Organizers pull agenda through all of January (Delaware Ag Month)

HARRINGTON, Del. — Rather than Delaware Agriculture Week, in 2021 there will be a Delaware Agriculture Month, and it will be 100-percent virtual, said Cory Whaley, Sussex County Extension director.
“We’re disappointed we cannot hold Ag Week as normal, but we are happy that we can do it this way,” Whaley said.
People are having success with virtual meetings. It’s not ideal, but it’s a way we can contiue to get relevant information out there that the ag community will be interested in hearing about.
Sessions will be extended over a longer time, he said, so that participants wouldn’t have to be in front of a computer all week.
Years ago, a variety of winter commodity group meetings were consolidated into one week of events, mostly held at the fairgrounds in Harrington, where vendors had an opportunity to set up displays.
University of Delaware Extension, Delaware State University Extension and Delaware Department of Agriculture will be the main coordinators and contributors of the virtual event this year.
As in years past, in January 2021, there will be sessions of interest for both field crop and animal producers and for the Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association of Delaware.
A Woodland Management Workshop is scheduled Monday, Jan. 11, from 1 to 3 p.m., and the Delaware Urban Farm and Food Coalition’s Urban Agriculture Session is set for Thursday, Jan. 21, from 5 to 8 p.m.
These and other sessions are listed online at https://sites.udel.edu/delawareagweek.
Sessions are still coming in, Whaley said, and the website keeps being updated.
“We are still working on poultry sessions. We’re pretty sure we will have something for poultry producers.”
Sessions listed in green are linked to registration pages. Registration is already open for Risk Management Sessions, which include a four-part series on succession planning, and for a Lambing and Kidding Session on Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 6:30 p.m.
Continuing education credits will still be offered, Whaley said, but they haven’t been assigned yet.
“We’re not sure how that’s going to go. It comes down to what the state nutrient management and pesticide people will accept,” he said.
Whether there will be a limit to the number of participants depends on the technology used.
UD Live can accommodate more people than some other software.
“Unfortunately, we still have a lot to work out. This is a new avenue for us. Everybody has learned a lot in the last six to eight months,” Whaley said.
Usually held in conjunction with Ag Week, the Delaware Horticulture Industry Expo is also going virtually this year, “due to the continuing health and safety challenges of COVID-19.”
It will be held the mornings of Jan. 13, 14 and 20.
More information will be available soon at https://www.dnlaonline.org/2021-de-horticulture-industry-expo-save-the-date/.
The annual Delaware Agricultural Industry Dinner, which had been scheduled for Jan. 21, 2021, has been cancelled.
The Delaware Council of Farm Organizations has determined that it is in the best interest of their Council and their supporters to cancel.
They are hopeful that they will be able to host the dinner next year, on Jan. 20, 2022.