While the organic vegetable market can be lucrative, successfully growing a healthy crop using organic methods can feel impossible at times. Multiple issues can arise, caused by either biotic (insect pests and diseases) or abiotic (temperatures, light and moisture) stressors. Organic insecticides ca...

Carl Majewski, a University of New Hampshire Extension field specialist, has been working to increase awareness of IPM practices for both farmers and non-farming stakeholders. He’s noticed that throughout the years, farmers are continuously leasing land from non-farming landowners. Majewski pointed ...

CLIMAX, NC – This autumn, Faylene Whitaker was celebrated as the 2024 Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year. In 2025, Whitaker Farms & Garden Nursery will celebrate 50 years of operation. What began as 10 acres of tobacco has grown into a highly diversified operation on over 900 acres of o...

Lindsey Pashow is the owner of Adirondack View Lavender in Keeseville, NY. Some of the lavender crop she grows ends up in body care products. Some is harvested by U-pick customers. But a large percentage is utilized in regularly scheduled wreath workshops. Pashow is also an agriculture business deve...

For over two years now, the American Floral Endowment (AFE) has been hosting monthly webinars in their Grow Pro Webinar Series . AFE invited Dr. Rose Buitenhuis, the director of biological crop protection at the Vineland Research & Innovation Centre (VRIC), to discuss how to control thrips through I...

New varieties are always exciting to look at in catalogs and dream about in your beds – but how they actually perform is another story. Fortunately, trial gardens exist and do a lot of the heavy lifting for growers. Presenting “Right Plants, Right Place: Perennial Insights for the Northeastern U.S.”...

Apple trees are dying, growers are concerned and researchers are resolute in determining what’s causing the decline and death of previously healthy apple trees. Dr. Kari Peter, associate research professor of tree fruit pathology at Penn State, discussed the issue at an Apple Decline Summit at Penn ...

The New England Vegetable & Fruit Conference (NEVFC) is a biennial event that brings together growers and producers from across the New England states. This event began in 1979 and has been growing exponentially since. A new record was hit this year, as by the first day of the conference, attendance...

One of the most frightening experiences for anyone is learning that a friend or family member is considering ending their life. The impact of suicide in farming communities is unique. In rural communities with smaller populations, many people know “everyone” and there’s a familiarity among individua...

While Britney Spears may eventually come around on the topic in her song “Toxic,” most plants never say “I think I’m ready now” when it comes to toxic growing media. Phytotoxicity is something ag engineers and researchers are combatting as they work toward finding alternatives to peat, however. Disc...

Whether you grow vegetables or ornamentals in the greenhouse, Western flower thrips ( Frankliniella occidentalis ) are problematic. These pests cause visible damage to a wide range of crops. They also transmit viruses, vectoring diseases including significant ones which can plague greenhouse crops: ...

The Northeast Forest Farming Conference in Danby, VT, which took place earlier this year, introduced attendees to a wide variety of topics, including shiitake mushroom inoculation. Corinna Steinrueck, the forest manager at Warren Wilson College and the Forest Stewards Guild , hosted a session to tea...

Winfield Farms in Surry, VA, has a rich history of dedicated family who have carefully cultivated crops over the years. But as is the case with many farms, as family members aged, portions of the multi-property acreage were rented to neighboring farmers. About four years ago, sisters Nita and Neva M...

The spirit of Christmas swirls in the air like snow at Paul Bunyan’s Farm and Nursery in Chicopee, MA. They reopened on Sept. 7 so people could start tagging their trees in anticipation of the upcoming holiday season. That weekend, over 300 people came to the nursery to choose their trees. The farm ...

Farmers often reminisce about the days when they could easily fix their own car, truck or tractor. For many, it was an opportunity to share mechanical skills with the next generation. While advanced technology led to major improvements in farm equipment, it also placed equipment repair beyond the sc...