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Equipment Demonstration Day Brings Hudson Valley Farmers to the Farm Hub

On Saturday July 25th, farmers from across the Hudson Valley gathered at the Farm Hub for an afternoon dedicated to demonstrating innovative cultivation equipment in action on the farm’s expansive vegetable fields.

Weed control for commercial scale farming was the theme of the event which, free and open to all farmers, was held in collaboration with CCE’s Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program (CCE-ENYCHP).

Visiting representatives from Germany and Holland joined Farm Hub director of farmer training Jean-Paul Courtens, director of farm operations John Gill, and Chuck Bornt of CCE-ENYCHP for a presentation and discussion that began under a large tent adjacent to the vegetable plots. The program was designed to place mechanical weed control in the context of farm efficiency, economics, and productivity, as Courtens encouraged farmers to think about weeds and how to manage them long before the first crop seed is planted.

Participants then moved to the field – from carrots to parsnips to corn, beets, beans and cabbage, as different pieces of equipment were hooked up and put into motion.   Finger weeders, hoeing machines, row cultivators and tine weeders from both US and European manufacturers I & J, Einbock, Kress, and Hak were, one by one, described and employed in the field while everyone was invited to ask questions and to follow along the rows on foot.

The video below shows a quick overview of most of the tractors which were demonstrated.

We look forward to welcoming an even greater number of farmers next year for our second annual equipment demonstration day. In the meantime, 2015 twilight meetings for farmers are scheduled for August 20th (disease resistance tomato variety trial) and September 29th (root crops). Visit our events page for details.

Click here for the 2015 Equipment Demonstration Day event program and equipment list. Click here to view the event photo gallery.

Note: Mechanical cultivation is one of a variety of weed management approaches used at the Farm Hub. For more information on our growing methods for our vegetable garden, see our Farm Stand page.

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