News Release
For Immediate Release — April 20, 2011
Workshop for Tennessee Nursery Producers on Pesticide Application Techniques
Discount registration available before April 30
McMINNVILLE, Tenn. – The nursery business in Tennessee generates more than $177 million in sales each year - making the Volunteer State one of the top producers of ornamental plants in the nation. There are more than 800 nurseries in the state, mostly concentrated in the rolling hills about halfway between Nashville and Chattanooga.
“The nursery industry is a big part of our state’s economy. Warren County and the neighboring area have a huge influence on local employment and tax revenue,” says Dr. Amy Fulcher, assistant professor for Sustainable Ornamental Plant Production and Landscape Management with University of Tennessee Extension. Dr. Fulcher says approximately 90 percent of the state’s nurseries are in Coffee, DeKalb, Grundy, Warren and White counties in southeastern middle Tennessee.
To assist the many producers in this area, UT Extension is offering an Airblast Sprayer Workshop for nursery owners and employees.
The Airblast Sprayer Workshop will be Wednesday, May 4, 2011, at the Pro-Gro Nursery at 562 Fuston Cemetery Road in McMinnville. The event starts at 8 a.m. (CDT) and the cost is $15 per participant if registered before April 30. The cost will be $25 after that. To register, mail checks made out to Warren County UT Extension Office, Attn: Nursery Workshop, 201 Locust St, Suite #10, McMinnville, TN 37110. You can also call 931-473-8484.
The event offers instruction in correctly adjusting sprayers for optimal coverage and pest control. “This is a very hands-on workshop,” says Dr. Fulcher. “Growers will leave knowing how to calibrate airblast sprayers, understanding how to monitor and refine coverage, canopy penetration and coverage throughout a block - with tips on maximizing nozzle disc and whirl selections and positioning. Growers attending will be able to ensure they are applying the optimum spray droplet size and distribution specific to insect and disease control.”
Dr. Fulcher says nursery owners can see first-hand several airblast sprayer models and sprayer adjustment and calibration techniques. She will be one of the instructors, and will talk about proven impacts of pesticide calibration. “Growers will see variability from sprayer to sprayer and nozzle to nozzle. Is the spray getting where it needs to go and in the right amount?” she says. “We want producers to get the optimal amount of pesticide, and limit costly excess.
Pesticide Points will be offered: two points for categories C1, C2, C3, C10 and C12.
Other points of instruction include how tractor speed and row spacing impacts pesticide application and coverage. Other workshop speakers include experts from Ohio State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. UT Extension Area Nursery Specialist Mark Halcomb is assisting Dr. Fulcher in organizing the event
UT Extension operates in each of Tennessee’s 95 counties as the off-campus division of the UT Institute of Agriculture. An educational and outreach organization funded by federal, state and local governments, UT Extension, in cooperation with Tennessee State University, brings research-based information about agriculture, family and consumer sciences, and youth and community development to the people of Tennessee where they live and work.
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Contact: Dr. Amy Fulcher, 865-974-7152, afulcher@utk.edu