34th Annual Horticulture Industries Show slated Jan. 16-17

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Oklahoma State University, together with the University of Arkansas, will sponsor the 34th Annual Oklahoma and Arkansas Horticulture Industries Show. Both gardening professionals and enthusiasts should mark their calendars for this information-packed two-day event slated Jan. 16-17, 2015, in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The event will take place at the Holiday Inn City Center, 700 Rogers Ave. The theme of the meeting is “Technology Solutions for Growers and Marketers.”

For more than three decades, the HIS has consistently provided growers and the public with the latest information on vegetables, fruit, Christmas trees, farmers market crops and public gardening issues. The public and growers from Arkansas, Oklahoma and surrounding states are welcome to attend.

Sponsors include the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service; Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service; Arkansas State Horticultural Society; OSU’s Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture; Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Tulsa Community College; Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation; and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

Advance registration is $50 for both days or $37 for one day. A spouse and up to two additional adults from the same farm/business may register for $35 each. Advance registration is due by Dec. 24. Registration after Dec. 24 or on-site registration is $80 per person for both days or $45 for one day. Additional adults from the same farm/business may register for $40 each.

Emily Oakley and Michael Appel, owners of Three Springs Farm in Oaks, Oklahoma, will serve as keynote speakers for the meeting. They have traveled around the world to study sustainable agricultural systems before starting their own diverse vegetable farm in 2003. During the off-season they spend their time participating in farmer-to-farmer exchanges with other growers around the world and work on local and national food/agricultural issues.

Merrit Taylor, professor with OSU’s Department of Agricultural Economics, also will be on hand to share information regarding risk management, production and marketing management, marketing to the Hispanic community and Oklahoma PRIDE Program.

In addition to the valuable information shared by the keynote speakers, attendees also will have the opportunity to take part in concurrent educational sessions covering topics such as hydroponic production of greens and herbs, social media marketing, insects and diseases in Christmas trees, web-based tools to connect with agriculture, urban forestry, starting a food business, cover crops for vegetable crops, growing mushrooms in your home, growing container trees, creating topiaries for garden display, and much more.

For more information, please contact Donna Dollins, HIS secretary/treasurer, at 405-744-6460, or email her at donna.dollins@okstate.edu. You also may visit http://www.hortla.okstate.edu/research-and-outreach/programs/2015HIS.