MINNEAPOLIS — The three-day Minnesota Crop Pest Management Short Course program and Minnesota Crop Production Retailers Trade Show starts Tuesday, December 12th and continues through Thursday, December 14th. The Crop Pest Management Short Course educational sessions will begin on Wednesday, December 13th from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM and continue on Thursday, December 14th from 8:00 AM to 2:20 PM. The trade show and educational sessions will take place at the Minneapolis Convention Center and adjacent Minneapolis Hilton and Hyatt Regency hotels. The University of Minnesota educational session agendas and session descriptions may be accessed at the Institute for Ag Professionals website.
The registration fees and online registration for the 2017 Crop Pest Management Short Course and MCPR Trade Show can be accessed at the Minnesota Crop Production Retailers website. Please note that the early pricing discount concludes on Tuesday, November 14th.
Highlights of the three-day Crop Pest Management Short Course include:
Tuesday, December 12th
- MCPR Plenary Sessions (1 pm to 3 pm) with speakers Drew Kessler, Lead Scientist at Houston Engineering, discussing watershed planning, stewardship and water quality in agricultural areas; Matt Wiebers, Independent Agronomy Consultant, will explain how building a service business focused on precision agriculture is becoming a profitable business model, and Matt Birk, former Minnesota Vikings football player will speak on the topic of leadership, teamwork and achievement to motivate your team to the next level.
- Technical Service Provider (TSP) recertification program from 10 am to 1 pm.
- Pesticide Applicator Recertification sessions will begin with category H (Seed Treatment) on Tuesday afternoon (2:00 to 3:30 pm).
- Trade show opens at 3:00 to 6:30 pm.
Wednesday, December 13th
- The CPM Short Course’s General Session will start with the theme “Up to the Challenge.”The program begins at 8:00 and runs until 11:00 am with a great lineup of keynote speakers including:
- Dr. Keri Jacobs, Iowa State University will address the consolidation of agricultural firms prevails at all levels of the supply chain and has real effects at the local level.
- Dr. Kevin Bradley, University of Missouri will provide results from an ongoing analysis of the specific weather, application and environmental factors associated with off-target versus on-target applications of dicamba in 2017 in Missouri and the Midwestern states.
- Dr. Mark Seeley, University of Minnesota will share some analysis and thoughts regarding the climate behavior of the past and the expected climate behavior of the future, especially regarding impacts on agriculture practices and production.
- Concurrent educational sessions which will occur from 1:00-5:00 p.m. continue the strong educational program with a wealth of pest, crop and fertilizer management topics including new phosphorus and potassium guidelines for corn, managing herbicide resistant weeds in corn and soybeans, and nutrient cycling in cover crops. Other sessions will include approaches to understanding soybean yield gaps across the corn belt, using the CRISPRs technology for soybean genetic improvement, new invasive soybean insect pests and understanding the application requirements on the revised dicamba labels.
- Pesticide Applicator Recertification sessions continue (8:00 to 11:00 am) for categories A (Core), C (Field Crop Pest Management) and/or H (Seed Treatment).
- Trade Show runs from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Thursday, December 14th
- Concurrent educational sessions will continue from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm and will detail the a number of important agronomic topics including the management of nitrogen in drained and undrained soils, nitrogen fertilizer research on soybeans, cover crop interseeding and potential new tools for improved cover crop adoption, the discovery of bacterial leaf streak in corn, explore how variable rate seeding plays out in fields with soil variability and year-to year weather variability and phosphorus management: past, present and beyond – what we know, what we need to know.
- Trade show continues in the morning from 9 to 11 am.
Who should attend the CPM short course?
Agronomists, sales people (seeds, chemicals, fertilizers), crop consultants, crop production specialists, regional and local extension educators, government agency personnel, farm managers, and anyone else who appreciates high quality, research–based professional training.
Continuing education credits
Certified crop advisors will be able to collect a total of 15 CCA continuing education credits over the course of the 3–day program.
Pesticide Applicator Recertification
December 12, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. and December 13, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
These MDA-approved sessions are for applicators that need recertification credit in Categories A (Core), C (Field Crop Pest Management), and/or H (Seed Treatment).
- Category A + C: Attend all December 13th recertification sessions.
- Category A + H: Attend December 12th from 2 pm to 3:30 pm and December 13th recertification sessions from 8 am to 2:45 pm.
- Category A + C + H: Attend all December 12th and December 13th recertification sessions.
Do You Need to Recertify? If you last attended a recertification workshop in 2014 or were newly licensed in 2016, you need to attend an MDA approved workshop in the correct categories in 2017. If you don’t attend a required recertification workshop, you must retest to be eligible to renew your license for 2018. Please contact MDA at 651-201-6615 with recertification or license questions.
Hotel accommodations
The Minneapolis Hilton hotel is offering a special event rate of $112/night if you book before Tuesday, November 14, 2017 or until the room block sells out – whichever comes first. You can make your hotel reservation online or by phone at (612) 376-1000 and giving the code: MCP.
Maps and parking
Minneapolis parking map (with hotels)
Directions to and parking at the Minneapolis Convention Center
— Dave Nicolai, Institute for Ag Professionals Program Coordinator, University of Minnesota Extension
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