The Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association is pleased to give its 2021 Annual Award and a Life Membership to Steven Bogash. The Annual Award recognizes those individuals who have demonstrated an outstanding level of service and dedication to the Association and/or the vegetable, potato or berry growers of Pennsylvania. Steve easily meets those qualifications.
Steve received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland. He worked for at time at the USDA Apiary. He also was the owner/operator of Greener Horizons, landscape company in Westminster, MD. After selling his business Steve started his cooperative extension career as a part-time horticulture instructor with the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Service in Carroll County. Steve later would become the lead educator for the USDA/University of Maryland grant project that focused on Income Opportunities for Private Landowners.
Moving to Pennsylvania, he started with Penn State Extension in Blair County before becoming the regional small fruit and vegetable Extension Educator for the south-central counties based in Franklin County and later in Cumberland County. Besides his extension activities of working directly with growers, he carried on numerous research projects on grower farms and at Penn State’s Southeast Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Landisville. He conducted numerous tomato variety trials and high tunnel production projects as well as working with the annual flower trials at the center. He also worked closely with the Master Gardner program as well as the Capital Hunger Garden and Victory Salsa Garden projects and as an internship mentor.
Along with fellow Extension Educator Thomas Ford, he organized and conducted several Biocontrol School programs for vegetable growers. Steve retired from Penn State Extension in June 2016. Since retiring, he joined Marrone Bio Innovations as their NE / Mid-Atlantic Product Development and Territory Business Manager. His territory runs from Raleigh, NC to Caribou, ME to the Western edge of OH. He now oversees several dozen university and private research company product trials as well as many on-farm demonstration trials using Marrone Bio Innovation products for pest management.
For over 20 years he has been heavily involved in planning various sessions and workshops at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention, making several presentations each year and serving as the Vegetable Program Chair and overseeing the annual attendee survey for many years. He has also been a frequent presenter at the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture annual conference as well as a member of their organizing committee.
Steve and his wife Roberta live in Harrisburg and are renovating a home near the Susquehanna river built in 1933. Steve is a long-time member of the PVGA Educational Committee as well as a regular volunteer at the Farm Show Food Booth and formerly at the Ag Progress Days Food Booth. He is currently also serving on the Association’s Succession Planning Committee.
With this Award, the Association is recognizing not only Steve’s willingness to step up and do the hard work to organize educational opportunities for growers and conduct practical production research trials, but also the esteem Pennsylvania growers have for Steve and his ability to communicate his knowledge to them.