Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention

The 2024 Mid-Atlantic Convention promises to be another exceptional grower gathering. We will be joined by the North American Strawberry Growers Association!
An estimated 2,200 or more persons are expected for the 2024 edition of the Mid-Atlantic Convention January 30 to February 1 at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Over 160 companies will represented in the trade show which is sold-out with a waiting list of exhibitors anxious to get into the show. A series of pre-convention workshops and a farm market bus tour on January 29 are expected to attract several hundred participants with the bus tour usually being sold out. This year’s Convention is noteworthy because the members of the North American Strawberry Growers Association from all over the continent will be holding their annual meeting in conjunction with the Mid-Atlantic Convention. Various committees have been planning for the 2024 Convention with the goal of building on the 47-year history of a premier grower educational event.

The 2024 Educational Program features three days of six to nine concurrent sessions covering the following areas:

This year there will be a special emphasis on strawberry production topics because we will be joined by members of the North American Strawberry Growers Association.

In addition, there will be a full day of practical production programming presented in Spanish for farm and orchard workers. Expert speakers from Penn State, Rutgers, University of Maryland, and Virginia Tech, along with others from across the country, presented along with selected growers from the Mid-Atlantic region.

Tree Fruit
Stone Fruit
Strawberries/Small Fruit
General Vegetables
Sweet Corn
Tomatoes
Pumpkins
Potatoes
Greenhouse Ornamentals
Cut Flowers
Urban Agriculture
Retail/Wholesale Marketing
Labor and Farm Management
and more!
A close up of strawberries
Trade Show
The Great American Hall, the Aztec Room, and the Confection Level Lobby at the Hershey Lodge hosts the Trade Show with over 160 exhibitors filling 231 booths. Specialized horticultural equipment, farm market merchandise, and packaging, are all on display along with information on the latest seed varieties, fruit varieties, pesticides and other supplies and services for the commercial grower. The trade show exhibits will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the first two days, January 30 and 31. On February 1, they open at 8:00 a.m. but close at 2:00 p.m. Here’s the list of 2023 Trade Show exhibitors, most of whom are expected to return for the 2024 Convention.

For information on exhibiting at the Trade Show, contact: Maureen Irvin, Convention Coordinator 717-677-4184 or shap@embarqmail.com

Registration For The 2024 Convention is NOW OPEN!
Eric Finkenbinder, an award-winning meteorologist with abc27, will address “Challenges of Our Changing Local Climate” as our 2024 Keynote Speaker
Eric lives in Perry county, PA where he enjoys most of his time on the family farm or in his backyard working on one of his many hobbies. His time on the farm showed him the importance of detailed, local weather forecasts which is why he pursued meteorology at Penn State. He received a B.S. in meteorology in 2003 and started working at his hometown news station. This will be Eric’s 21st year with abc27 where you can see him during the weekday evening newscasts at 5, 6, 7 and 11 p.m. Eric also provides science and agriculture stories for the station and writes a weather outlook for Lancaster Farming, a weekly regional newspaper.

When he is not forecasting or working in the fields, Eric enjoys learning new ways to improve his vegetable and fruit gardens, beekeeping, forest regeneration projects, helping his daughters with 4-H projects, or perhaps learning another new hobby. He is a member of the Capital Area Beekeepers Association and American Chestnut Foundation.

See The 2024 Educational Program!
Red and black raspberries that are on a white background
Pre-Convention Workshops and Tour
The day before the main Convention opens, growers can choose between a farm market bus tour or several different workshops. In 2024 the workshops offered will be Maximizing Strawberry Productivity, Producing Vegetable Transplants, Software Solutions for Farm Management, Sustainable High Tunnel Production, Recall Readiness, An Overview of the Farm Transition Process, Specialty Mushrooms, FSMA Grower Training and Pennsylvania Pesticide Applicator License Training. The Lancaster and Berks County Farm Market Bus Tour will visit Reiff’s Farm Market in Ephrata, Brecknock Orchards in Mohnton, Weaver’s Orchard in Morgantown and Plum Creek Farm Market and Creamery in Bernville. As of January 5, the Bus Tour is sold out

Mid-Atlantic Cider Contest
The annual Mid-Atlantic Cider Contest is conducted during the Convention to determine the best cider in the region.

For information on the vegetable program or general information on the Convention: Tammy K. Linn, Assistant Convention Coordinator
717-973-5915 or pvga@pvga.org

For information on the fruit program or for information on exhibiting at the Convention: Maureen Irvin, Convention Coordinator
717-677-4184 or shap@embarqmail.com.

MAFVC Logo
Future dates for the Mid-Atlantic Convention at the Hershey Lodge are as follows:

January 30 to February 1, 2024
January 28 to 30, 2025
January 27 to 29, 2026