Events Thursday  ECA Meeting

Exotic Conifer Association Annual Field Day

St. Croix Valley Trees, August 3, 2023

(Pre-NCTA tour:  NCTA summer meeting 1 hour away)

Schottler Family, 458 Rice Lake Road, Somerset WI 54025

Thursday, August 3rd 2023

Hosted by Paul, Sherrill & Shawn Schottler at

St Croix Valley Christmas Trees - Somerset, Wisconsin

St. Croix Valley Trees is a 40 year Choose-and Cut tree farm featuring agri-tainment, selling 12 species of conifers and conducting field experiments on new methods and new varieties.  This meeting will also feature  our special guest and presentation by Ulrik Nyvold from Levinsen Tree Seed, Denmark EUR.

          Agenda

8:00 - 8:30    Registration  (Coffee, Juice & heavily frosted donuts)

 8:30 - 9:00   Welcome and Farm overview

9:00 - 12:00 Wagon Tour of Farm Fields

Stop 1:  Korean Fir Shearing trials: timing, bud position and fertilizer

Stop 2: Herbicide tests; Glyphosate on new growth and monthly applications

Sureguard + glyphosate; Simazine + Dual rate  compariosns

Goal + fusilade summer applicaton rate comparisons

Weird response with Plateau herbicide

Stop 3:  Long term nitrogen application rate comparisons

Stop 4:  Cover crops: field rotations with alfalfa, inter-row legumes                       

Stop 5:  Evaluation of Siberian Fir (regreshments /water)

Stop 6: Kor x Bal: Comparison of plantings from 3 sourcer

Stop 7:  Exotics in Wisconsin comparioson: Kor x Fraser,

Kor x Corkbark, more

12:00 - 1:00 Homestyle summer lunch provided by nearby farm,    

1:00-1:45 Agritainment tour: featuring the Enchanted  Castle, Santa's Coal mine, Worlds's largest gumball machine, disappearint tree and... dealing with insurance

1:45 - 2:30 Cut your own operation: Handling large volumes of people- efficiently

2:30 - 2:45 ECA business meeting

3:15 - 3:30 Travel North 4 miles

3:30-4:15   Growing Fir in Europe: European growing techniques, genetics and breeding.   Guest presentation:                Ulrik Nyvold, Levinsen Treeseed Denmark Eur.                                           or

Tour Gentian Farm: Exotic tree plantings, seed beds, alternative shearing techniques: growing/harvesting natice prairie seeds for supplemental income.

4:15 - 4:30 Move between sessions

4:30 - 5:15 Growing Fir in Europe: European growing    techniques, genetics and breeding programs.  Guest presentation: Ulrik Nyvold, Levinsen Treeseed, Denmark                                                    or

Tour Gentian Farm: Exotic tree plantings, seed beds, alternative shearing techniques: growing/harvesting natice prairie seeds for supplemental income.

5:15 - 7:00 Wood Fired Pizza at Common Harvest Organic Farm (CSA), with walking tour of 'gardens'.