PORTLAND — Education is one of the main parts of the annual Farwest Show. Each day there will be presentations on innovations and research that growers should be aware of, covering topics such as marketing, pricing products, root rot, biopesticides, and more.

“One of the nice things about having the amount of seminars we provide each year is that it does provide a lot of opportunity for folks to find what they’re looking for each year to better themselves,” said Allan Niemi, director of events at Oregon Association of Nurseries, which runs Farwest.

The presentations cover four areas — landscaping, growing, business and pest management — and they are offered throughout each of the days. Some are offered in Spanish. They all aim to help growers strengthen different areas of their operations.

Ben Hoover, an associate professor of sustainable nursery production at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, presents twice on Wednesday, Aug. 23.

In his first seminar, he will discuss the impact of biochar on propagation substrates. Biochar is burned organic material that looks like charcoal. Hoover will discuss the results of his research using coconut shell biochar to grow plant substrates and will show pictures of how biochar affected the growing patterns of root systems.

Part of the presentation will focus on the sustainability of biochar, considering what sustainability means for both the environment and economics.

“I think the big takeaway would be to remember that sustainability doesn’t just mean biodegradable or natural product, but that we have to look at the costs of processing and shipping and those economic or labor costs that also get associated,” Hoover said.

Another seminar, on Friday, Aug. 25, will be given by Melissa Scherr, who researches and educates farmers on integrated pest management at Oregon State University Extension.

For four years, she has researched Pacific flatheaded borers, which infiltrate trees and kill them from the inside out without leaving enough of a trace for growers to tell before it’s too late.

“We don’t really know how big the problem is,” Scherr said of flatheaded borers in nurseries. “They’re (growers) asking us for answers, and we’re going as fast as we can.”

Scherr’s research has found that Pacific flatheaded borers destroy trees, which can be costly to nurseries if growers don’t take proper precautions.

Mitigation and prevention methods include removing trees in which borers are found and using protective barriers or crop cover to prevent them from finding the trees. Scherr will discuss challenges and strategies at Farwest.

Other seminars given will cover pesticide and water quality, climate-ready landscaping techniques, and new annuals and perennials for the spring.