DATE: 11/22/2006

CONTACT: Dr. DeWitt Gooden, 843-662-3526, dgooden@clemson.edu

WRITER: Tom Lollis, 803-284-3343, ext. 241; tlollis@clemson.edu

Pee Dee REC to host statewide tobacco meeting on Dec. 1

FLORENCE – The 2006 Statewide Tobacco Meeting will be held Dec. 1 at Clemson University’s Pee Dee Research and Education Center near Florence.

Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. and the program starts at 10 a.m., according to DeWitt Gooden, Clemson tobacco specialist. The program concludes around 1:30 p.m. following lunch.

“Call the Pee Dee REC at 843-662-3526 to pre-register so we can plan for lunch,” he said.

Moderator for the meeting will be Jody Martin, Florence County Extension leader.

Gooden will cover quality issues and varieties to kick off the program. Bruce Fortnum will give details on tobacco disease issues. Don Manley, Albert Johnson and Francis Reay-Jones, all Clemson University entomologists, will cover insect management.

Scott Bissette of the Flue-Cured Tobacco Stabilization Corporation will talk about stabilization issues and Loren Fisher of N.C. State University will cover post buyout agronomic concerns.

J. Michael Moore of the University of Georgia will discuss management of tomato spotted wilt virus.

The Pee Dee REC is just off Interstate 95 on Pocket Road. From exit 169, turn west on TV Road for a quarter mile, then turn left onto Pocket Road. Pee Dee REC will be approximately a mile on the right. The meeting will be in the auditorium of the main building.

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