Announcing Tech Center East! Growers Supply’s Latest in Educational Resources

Some of you who have followed our blogs for a while may have seen pictures or read about the many opportunities that we have to offer our customers. We organize workshops, seminars, webinars and more, all designed to inform and educate our communities and customers about exciting topics in the agricultural community. Our most popular topics include how to grow fodder, CEA (controlled-environment agriculture) techniques, hydroponic growing and greenhouse growing. Until now, all of our seminars and workshops have been held at our Dyersville, IA location, equipped with our CEA Technology Center greenhouse, as well as one of our Hercules Truss Arch Buildings where we manufacture many buildings for our affiliate company, ClearSpan Fabric Structures.

My Journey into the Land of Plenty- Literally!

Today’s blog post comes from our guest blogger, Nichole Kemp. Nichole is the marketing and event specialist for Growers Supply’s parent company ESAPCO where she manages and organizes all our trade shows, open houses and workshops. She is also the brand manager for our building division, ClearSpan Fabric Structures, and the self titled “ClearSpan Brand Evangelist”. Last month Nichole had the opportunity to visit our Dyersville, IA manufacturing facility where she observed one of our fodder workshops. This is the tale of her travels and, as she likes to put it, her journey into the land of plenty!

Special Invitation: Growers Supply’s CEA School in Dyersville, IA

At Growers Supply, we don’t want to simply sell you products. We think it is important to teach customers about the most up-and-coming trends in the agricultural and horticultural communities. Our CEA School will be a three-day, hands-on event that covers fodder production, hydroponics and aquaponics. The first CEA School of 2013 will be held from March 19 to 21.

Take a Lesson from Growers Supply U

Since Growers Supply was founded, it’s been our goal to help make your life easier. We provide the products you need and we also have the expertise to go along with them. Over the past year, we’ve been adding to the educational resources available to you, our customers. These resources include hands-on training at our Technology Center, virtual webinars, a video library and more. If you aren’t already aware of what we have to offer, let me tell you more.

Technology Center: In the past year, we’ve built two greenhouse facilities to serve as demonstration areas to teach the public more about sustainability and locally grown produce. In our 35′ by 48′ greenhouse, we are modeling year-round, in-ground high tunnel production, as well as three different hydroponic systems. Our 80′ by 50′ greenhouse is devoted solely to hydroponic production. Attendees at our hydroponic and fodder workshops gain hands-on experience in these greenhouses.

Review: Hydroponic Fodder Workshop

On Wednesday April 4th we hosted our first fodder workshop. Just like our hydroponics workshop in February, this day-long seminar was a great success. We had students from all over the country attend. We were very pleased to have two separate groups fly in from TX and we had groups from OH, IN, MN, MI, WI, NE, KS, MO and even CA! The gentleman from CA flew in specifically for the sprout and microgreen portion of the seminar. He wanted to learn an easy way to expand his business and our customized fodder growing systems were the answer.

Hydroponics Workshop Featuring the Research of Dr. Lynette Morgan – 2012

** The following dates are now available for registration: August 22, 2012, October 3, 2012 and November 14, 2012. For more information visit our website.**

Due to the success of our first hydroponics workshop, we will be holding our next day-long hydroponics workshop on Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at our state-of-the-art Technology Center. Featuring the research of Dr. Lynette Morgan, this event will include a presentation and workbook created by the award-winning doctor herself.

Sam takes on Indiana “Home Grown” Meeting

This week we’re going to make a departure from regularly scheduled programming to tell you a bit about what Sam is up to when he’s not in the greenhouses or educating people at our workshops. When we were asked by Vickie Smith, environmental technician for the Dearborn County Soil and Water Conservation Department, for a high tunnel expert to speak at their “Home Grown” meeting, we knew Sam was the right person to send.

Review: Hydroponics Workshop Featuring Guest Speaker Dr. Lynette Morgan

We recently hosted our first hydroponic workshop in our brand new Technology Center and it was a great success! We featured Dr. Lynette Morgan of SUNTEC International Hydroponic Consultants in New Zealand and gave an excellent presentation that we had been collaborating on with her for the past few months. The attendees each received an 82 page workbook full of useful information and details that Dr. Morgan wanted to share with everyone about her years of practice and study in the hydroponic industry. This workbook makes a great reference to consult when questions arise in your own hydroponic operation. We are very lucky to be teamed up with Dr. Morgan. Her wisdom and insights have been invaluable. The seminar was packed with helpful knowledge and awesome pictures from hydroponic growing setups from all over the world.

Special Invitation: Hydroponic Fodder Workshop

** The following dates are now available for registration: August 1, 2012 and September 19, 2012. For more information visit our website.**
Save the date! On Wednesday, April 4, 2012 we will be holding a workshop on hydroponic fodder production at our state-of-the-art Technology Center. Attend this day-long event, hosted by our greenhouse manager Sam, to learn about our hydroponic fodder systems and the benefits of producing fodder for livestock feed.