{"id":2118,"date":"2023-12-13T20:42:46","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T04:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/FREP\/?p=2118"},"modified":"2023-12-13T20:42:46","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T04:42:46","slug":"2023-frep-wph-nutrient-management-conference-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cdfa.ca.gov\/FREP\/index.php\/2023-frep-wph-nutrient-management-conference-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 FREP\/WPH Nutrient Management Conference Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 31st<\/sup> Annual Fertilizer Research and Education Program (FREP) and Western Plant Health (WPH) Nutrient Management Conference was held in Modesto, CA, on November 8-9, 2023. The conference had over 120 attendees including crop consultants, growers, industry representatives, researchers, and government personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog provides a quick recap of the event. For more detailed information, including summaries from presented FREP projects, check out the 2023 Conference Proceedings on the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) FREP webpage: https:\/\/www.cdfa.ca.gov\/is\/ffldrs\/frep\/FREP_Conference_Proceedings.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre-Conference Tour<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference started off with a tour of Duarte Nursery. Family owned and operated, Duarte Nursery is the largest permanent crop nursery in the United States. During the tour, attendees had the opportunity to learn about irrigation and nitrogen management from start to finish in a commercial nursery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Caption: Pre-conference tour attendees view production greenhouses (left) and learn about irrigation and nitrogen management practices as well as other industry practices such as grafting (right) at Duarte Nursery. <\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day One<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CDFA Secretary Karen Ross<\/a> and WPH President\/CEO Renee Pinel welcomed attendees to the 31st<\/sup> Annual Nutrient Management Conference. Their warm welcome was followed by a full day of presentations, workshops, and discussions facilitated by Dr. Jerome Pier, Senior Agronomist, Qualitech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Caption: Panel discussion focuses on managing water and nitrogen in a wet year.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first half of day one included presentations on two FREP-funded research projects and two presentations focused on fertilization considerations in almond orchards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n