Risk, grass and alfalfa management will be topics on the agenda of the Washington State Hay Growers Association’s 2011 Conference and Trade Show, set for Jan. 12-13. It will be held at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick.
The first morning’s program will include two concurrent sessions. One encompasses risk management issues: how to plan for a disaster, save on taxes, plan a farm transition and decide on crop insurance. It will also include a weather forecast. The other session features an alfalfa disease and nematode workshop and Washington State University variety trial information.
One of the Jan. 12 afternoon programs will be devoted to timothy grass – how it grows, the insect and mite pests it attracts, breeding and variety selection, export uses, etc. The other session will offer a biofuel report and then explore viruses and other pathogens in alfalfa, update growers on Roundup Ready alfalfa and explain how to avoid herbicide resistance.
The Jan. 13 program starts with a hay market report from Seth Hoyt of The Hoyt Report and provides department of transportation, safety, forage export and diesel fuel updates.
Register online at wa-hay.org or call 509-547-1623. Registration and membership rate for a grower is $135; an associate, $160; and a farm, $310.