In a presentation for Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, financial advisor Henry Mondschein, Connect Financial Group LLC, provided farmers with information on estate planning. Mondschein’s admonition was “a will does not make a transition plan.” “Today, there are about two million family farms across the nat...

It can feel impossible for one person to make a difference when it comes to a large problem, but every voice  matters. Pasa Sustainable Ag recently hosted a webinar to help agricultural enthusiasts find their voice in ag policy. In this virtual training session, Noah Erwin, a policy specialist at Pa...

There’s a reason agronomists and Extension educators are constantly urging growers to have their soil tested. Sometimes it contains things they definitely do not want in their crops. Consider root crops especially. The part of the plant that’s in the soil is the part consumers will eat. If those roo...

Celosia is the workhorse of summer flower farmer fields. It’s prolific, responds well to pinching and fulfills both the spike and filler categories for bouquets. As a dependable field-grown crop, it leaves space in tunnels for higher value focal flowers. As it can be used as both a fresh and dried f...

There were multiple reasons Lissa Goldstein of Wild Work Farm , a diversified vegetable farm, needed a new wash/pack station. The outdated barn she was using was difficult to clean, the lighting insufficient, the ceilings too low and it was difficult to move produce efficiently in and out of the bui...

Snowmobile tourism brings significant income to northern states – but depends on the goodwill of landowners and snowmobile club members. The two entities must cooperate to maintain thousands of miles of trails. New York State alone has 10,500 miles of trails maintained by 250 clubs. Sharon Pathfinde...

BURNSVILLE, NC – “We were stocked and ready to go,” said Bill Jones, owner of Carolina Native Nursery in western North Carolina. “Not only for fall but also for spring.” Jones started Carolina Native Nursery over 20 years ago to provide wholesale and retail customers a source of perennial native pla...

On-farm outdoor recreation is different from typical agritourism activities such as U-picks, farm stands or demonstrations. “We’re talking about adding true outdoor recreation into your farm. This might be hiking, kayaking, biking, fishing, mountain biking or rock climbing. We’re thinking about the ...

Dr. Kari Peter, associate research professor, tree fruit pathology at Penn State, wants growers to be aware of a relatively new orchard problem. “Southern blight (SB) is a lethal, soil-borne disease,” said Peter. “It produces sclerotia, which are tiny round structures that resemble seeds. That’s a v...

Growing plants need water, and many growers use natural bodies of water to irrigate. Unfortunately, lakes and ponds tend to support other forms of life – life that can harm carefully cultivated crops. Talking about the proactive control of water molds (and other waterborne pathogens) at the most rec...

Dry bean diseases can be caused by fungi and bacteria, but Dr. Sarah Pethybridge had a reminder about plant diseases in general. “It’s not just the presence of our pathogen. We need three factors to occur all at the same time to get disease in our field,” said Pethybridge of Cornell AgriTech. She wa...

Many new and beginning farmers (as well as seasoned farmers) rely on USDA programs for technical guidance and funding. While it’s impossible to access most programs without assistance, trained technicians are eager to help farmers and rural landowners. Latoyia Elliott, USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA)...

Strawberries are a high demand/high value crop, so growing a healthy crop means successfully managing pests, especially mites. A recent and ongoing study from the Michigan State Department of Entomology, conducted by Lauren Goldstein, Joshua Striegle, Caz Schwennesen, Mia Bianchi and Rufus Isaacs, e...

In a paper titled “Nature’s GM sweet potato and the rock from space,” English investigative science writer Claire Robinson tackles the intentions of British biotech entrepreneur Jonathan Jones. Jones hoped to dismantle safety testing and assessment for genetically modified (GM) foods. He justified h...

Griffin Greenhouse Supplies recently hosted a virtual expo featuring a wide variety of educational sessions. George Grant, Griffin’s technical specialist manager, presented about the current hot topics in insect control, mite control and plant growth regulators. Grant emphasized that “starting clean...