ATASCADERO — Since 2003, the Sustainable Ag Expo has been a leader in providing world-class educational content for farmers, researchers, and consultants. Every year the Ag Expo and International Sustainable Winegrowing Summit features the latest viticulture research and technology from the world’s top experts to help professionals be competitive in the ever-changing business landscape.
This year’s virtual format provides access to a greater diversity of topics and speakers accessible from Nov. 9 through Dec. 4, featuring over 25 hours of live and recorded content. Registrants will have convenient access to all content during those four weeks; a silver lining to the pandemic that will allow students and professionals valuable flexibility during an already busy time of year.
“Registration is now open for the 2020 Ag Expo,” says Vineyard Team Executive Director Kris Beal. “We had to quickly pivot away from an in-person event due to the COVID-19 pandemic but we are finding some major benefits by hosting the event online. The virtual format actually allows us so much flexibility. Rather than having to compress all the presentations into 3 days, we can offer an even greater variety of course content with time to dig a bit deeper. In addition, our speaker pool comes from all over the world including Tasmania, New York and Pennsylvania. We now have speakers who are able to attend the Expo without having to fly across the country and registrants will be able to access valuable content for an entire month at their own convenience.”
Experts from all over the country will join the Expo online for a comprehensive program. Topics include climate adaption, leafroll and redblotch, winegrape supply and demand, invasive insects, bio control for Pierce’s Disease, irrigation technology, rootstock breeding, regenerative agriculture, biochar, floor management technology, vineyard and hemp coexistence, weed management, growing healthy soils and marketing sustainability, just to name a few.
The event offers over 15 Department of Pesticide Regulation Continuing Education hours and over 20 Certified Crop Advisor CE hours. Full access to all live and recorded content is $345 for the four-week period. For more information or to register, visit www.sustainableagexpo.org or email kyle@vineyardteam.org.
AG EXPO 2020 SNEAK PEEK
Here is a sneak peek into this year’s sessions with more updates to be released over the coming months:
Leafroll and Red Blotch Diseases: What’s new? And what can I do?
Dr. Marc Fuchs, Professor, Plant Pathology and Microbiology Division, Cornell University
Australia’s New Climate Map for the Australian Wine Industry
Dr. Tom Remenyi, Climate Research Fellow, School of Technology, Environments and Design, University of Tasmania, Hobart Tasmania
Spotted Latternfly – Threat to California
Dr. Heather Leach, Extension Associate, Dept. of Entomology, Penn State University
Economic Sustainability of Winegrapes in California
Jeff Bitter, President Allied Grape Growers
Managing Leafroll Virus in Lodi and Central Coast Vineyards
Dr. Kent Daane, Cooperative Extension Specialist, University of California Berkeley
Growing a Revolution – Soil Health, Vineyards, and Wine
Dr. David Montgomery, Professor of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington
Smoke Effects on Wine and Winegrapes
Glenn McGourty, Retired UCCE Farn Advisor, Lake and Mendocino Counties
Vineyard of the Past, Present and the Future: How will we farm?
Dr. Kaan Kurtural, Associate Specialist UC Davis
Biochar: Soil Amendment for Improved Vine Performance and Long-term Carbon Sequestration
Dr. Douglas Beck, Science Officer, Monterey Pacific Inc.
Farming Hemp in Wine Country
Dr. George Sellu, Program Coordinator, Instructor, Agribusiness at Santa Rosa Junior College
Can Viticulture be Environmentally Sustainable without Disease Resistant Grape Varieties?
Dr. Andrew Walker, Professor, Dept of Enology and Viticulture, UC Davis
Biological Control of PD with Endophytic Bacteria
Dr. Steve Lindow, Professor, Dept. of Plant and Microbial Biology UC Berkeley
Vineyard Weed Management: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities
Dr. Anil Shrestha, Professor, Dept. of Plant Sciences, CSU Fresno
Recruitments & Retirements in UC Cooperative Extension – Status & Impacts
Dr. Wendy Powers,Associate Vice President, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources
Larry Bettiga,UCCE Farm Advisor Monterey County
Dr. Clifford Ohmart, Ohmart Consulting Services
Industry Driven Research: Got a problem? Be a part of the solution!
Donnell Brown, President, National Grape Research Alliance
About the Atascadero-based Vineyard Team: Arising from growers’ interest to educate and guide themselves toward sustainable winegrowing practices, the Vineyard Team has become an internationally recognized leader in the sustainability movement since 1994.
