Jan 10, 2020
Get ready for the 2020 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention

About 2,200 fruit and vegetable growers and other industry persons from throughout the mid-Atlantic region and beyond will be gathering at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, Pennsylvania, for the Convention which will run from Jan. 28 to 30, 2020. Registration is open to all interested commercial fruit and vegetable growers and allied industry personnel.

The Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention has been jointly sponsored by the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association, the Maryland State Horticultural Society, and the New Jersey State Horticultural Society for the past 42 years, making the 2020 Convention the 43rd meeting. The Virginia State Horticultural Society joined the Convention in 2014. Penn State University, University of Maryland, Rutgers University, and Virginia Tech University Cooperative Extensions all assist in organizing the three days of educational sessions. The Convention has become one of the premier grower meetings in the Northeast.

The Annual Mid-Atlantic Apple Cider Contest will be held during the Convention. Entries from commercial orchards in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, and Delaware will be accepted and judged on the opening day of the Convention. The results will be announced later that day. More information on the Cider Contest.

Trade show

The Great American Hall, the Aztec Room, and the Confection Level Lobby at the Hershey Lodge host the Trade Show with over 160 exhibitors. Specialized horticultural equipment, farm market merchandise, and packaging, are all on display along with information on the latest seed varieties, fruit varieties, pesticides, and other supplies and services for the commercial grower. The trade show exhibits are open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. the first two days, Jan. 28 and 29. On Jan. 30, they open at 8:00 a.m. but close at 2 p.m. For information on exhibiting at the Trade Show, contact: Maureen Irvin, Convention Coordinator, 717-677-4184 or .

Educational program

Many pesticide applicator update training credits are available to growers attending the sessions. The program covers nearly every aspect of fruit, vegetable, potato, strawberry, bramble, cut flower, greenhouse, and wine grape production. Commercial growers should not pass up this terrific educational opportunity. Six or more concurrent educational sessions and workshops will be offered on all three days of the Convention.

Special Session in Spanish, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020
Sesión Especial para los Horticultores Hispanoparlantes en laConvencion de Frutas y Hortalizas del Atlántico-Medio

Educational Program details.

Social Events

On Jan. 28 from noon to 1:30 p.m., the Penn State Extension Young Grower Alliance presents “Building Coalitions: The Key to Developing Markets” with featured speaker Brent Hales, the director of Penn State Extension and associate dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences. This is a free event for Young Grower Alliance members and any young grower interested in networking with others pursuing the unique lifestyle involved in farming and horticulture. Also, on Jan. 28, the annual Fruit and Vegetable Growers Reception and Banquet will be held. The banquet will include awards and recognitions after a delicious buffet dinner. Tickets are required for the banquet. On Jan.29, there will be a reception for apple growers at 5:00 p.m. and the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association will host its annual Ice Cream Social for all Convention attendees at 7 p.m.

Registration

Registration is required for each person, including spouses. Registration fees allow one to attend the trade show as well as all the fruit, vegetable, small fruit, wine grape, greenhouse, marketing, general and Spanish educational sessions all three days of the convention. Substantial discounts are available to members of one of the five sponsoring organizations.

Registration Fees and Forms

Lodging

Deluxe accommodations are available at a special rate at the Hershey Lodge which is connected to the Convention Center.

Information on lodging and the convention center.

The State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania held its first annual meeting in 1859 in Lancaster. The Association met on its own annually at various locations around the state. In 1975 they invited the State Horticultural Societies of Maryland and New Jersey to meet with them in Gettysburg. This tri-state meeting was very successful over the next couple of years and in 1977 they began looking for a larger venue that would allow a greater number of commercial exhibitors for the trade show. The Hershey Motor Inn and Convention Center (as the Hershey Lodge was then known) was identified as a possible site.

To help make the move to this larger facility more feasible, the three state fruit grower groups invited the Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association and the Pennsylvania Wine Grape Growers Association to join them for the 1978 meetings. The Vegetable Growers previously held their annual Pennsylvania Vegetable Conference in State College. Thus the 1978 meeting is considered the first year of the joint fruit and vegetable grower meetings. After several years, the Wine Grape Growers Association discontinued meeting with the other four groups.

By 1983 total paid attendance at the meetings had reached 956 and continued to grow. The trade show expanded from the entire lower level of the Hershey Convention Center to also include the Aztec Room on the first floor. Fortunately, as attendance continued to grow, the Convention Center also expanded. In 1999, the Great American Hall opened providing the opportunity to expand the trade show from 150 booths on two levels to 189 booths in one room. The expansion also allowed for more concurrent educational sessions in the lower level of the Convention Center that was previously used for the trade show.

Currently, seven to nine concurrent educational sessions are scheduled during the Convention utilizing all the available meeting room space in the facility. Continued demand for more trade show booths eventually required the Aztec Room to again be used for additional trade show space allowing a total of 228 booths.

For the first 22 years, these joint fruit and vegetable grower meetings were termed the Annual Meeting of the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Horticultural Societies of Maryland and New Jersey and the Pennsylvania Vegetable Conference. In 1999 a more concise name, the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention, was adopted. About that time the Convention Joint Committee with representatives from the four organizations (four from the State Horticultural Association, four from the Vegetable Growers, one from the Maryland Horticultural Society and one from the New Jersey Horticultural Society) was established with authority to manage the Convention affairs under by-laws agreed to by all four groups. In 2014, the Virginia State Horticultural Society asked to begin meeting at the Convention on a provisional basis. For the 2017 Convention, the Virginia group became the fifth permanent sponsoring group of the Convention with a seat on the Convention Joint Committee.

The 2020 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention




Current Issue

On-farm AI: Water, farm, labor research guide decisions

Data collection tool expands farm management

Carmel Valley winegrapes: Parsonage Village Vineyard

IFTA Yakima Valley tour provides orchard insights

IFTA recognizes tree fruit honorees

Pennsylvania recognizes fruit industry professionals

Fresh Views 40 Under 40

see all current issue »

Be sure to check out our other specialty agriculture brands

produceprocessingsm Organic Grower