“Are the PFAS in pesticides contaminating our land and water? Unfortunately, there really isn’t enough research yet to give us a firm answer,” said Faith Cullens-Nobis, an Extension educator with Michigan State University. Despite the lack of a firm answer, Cullens-Nobis thinks farmers need more inf...

UNH Extension Fruit & Vegetable Production Field Specialist Heather Bryant started her half-hour class on pruning blueberry bushes by introducing the tools she uses. Long-handled bypass loppers provide the leverage needed to cut and remove no-longer vigorous blueberry canes, Bryant explained. Commer...

Nearly everyone looks forward to retirement, and many anticipate collecting Social Security. However, planning is essential. Paula Ledney, Penn State Extension program specialist, retirement planning and business management, explained, “Social Security is a federal program that provides retirement b...

Alby and Heather Brandon own and operate Brandon Family Farm in West Kingston, RI. It’s a certified organic diversified vegetable farm with about 15 acres in production. About 10 years ago, they added strawberries to their crop rotation. The strawberries are sold through farmers markets, a CSA progr...

The Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers hosted a webinar recently focusing on flower growers interested in expanding their business by selling to florists. Ellen Frost, the owner of Local Color Flowers in Baltimore, has been sourcing flowers from local farmers for over 20 years. Frost has ha...

While helping develop a farmers market in Skowhegan, Maine, in 2007, Amber Lambke discovered a perplexing problem: many producers’ value-added products lacked flour to create their baked goods to meet the market requirement of locally sourced ingredients. Bakers were “wild cards,” she recalled, beca...

Blueberries bring bright bursts of flavor, yet behind their sweet success sits a stubborn struggle with soil and supply. Shallow-rooted and sensitive, these plants push their roots less than a foot into the ground and favor sandy, swiftly draining soils. Growers can grapple with keeping moisture con...

Many growers irrigate crops, and those who don’t often wish they did. If a profitable crop is in the ground, it probably pays to initiate irrigation on the farm. “The goal of irrigation is to supply the water that rainfall doesn’t so that water isn’t the limiting factor for yield,” said Purdue Unive...

Strawberry season will soon be upon us (if it isn’t already). It’s a popular crop – number three among fruits produced in the U.S. and constant consumer craving. That demand and the fruit’s adaptability for controlled environment agriculture (CEA) systems makes strawberry an attractive fruit crop fo...

Indigenous botanist Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of the best-seller “ Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge & the Teaching of Plants ,” spoke collaboratively for two nonprofits – the Massachusetts Audubon Society and Wellesley College – in the Bay State. Her latest book, “T...

Imagine blackberry growing becoming more streamlined – literally. Pairwise, a company based in Durham, NC, uses proprietary plant gene editing technology to deliver breakthroughs that benefit farmers, consumers and the planet. At last year’s American Society for Horticultural Science meeting, they s...

A never-ending propagation challenge is weeds. In a presentation hosted by the Horticultural Research Institute (HRI), research associate professor Anthony Witcher, Ph.D., Otis L. Floyd Nursery Research Center at Tennessee State, discussed weed control in propagation. “We think propagation is a shor...

A recent study titled “Healthier Soils, Lower Emissions & Carbon Credits in ‘Carbon-Smart’ Apple Orchards” sets a sharp and stirring stage for research from Michigan State University scientists Kevin Postma, Akihiro Koyama and Julianna Wilson. Their work blends careful calculation with climate consc...

SPRING HOPE, NC – Johnny Barnes knew how to achieve big goals. In 1986, he returned home to the family farm established by his parents Carson and Maxine and helped turn it into an operation which markets sweet potatoes across the country and globally. He also helped build organizations which assist ...

If you grow strawberries, there’s a good chance you have used plastic mulch in the past (or are thinking about trying it in the future). However, the most commonly used mulch is anything but green for the horticulture industry. Polyethylene (PE) mulch suppresses weeds, optimizes the soil and canopy ...