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The American Floral Endowment will host a Grow Pro webinar on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, featuring Michigan State University’s Dr. Tom Fernandez on using bioreactors to reduce agrochemicals in agricultural production water. The session will cover microbial contaminant breakdown, woodchip-based system design, regulatory compliance, and strategies to improve effectiveness and startup time.
The American Floral Endowment (AFE) will host a webinar on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, on how growers can use bioreactors to reduce agrochemical residues in agricultural production water, part of its ongoing Grow Pro Webinar series. The session, titled “Bioreactors for Reduction of Agrochemicals in Agricultural Production Water,” will be presented by Dr. Tom Fernandez, a professor at Michigan State University whose research focuses on water quality and management for nursery production.
According to AFE, the webinar will present bioreactors as a practical, cost-effective tool for cleaning contaminants out of irrigation and production water at greenhouse and nursery operations. The organization frames the session against a backdrop of growing water security concerns, noting that keeping accessible water clean and safe protects crops, budgets, and growers’ bottom lines.
The announced agenda covers four main areas: how microbial communities drive contaminant breakdown; how woodchip-based bioreactors function; how operations can comply with regulations while protecting their businesses; and strategies to improve system effectiveness and shorten startup time. Woodchip bioreactors are a passive water-treatment approach in which carbon-rich media support microbes that degrade or transform dissolved chemicals as water flows through.
Dr. Fernandez teaches Landscape Plant Identification and Nursery Management at Michigan State University, where his research and Extension program centers on water quality and management for nursery production. His additional work includes the use of RFID technology to support precision agriculture in container production. Interested participants can register through Zoom or via the Grow Pro Webinar series page on the AFE website, and recordings of past Grow Pro webinars are available on AFE’s YouTube channel.
Why Grower Water Treatment Matters
Production water is a recurring cost and risk point for greenhouse and nursery operations. Runoff and recirculated irrigation water can carry pesticide and nutrient residues, creating both crop-health concerns and potential regulatory exposure. According to AFE, bioreactors offer growers a way to address those contaminants without relying solely on more expensive treatment infrastructure, which is why the organization has made the topic part of its 2026 Grow Pro lineup.
The compliance portion of the agenda is a practical draw for operators: water-quality regulations affecting agriculture vary by jurisdiction, and the webinar aims to explain how treatment systems can be paired with regulatory requirements. The session also addresses startup time, a known barrier for biological treatment systems, which can take weeks or months for microbial communities to become fully effective after installation.
AFE’s Grow Pro Series and the Speaker
The webinar is part of AFE’s Grow Pro Webinar series, an ongoing education program that publishes a full calendar of sessions throughout 2026. Past webinars in the series are archived and freely available on the AFE YouTube channel, giving growers who miss the live session a way to catch up later.
Dr. Fernandez brings an academic and Extension background directly aligned with the topic. His Michigan State University program focuses on water quality and management for nursery production, and he also researches RFID applications for precision agriculture in container production. His role as both a professor of Nursery Management and an Extension researcher positions the webinar as applied guidance rather than a purely theoretical overview, according to the AFE announcement.
What the Announcement Doesn’t Specify
The announcement does not state the webinar’s start time or duration, nor whether it is free to attend; those details are presumably covered during registration through Zoom or the AFE website. It also does not quantify the contaminant reduction rates bioreactors achieve — claims about effectiveness are presented as the session’s subject matter rather than as published findings in the announcement itself.
Whether the guidance will apply to specific crops, regions, or regulatory regimes is not detailed, and it remains unclear how much of the session will address greenhouse versus nursery container production. Growers will need to attend the session or review the eventual recording for specifics on system costs, sizing, and maintenance.
Registration and the Rest of 2026
Growers can register now through Zoom or the Grow Pro Webinar series page on the AFE website, which also lists the schedule of future webinars in the 2026 series. Following the Oct. 20 session, AFE typically posts recordings to its YouTube channel, where past Grow Pro webinars are already archived. Attendees with specific questions about bioreactor implementation may get answers during the live session’s Q&A, though AFE has not outlined the session format in its announcement.
Key Questions
When is the bioreactors webinar and who is presenting?
The webinar, “Bioreactors for Reduction of Agrochemicals in Agricultural Production Water,” takes place Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, as part of AFE’s Grow Pro series. The speaker is Dr. Tom Fernandez, professor of Landscape Plant Identification and Nursery Management at Michigan State University.
How do I register for the webinar?
According to AFE, participants can register directly through Zoom or by visiting the Grow Pro Webinar series page on the AFE website, which also lists future webinars in the series.
What topics will the webinar cover?
The announced agenda includes how microbial communities break down contaminants, how woodchip-based bioreactors work, regulatory compliance strategies, and methods to improve system effectiveness and reduce startup time.
What if I can’t attend the live session?
Recordings of all past Grow Pro webinars are available on the AFE YouTube channel, so a recording of this session is expected to be posted there, consistent with AFE’s stated practice.
Why are bioreactors relevant to growers?
According to AFE, bioreactors are a practical, cost-effective tool for reducing agrochemicals in production water, which the organization says helps protect crops, budgets, and growers’ bottom lines amid rising water security concerns.
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