Sep 22, 2025

Strong connections and innovation at the 2025 Great Lakes EXPO

Leading experts share research, technology and strategies to help growers thrive

Providing growers with the opportunity to connect, innovate and grow, the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market EXPO is renowned as one of the premier agricultural trade shows in North America. Attendees connect with more than 4,500 fruit, vegetable, farm market and greenhouse individuals and more than 400 industry-leading companies. The EXPO takes place Dec. 9-11, 2025, at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Emily Lavely, tree fruit educator for West Central Michigan with Michigan State University Extension, will present three sessions at this year’s Great Lakes EXPO: Apple I, Apple II, and Thinning and Plant Growth Regulators. Lavely works with other MSU educators, industry partners and stakeholders. Lavely also provides educational programming on horticulture and pest management topics, including rootstock and variety evaluations for fresh market and processing, irrigation scheduling, and management strategies for fire blight, cherry leaf spot and spotted wing drosophila.

Thinning and Plant Growth Regulator Session

Thursday, Dec. 11

9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

During the Thinning and Plant Growth Regulators session, attendees will join speakers from across North America to discuss best practices for plant growth regulators (PGRs) and chemical thinning in tree fruit. Specifically, attendees will discover thinning approaches and PGR use for fruit set, fruitlet thinning, harvest management and fruit quality. 

Invited speakers include MSU’s Todd Einhorn and Randy Beaudry, Tom Kon from North Carolina State University, Polianna Francescatto from Valent Biosciences and John Cline from the University of Guelph.

“We’re excited to have growers come and engage with speakers from across North America in the apple and tree fruit sessions,” Lavely said. “We encourage growers to come with their experience and expertise to share and respond to the presentations and engage with speakers.”

Apple I Session

Tuesday, Dec. 9

2 – 4 p.m.

Apple II Session

Wednesday, Dec. 10

2 – 4 p.m.

During both apple sessions, attendees will discover cutting-edge research and recommendations for pest and disease management and considerations for our environmental conditions impact tree physiology, cold hardiness, fruit quality and harvest management strategies. 

In addition, an update on advances with the robotic apple harvester being developed by a USDA-MSU partnership and led by USDA-MSU researcher Renfu Lu will be featured.

“This information will help growers understand the unique challenges to developing a robotic apple harvester and how the research team is approaching tackling these challenges to help ease the labor burden that growers currently face,” Lavely said.

Lavely values the importance of open dialogue between industry leaders, growers and researchers — highlighting the value the Great Lakes EXPO brings to the industry.

“These sessions and conversations during the week are a wonderful opportunity for growers to share their concerns and needs with researchers, Extension educators and industry partners,” Lavely said. “Events like Great Lakes EXPO highlight the importance and efficacy of industry collaboration and grower-driven research and extension. We see the benefits of these interactions and the need to continue working together to enhance scientific advancement, management of production systems and economic sustainability of Michigan agriculture. 

Jozsef Racsko, Sr., product development manager at Valent USA, will present two sessions at this year’s Great Lakes EXPO — one on cherries and the other on peaches. Racsko has worked at Valent USA since 2012 and is responsible for product development activities, including the creation of new uses and use patterns for PGRs.

Cherry Session

Wednesday, Dec. 10

10:30 – 11:30 a.m. 

During Racsko’s cherry session, attendees will discover how S-abscisic acid (ProTone) can enhance color development, increase sugar content and promote maturation in cherries. 

According to Rackso, the objectives of applying S-Abscisic Acid (ProTone) are to make cherry ripening more uniform so the number of picks can be reduced, ultimately reducing harvest cost. Another goal is to promote earlier ripening, which is beneficial for early varieties where early ripening can result in higher returns for growers. Lastly, application of ProTone can increase Brix content of the fruit and reduce negative effects from ProGibb application on color development and ripening.

“Attendees will also learn about the combined use of gibberellins (ProGibb) and S-absisic acid (ProTone) in the same program to get the most benefit out of these plant growth regulators,” Racsko said.

Peach/Plum 1 Session

Wednesday, Dec. 10

8:30 – 9:30 a.m. 

“The main problem of peach, nectarine and plum production is that no consistent chemical thinner is available for crop load management, unlike apples. Therefore, growers employ mostly hand thinning which is very expensive,” Racsko said.

Growers attending Racsko’s peach session will hear an overview of the use of ACC (Accede) for peach and nectarine thinning, plus see the results from experiments and flower demonstration trials Valent has conducted over the last several years. 

The objectives of applying Accede include:

• Reducing crop load, chemically thin peach/nectarine/plum trees.
• Increasing fruit size and other fruit qualities.
• Reducing biennial bearing.

“I will also be talking about mode of action, timing of application, varietal sensitivity and spray technology for best efficacy,” Racsko said.

As the Great Lakes EXPO quickly approaches, Racsko is most excited to connect with industry authorities.

“My favorite thing about EXPO is connecting with industry experts, researchers and growers to learn about their experience and exchange ideas,” Racsko said. “This is the best time to review research results from the previous season and prepare for the next one.”
Learn more about this year’s show at glexpo.com