Farming
The Alabama Extension commercial horticulture team has several educational activities and digital resources available to everyone from the comfort of home. Find links to materials and videos below.
Virtual Farm Tour
Join the team for a virtual farm tour on Thursdays through the Alabama Farmer Connection Facebook group. The recordings of the farm tour are posted in the group and participants can ask questions during this Facebook Live. Watch these and new farm tours on the Facebook page.
Take the Survey
Did you join us for a virtual farm tour? We want to hear from you! Take just a minute or two and fill out the short survey below and tell us what you think. These surveys not only help better our programs but also help determine federal and state funding. This funding allows us to continue providing affordable, research-based education to you and your family.
Take the Virtual Farm Tour survey.
Q & A Friday!
Interact with the team on Fridays through Q & A Friday! on the Alabama Extension Commercial Horticulture Facebook page. This is a great way to get farming or gardening questions answered directly by subject matter experts.
Q and A Fridays!
| Date | Panelists |
|---|---|
| March 5 | Jessie Boswell, Elina Coneva, Rishi Prasad |
| March 19 | Doug Chapman, Kassie Conner, Wendiam Sawadgo |
| April 12 | William East, Jeremy Pickens, Ed Sikora |
| April 16 | REA-SET4, Audrey Gamble, Joe Kemble |
| April 30 | Neil Kelly, Dave Han, Adam Rabinowitz |
| May 7 | Bethany O’Rear, Xing Ping Hu, Jessie Boswell |
| May 21 | Eric Schavey, Jim Jacobi, Doug Chapman |
| June 4 | Kristin Woods, Joe Kemble, William East, Camilla R |
| June 25 | Doug Chapman, Rudy Yates, Katelyn Kesheimer |
| July 9 | REA-SET3, Steve Li, Kassie Conner |
| July 23 | REA-SET6, Rishi Prasad, Eric Schavey |
| August 6 | REA-SET4, Adam Rabinowitz, John Nabors |
| August 20 | William East, Neil Kelly, Wendiam Sawadgo |
| September 3 | Jessie Boswell, Ed Sikora, Xing Ping Hu |
| September 17 | Bethany O’Rear, Amanda Scherer, Rishi Prasad |
| October 1 | Eric Schavey, Sonja Thomas, REA-SET4 |
| October 15 | Rudy Yates, REA-SET3, Edgar Vinson |
| October 29 | Kristin Woods, REA-SET6, Neil Kelly |
Take the Survey
Did you join us for a Q & A Friday!? We want to hear from you! Take just a minute or two and fill out the short survey below and tell us what you think. These surveys not only help better our programs but also help determine federal and state funding. This funding allows us to continue providing affordable, research-based education to you and your family.
Take the Q & A Friday! survey.
Commercial Horticulture Webinars
The Alabama Extension Commercial Horticulture Team hosts live monthly webinars on timely topics from Extension professionals. The list of topics and schedule can be found here.
2021 Commercial Horticulture Team Webinar Presentations
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| January 25 | Economics of greenhouse lettuce, update on chill accumulation in peach varieties, agricultural policy for specialty crops | Jeremy Pickens, Edgar Vinson, Adam Robinowitz |
| February 22 | Pruning tactics for blueberry production, vegetable grafting techniques, update on blueberry nutrition and production, Specialty crop outlook | Eric Schavey, Chip East, Elina Coneva, Wendiam Sawadgo |
| March 29 | Direct Marketing Channels, how to rotate organic & chemical insecticides for summer crops, native azalea for Alabama landscape | Jessie Boswell, Ayanava Majumdar, Doug Chapman |
| April 26 | Understanding soil phosphorus test, fertilizer recommendations and vegetable transplant production, insect management considerations for sweet corn | Rishi Prasad, Joe Kemble, Katelyn Kesheimer |
| May 24 | Strawberry research update, post emergent weed control in turf, Microbial quality of agricultural water | Edgar Vinson, Dave Han, Camila Rodrigues |
| June 28 | Tips for co-managing wildlife and complying with FSMA, whitefly transmitted viruses of cucurbits – a new problem for Alabama growers, common ornamental diseases part II, Using soil moisture sensors to improve vegetable production | Kristin Woods, Ed Sikora, Amanda Sherer, Andre Luiz Biscaia Ribeiro da Silva |
| July 26 | Cover crops, vegetable insect pest updates, fruit crops production update | Joe Kemble, Ayanava Majumdar, Elina Coneva |
| August 30 | AU plant diagnostic lab updates, latest performance of selected strawberry varieties in central Alabama, budding techniques for citrus | Kassie Conner, Edgar Vinson, Jacob Kelley |
| September 27 | Fall vegetable IPM tips, high tunnel ventilation, fruit crops cultivar selection | Ayanava Majumdar, Jeremy Pickens, Elina Coneva |
| October 25 | The importance of crop rotation, weed control in vegetables, TBA | Eric Schavey, Steve Li, David Lawrence |
| November 29 | Beginning Farmer Resources, TBA | Ayanava Majumdar, Bethany O'Rear |
Check out the Facebook Live webinar playlist for recordings of all webinars and find all webinars and more educational videos on our YouTube playlist.
Farming Basics Online Course
If you are a beginning farmer or are thinking of starting a farm-related business, then Farming Basics Online Course is a valuable resource before starting out your venture. This four-hour course is a free module-based learning system with built in interactive quizzes that generates a custom certificate at completion.
Farming Basics Mobile App
The Farming Basics Mobile App is a free download on Apple and Android devices. The app has a library of popular horticultural crops and pest pictures as well as contact information for the commercial horticulture regional agents. The Alabama Extension Commercial Horticulture Facebook page is accessible from the app.
This app also connects to the YouTube playlist that has videos and webinars on a variety of farming topics including food safety, marketing, integrated pest management (IPM), grafting techniques, and much more.
Alabama IPM Communicator Newsletter
The Alabama IPM Communicator Newsletter is another great resource to receive timely crop production and pest alerts on a mobile device. The pest alerts are sent twice per month (at a minimum) all year in the form of web links to blog articles and educational events in a mobile-friendly email. Visit the Alabama IPM Communicator Newsletter page on the Alabama Extension website to self-subscribe to the newsletter.
AlabamaBeginningFarmer.com
AlabamaBeginningFarmer.com is the go-to website for educational information for those getting started. Information includes digital publications as well as videos. Resources include pieces such as the Southeastern Vegetable Crop Production Handbook, the High Tunnel Crop Production Handbook (also a free iBook), and the IPM slide charts.
Thank you to our funding agencies Specialty Crops Block Grant from the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI), USDA-NIFA grants, USDA SARE, and BFRD Programs.