The Michigan Wheat Program regrets to announce cancellation of its 2020 Annual Winter Grower Meeting, which had been set for next Wednesday, March 18, at the Eagle Eye Conference Center in Bath Township.
“Given the many facts shared and requests from state and federal public health experts to limit public gatherings for the next few weeks, we have determined that the best and safest course of action today is to cancel our winter meeting so as not to contribute to the spread of the COVID-19 corona virus,” said David Milligan, chairman of the Michigan Wheat Program and farmer from Cass City.
“The executive director and I reviewed the recommendations from Governor Whitmer that meetings with more than 100 attendees be cancelled, as well as recommendations by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services,” Milligan said. “Knowing that there are active cases in Michigan including a quarantine case at nearby Michigan State University, we cannot guarantee that our growers won’t be exposed to the virus in such a large gathering. We also don’t want to be part of the problem in spreading the virus back to rural Michigan.”
Due to the imminent arrival of planting season, the wheat check-off will not be rescheduling the meeting for later in spring. In cancelling the conference, the Michigan Wheat Program joins a large and growing number of organizations that have cancelled or postponed large meetings, ranging from University classes throughout the state to sports tournaments, business and governmental meetings and conferences.
“While very disappointed that we can’t present the excellent program we had lined up to growers next week, we can simply say we’re looking forward to seeing everyone at our Field Day meeting in June,” said Jody Pollok-Newsom, executive director. “We’re hoping to include a couple of next week’s planned topics into Field Day, which is scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, at the Saginaw Valley Research & Extension Center just outside Frankenmuth.”
Click here to review the complete bulletin on COVID-19 recommendations from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services or go to https://www.michigan.gov/documents/coronavirus/MDHHS_Interim_Recommendations_for_COVID-19_final_683589_7.pdf
Source: Michigan Wheat Program press release
