Jan. 28, 2022
Horticulture Industries Show enjoys solid turnout for 40th anniversary despite COVID concerns
By Ryan McGeeney
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Fast Facts:
- Show returned after canceling in 2021
- 40th anniversary show featured many Division of Agriculture researchers
- Some presenters appeared via Zoom
(866 words)
(Newsrooms: With additional art at https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzAh3S)
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — After a rocky couple of years for conferences and trade shows across the country, organizers have generally learned at least one thing: You play the hand you’re dealt.
For Jackie Lee, resident director of the Fruit Research Station in Clarksville for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and current president of the Oklahoma & Arkansas Horticulture Industries Show, this meant forging ahead with the 2022 show with the best precautions available.
Shortly after the 2020 show was held in Oklahoma, the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the United States. As the horticulture show’s new president, Lee surveyed previous show attendees, trying to gauge interest in a virtual show for 2021. The response, she said, was blatantly conclusive.
“More than half of the respondents said ‘no,’” she said. “So that’s one reason we decided to forego having a virtual conference in 2021 and proceed with a face-to-face conference in 2022.”
The 2022 show, which took place at the Graduate Hotel in Fayetteville on Jan. 13-14, was planned during the summer of 2021, after the vaccine rollout and before the Delta variant began to trigger a rise in infections and hospitalizations. About 180 individuals registered for the show, which is “a little higher than normal,” Lee said, and both vendors and speakers were eager to join as well.
By the time the show rolled around, however, the Omicron variant had taken its toll. Of the 180 registrants, about 100 attended the show. One of the biggest impacts was the difficulty in finding a keynote speaker for the conference, a role which typically features someone traveling to the show from out of state, Lee said.
“A few days before the meeting, we weren’t sure it was going to happen,” she said. “We had a lot of speakers canceling; moderators that were quarantined. But we really pulled together at the last minute and got it together.”
Ultimately, Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward delivered the show’s keynote address.
Lee and her fellow organizers worked to provide a show that grew on its previous iterations. Responding to survey data, organizers added new categories of presentations, including hydroponics and beekeeping.
“I think what went really well,” she said, “is that we were able to pull it off.”
The show, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, featured more than 50 presentations, including a wine-tasting event hosted by Renee Thelfall, a research scientist for the Division of Agriculture who has been involved in the division’s wine grape breeding program and currently serves on the board of the Arkansas Wine Producers Council.
Several presenters delivered their lectures via Zoom.
“I think it was well-received, even though we had a lot of virtual talks,” Lee said. “I think people were just happy to be there.”
About half of the 2022 speakers were Division of Agriculture faculty and staff. Other presenters represented organizations including the Beaver Watershed Alliance, the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks, the Food Conservancy and more.
Kenda Woodburn, a resident of Tulsa County, Oklahoma, said 2022 marked her 25th time attending the show. Woodburn, who now works as an extension educator and works a small farm in Oklahoma, said the show has always offered opportunities to both learn about the current state of horticultural research and to network with fellow growers and enthusiasts.
“This is a very good industry show for making connections, and meeting other growers,” Woodburn said. “I like to come to this because I meet a lot of people I know from the past, as well as a lot of new friends, and I learn about the current research-based information.”
Woodburn said that over the years, the show has increasingly reflected small growers’ interests in organic farming and associated concerns regarding the management of both pests and pesticides.
“I think it’s very important that the universities are looking at more sustainability practices and expanding on the integrated pest management,” she said. “There are times to use targeted pesticides, but they’re looking at the ecological impact more than they have in previous years. They’re starting to bring more of an ecological approach into pest management.”
Eric Johnson, an employee at Cook’s Venture, which produces free-range poultry products in Decatur, Arkansas, said he attended this year’s show to learn what’s new in organic agriculture.
“We want to implement some of these practices on our farms,” Johnson said.
A native of North Carolina, Johnson said he had long been a fan of muscadine fruit, which drew him to a presentation by Margaret Worthington, assistant professor of horticulture for the Division of Agriculture, on Arkansas' peach and muscadine breeding program.
“I was curious to see what the research institutions, and the industry, are selecting for,” he said. “I know that in many places, there’s an emphasis on transportability a shelf stability, rather than nutrient density.”
Worthington, who delivered her presentation via Zoom, interacted with Johnson during the Q&A portion of the talk, discussing the breeding program’s efforts to maintain the nutritional value of fruit in the program.
“It makes me really want to embrace more heirloom varieties and see how those work — muscadines that have not been selected for marketability,” Johnson said. “It makes me appreciate those more.”
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uark.edu. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Media contact:
Ryan McGeeney
Communications Services
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2120
rmcgeeney@uada.edu