concerns with off-target dicamba injury.  And finally, we will hear from Kristine Tidgren, who directs the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University. She will discuss the legal issues associated with drift from dicamba and other herbicides.

The conference will be held on the campus of Missouri Western State University.  For more information about the conference and a registration form, call the Buchanan County Extension office at (816) 279-1691. You may also register on-line and find additional information on our web site at: http://www.greatplainsgrowersconference.org/.