February 8 – 9, 2024
Presented by the Cornell Cooperative Extension Lake Ontario Fruit Program 
2024 WNY Fruit Conference
Meeting the Challenges Ahead
We are looking forward to bringing you another multi-day tree fruit conference this winter! Again, this replaces our traditional “LOF Fruit Schools” and our participation in the Empire Producers Expo in Syracuse. There will be an informal cocktail hour and dinner on your own. The program will run all day on Thursday (Feb 8) and Friday morning (Feb 9). There will be two morning sessions Thursday, along with two afternoon sessions. Friday will have 2 morning sessions. The overall theme of the conference will be helping your business make the most well-informed decisions to keep it prosperous with the anticipated challenges ahead. The conference will start with a presentation by Chris Gerlach of US Apple. Chris will lead with the most recent trends and what the near future may hold. This will be backed up by production statistics. Despite over production, high labor costs and other inputs, and flat apple consumption, there are business strategies that can keep your business profitable. An expert panel will follow Chris’s presentation. The panel will give suggestions on how to meet the challenges ahead. The pesticide credit-eligible session will be late morning on Thursday. Horticulture will be covered in the early afternoon session. Among the highlights will be disease updates, a presentation on adjuvants, tree fruit monitoring and scouting opportunities, the EPA’s draft herbicide strategy, wooly apple aphid control, and precision orchard technology updates from Cornell and growers. Sessions late Thursday into Friday will cover labor updates, a plant growth regulator panel, and a packer panel on fruit quality, and more! We encourage folks to stay overnight. Dinner will be on your own, there are plenty of options close by. In addition, the meeting is in the Henrietta area, so parking is free, the area is safe, and it is easy to get around.
DEC credits will be available.
The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Rochester is offering a block of rooms for our conference at a discount rate. Individuals are requested to contact the Hotel directly at 585-475-1510 press (1) for reservations or visit their website at: https://group.doubletree.com/tq8yn7 for reservations. The group code for the discounted rate is: “Cornell Cooperative Rate” Please book your rooms early.
Cornell Employees, Students, and Speakers at this conference please contact us regarding registration to this event.
