Image by Cornell CALS

Field Day: Homer C. Thompson Vegetable Research Showcase

Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 4:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Cornell CALS will be hosting the Homer C. Thompson Vegetable Research Showcase, a twilight meeting held at Cornell’s vegetable research station in Freeville. The event will feature field tours and research updates on breeding, insect, and disease management in crops including tomato, potato, and dry bean. At the conclusion of the meeting, there will be a social hour with refreshments.

NYSDEC pesticide credits have been approved.

Thank you to our sponsors Valent U.S.A., VM Agritech, and Zymtronix.

Detailed Agenda

4:00 – 4:10 PM	Greg Vogel	Arrival and check-in for NYS attendees seeking recertification credits. Participants interested in obtaining NYSDEC credits for pesticide applicator recertification will need to sign-in by presenting their pesticide applicator ID at the sign-in table.
4:15 – 4:40 PM	Audrey Klein, Hilary Mayton, Sujary Paranjape (Zymtronix, VM Agritech, Cornell)	Emerging areas and tools in disease management. Emerging areas and tools for disease management in vegetable crops will be discussed. New tools discussed will include enzyme-based products for foliar disease control and herbicide enhancement, as well as Curezin, a broad-spectrum fungicide and bactericide. In addition, research will be presented on induced resistance in seeds to control seedcorn maggot.
4:50– 5:15 PM	Zach Hansen, Greg Vogel, Angie Marbello (Cornell)	Tomato breeding and disease management. Highlights from the Cornell tomato breeding program will be showcased. Tomato disease management will be discussed, including genetic disease resistance, fungicide evaluations, spore trapping, and the role of the microbiome in disease control.
5:25 – 5:50 PM	Brian Nault, Zeus Mateos Fierro, Pia Spychalla, Nayeli Carvajal (Cornell)	Potato pest and disease management. Important areas in potato pest and disease control will be discussed. Research on breeding for resistance to Potato Virus Y and controlling Colorado potato beetle through non-neonicotinoid insecticides and predator pheromones will be discussed.
6:00 – 6:25 PM	Virginia Moore, Emily Fratz (Cornell)	Dry bean breeding, production, disease and pest management. Research will be presented on dry bean performance in cover crop based no-till systems, including the identification of disease symptoms in cover crops. In addition, pest control in dry beans will be discussed including how to identify damage from the Mexican bean beetle. Updates from Cornell dry bean breeding will be showcased.
6:30 – 7:30 PM	All attendees	Social hour and refreshments. Enjoy refreshments sponsored by Valent U.S.A., VM Agritech, and Zymtronix, and an opportunity to discuss and socialize with presenters and attendees.