Field Crops Virtual Breakfast Series continues with tips to improve your grainy photos

Taking good pictures is essential for correct pest identification. Join the Field Crops Virtual Breakfast Series on August 8 to learn how to take photos that allow experts to better identify pests and weeds.

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The differences in photo backgrounds are demonstrated by these photos of creeping bentgrass. Photo by Erin C. Hill, Michigan State University Extension.

Join the Michigan State University Extension field crops team on August 8 for the Field Crops Virtual Breakfast Series session on how to improve your photo communications with MSU Extension personnel, diagnosticians, crop scouts, agronomists and more. A picture can be worth 1,000 words, but only if it is a good picture.

Erin Hill, weed science diagnostician at MSU Plant & Pest Diagnostics, will be sharing her experiences on what types of photos should be sent to provide the most detail for your crop issue or identification request. She will also discuss strategies on how to improve the focus and contrast of your photos and how to use share sites, like Google Drive, when the number of photos and/or file size exceed email capacity. High-quality, high-resolution images showing multiple viewpoints can and should be shared to optimize the accuracy and speed in which you receive your diagnosis or identification.

Michigan State University Extension state climatologist, Jeff Andresen, will present a 15-minute weather summary and forecast. A question-and-answer period will follow.

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The Michigan State University Extension Field Crops Virtual Breakfast Series is live via Zoom every Thursday morning from 7 – 8 a.m., March 21 through Sept. 19. Topics are flexible and loosely established at the beginning of the season and can change to address rapidly changing concerns such as flooding and drought. Each year brings different challenges, and this series is designed to meet the needs of our field crop producers no matter what the conditions may dictate.

Each week, restricted-use pesticide recertification (RUP) credits and certified crop advisor (CCA) continuing education unit credits will also be available. To receive recertification credits, participants must be on the live Zoom session.

After RUP and CCA credit information, attendees can leave or stay on for a less formal Q&A discussion with farmers, educators and specialists that lasts until 8 a.m. In addition to the scheduled speaker for the day, other MSU Extension campus specialists and educators with field crops responsibility are frequently part of the call and are available to answer any question related to relevant circumstances happening in their area of expertise.

Participating is easy and free! Participants must sign up to receive an email notification with instructions for joining the Virtual Breakfast Series. You only need to do this once to receive the Zoom link and call-in phone number in the weekly email reminders that are sent every Wednesday and Thursday. Participants receiving emails can opt in or out at any time.

Sign up for Field Crops Virtual Breakfast Series 

If you cannot participate in the live session at 7 a.m., you can view the recorded version at any time. However, only the live session will be eligible for RUP and CCA credits. Recordings will be closed-captioned and available at the Field Crops Virtual Breakfast webpage and the MSU Extension field crops team social media platforms: Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Twitter

If you are unable to sign up online, call the Lapeer County MSU Extension office at 810-667-0341.

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