Maine State Pomological Society’s Annual Summer Tour

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 – 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., followed by small fruit twilight meeting at 6:00 p.m.

Highmoor Farm
52 U.S. Route 202, Monmouth ME  04259

The Maine Ag. Experiment Station, UMaine Extension and the Maine State Pomological Society will be hosting the annual Summer Tour at the Highmoor Farm in Monmouth. Highmoor Farm is part of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station at the state’s R1 public research university.

Pesticide Certification Credits are available for attending.

To RSVP, call Renae Moran at 207-713-7083 (or email at rmoran@maine.edu) by July 20. Cost to attend the summer tour is free for Pomological Society members and $20 for all other attendees.

Agenda

Apple tree at Highmoor Farm
Apple tree at Highmoor Farm; Photo credit: Edwin Remsberg

1:00 p.m. — Welcome and Registration

1:15 p.m. — Hannah Carter, Dean of Extension, UMaine

1:30 p.m. — George Criner, Director of UMaine’s Agricultural Experiment Station

1:45 p.m. — Maria Gannett, University of Massachusetts: New Research in Managing Weeds in Perennial Crops

Perennial weeds often become difficult to manage in perennial cropping systems. Dr. Gannett will present results from trials at Cornell and UMass, attempting to manage bindweed in apple and blueberry orchards and discuss optimal times for control.

2:30 p.m. — Pomological Society Announcements from Standing Committees

  • Labor
  • Legislative update
  • Marketing
  • Maineapples.org, the website

3:15 p.m. — Break

3:30 p.m. — Orchard Tour with Renae Moran, Maria Gannett and Greg Koller

  • New scab resistant apple varieties, tests for predicting bitter pit in Honeycrisp and cold hardy peach varieties.
  • We will look for perennial weeds at Highmoor Farm and apply what we discussed earlier to weeds we find in the field. There will be an emphasis on weed identification.
  • Drone spraying demonstration, Active Intelligence, Rockland, ME
  • Karla Boyd, Board of Pesticides Control

5:00 p.m. — Dinner (sandwiches) and dessert (strawberry shortcake with Highmoor Farm berries)

Picture of Highmoor Farm and celery crops in field
Celery and artichoke field with Highmoor Farm in background; photo credit Dr. Peyton Ginakes

6:00 p.m. — Twilight Meeting with David Handley, Mark Hutton, Peyton Ginakes and Maria Gannett

  • Vegetable and berry variety trials
  • Weed management in highbush blueberries

 

Directions to Highmoor Farm

From the North: I95 Exit 109b, go West on Rte. 202 (toward Winthrop) for 16 miles. Highmoor Farm is on the left.

From the South: I95 exit 86, left on Rte. 9 and continue 0.7 miles, then take a right onto Pleasant Hill Road for 0.8 miles. Continue through the stoplight where the road becomes Rte.132 (Wales Rd. and then Pond Rd.) for 4.6 miles. Take left onto Leeds Junction Road, travel 2.9 miles to Rte. 202. Take a right onto Rte. 202 and go 1.4 miles. Highmoor Farm will be on the right.

 

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