2026 Cornell Seed Grower's Field Day

For seed growers, and other seed professionals

• Date: July 2, 2026
• Time: 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon
• Place: NYSIP Foundation Seed Barn, 791 Dryden Rd., Rt. 366, Ithaca, NY

Tentative program:

8:30-8:55: Registration, coffee, & networking

8:55: Tour begins

9:00-10:15:  Small Grains: Breeding for Quality and Disease Resistance     
Mark Sorrells, Plant Breeding and Genetics 

• White and red winter wheat varieties
• Spring oat and spring barley varieties
• High quality spring and winter malting barley varieties for NY
• Release of new winter malting barley variety LakeEffect
• Free-threshing emmer and spelt varieties
• Potential new hulless oat variety release
• Inventory of pest resistant and other new variety crop seed  

10:15-10:45:   Helping NY Field Crop Growers Meet Birds and Bees         
Alejandro Calixto, Cornell IPM

• Act Requirements - Lilly Elliott-Vidaurri, Entomology
• What On‑Farm Seed Treatment Trials Are Showing - Mike Hunter, Cornell IPM                           

10:45a-12:00p  Breeding of alfalfa, cover crops, intercropping and hemp    

• Alfalfa breeding updates - Virginia Moore, Plant Breeding and Genetics
• Forage yield trial updates - Virginia Moore, Plant Breeding and Genetics
• Cover crop breeding update - Virginia Moore, Plant Breeding and Genetics
• Hemp breeding - Luis Monserrate, Plant Breeding and Genetics
• Breeding for intercropping - Leah Treffer, Plant Breeding and Genetics

Optional tour of oat-pea intercropping at Caldwell field after adjourning from the field day with Leah Treffer.

12:00 noon: Adjourn

• DEC approved: 3 credits for all four categories: 10, 1a, 21 and 4
• CCA continuing education credits requested   
• Contacts: Collins Bugingo (406-209-1282) cb833 [at] cornell.edu (cb833[at]cornell[dot]edu) and Alan Taylor (315-521-0439) agt1 [at] cornell.edu (agt1[at]cornell[dot]edu))