News
Posted on February 1, 2026
An assortment of specialized tendons, ligaments and bones in the arms and hands allows humans to perform amazing work. Farmers’ daily tasks often lead to pain and weakness that can result in dangerous work conditions and accidents. Dr. Patricia Siegel, certified hand therapist and associate professo...
News
by Sally Colby 
Posted on February 1, 2026
There’s more to building a farm than obtaining acreage, lumber, fencing and equipment. Some of the first steps for new and beginning farmers include gathering information and obtaining a loan. “First is your state’s land grant Extension service,” said Chris Laughton, director of knowledge exchange, ...
News
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
Posted on February 1, 2026
Human resources may seem like a department or set of duties for a business far different from your farm; however, it’s important to perform these tasks legally and consistently, both to protect your farm and to train new people correctly. Jess Skellie works for a small group of dairy farms. She rece...
News
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin 
Posted on February 1, 2026
Planning on hosting a music festival on your commercial farm? Or a wedding? Or a different agritourism event? According to Lindsey Pashow, to reduce the chance of agritourism-related conflicts with municipalities and neighbors, there are several factors to consider. Pashow is an agriculture business...
News
Posted on January 31, 2026
The Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS) returned to the Baltimore Convention Center Jan. 7 - 9, welcoming over 10,800 horticulture professionals, including exhibitors, for three days of sourcing, relationship-building and order-writing across the green industry. The sold-out trade show floor fea...
News
by Sally Colby 
Posted on January 1, 2026
Growing greens year-round at Twin Springs Fruit Farm in Ortanna, PA, started accidentally. “This house was built to grow ‘Tulameen’ raspberries starting in February,” said Tom Childs, greenhouse manager since 2000. “They came in dormant in pots. But 1999 was a drought year, and the only growth that ...
News
Posted on January 1, 2026
Bob Rimol discussed high tunnel construction and other recommendations at the 2025 Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association ’s annual conference. Rimol is the owner and founder of Rimol Greenhouse Systems based in Hooksett, NH. Rimol manufactures and distributes greenhouses across the U.S. Framing Ma...
News
by Edith Tucker 
Posted on January 1, 2026
University of Vermont Extension Professor Vern Grubinger summarized the results of research to address the economics of high tunnel production that he and his research colleague, UVM Assistant Professor Becky Maden, initiated in 2024, at the 2025 High Tunnel Production Conference in West Lebanon, NH...
News
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin 
Posted on January 1, 2026
“More than 70% of cyber attacks are aimed at businesses with less than 100 employees. They’re not going for the big guys because the big guys can afford the big cybersecurity firms,” said IRS employee Sheba Gonzalez. At an event hosted by USDA, Gonzalez and her colleagues, all IRS specialists in tax...
News
by Sally Colby 
Posted on January 1, 2026
Look at a penny and zero in closely at Lincoln’s nose. That’s the size of the redbay ambrosia beetle (RAB), a tiny insect and key player in laurel wilt, an aggressive fungal disease of trees in the Lauraceae family transmitted by the RAB. Although important landscape and forest trees are in this fam...
News
by Enrico Villamaino 
Posted on January 1, 2026
At the American Society for Horticultural Science ’s sizzling summer summit in New Orleans, an unexpected underdog dazzled the data-driven crowd: the snow pea. Crisp and colorful, this cool-season crop took the spotlight in a seminar by Jacob Schwab, a graduate research assistant at the University o...
News
by Courtney Llewellyn 
Posted on January 1, 2026
Flower production in the Northeast is experiencing a revival as consumer demand for locally grown flowers rises alongside increased interest in sustainable agriculture. That’s according to work from Ankit Singh, Ph.D., UMaine assistant Extension professor and Maine Sustainable Agriculture & Ornament...
News
by Courtney Llewellyn 
Posted on January 1, 2026
First, federal news: On Dec. 18, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to amend marijuana’s longstanding classification as a Schedule I federally controlled substance without accepted medical value. The order seeks to finalize a 2023 recommendation by the Department of Health & Human Serv...
Farmers First, News
How much time do we have?
Posted on January 1, 2026
Happy New Year, farm family! As I type these words, I find myself straddling the space-time continuum in a way that I don’t often do. The change from one year to another has heightened my awareness of both the nature and passage of time. What is the nature of time? In my writing present, it is still...
News
by Edith Tucker 
Posted on November 30, 2025
Sue Greene, who moved to northern New Hampshire in the last decade after successfully working for years as a certified physical therapist in the Boston area, has forged her own path as an independent farmer at Slopeside Farm on Stebbins Hill Road in Lancaster. Mike, her data scientist husband who wo...
News
by Karl H. Kazaks 
March 2, 2026
When Rusty Mangrum recently built a new house, he wanted to plant shade trees in the yard – magnolia, serviceberry, 'Autumn Blaze' red maple. To find ...
News
by Enrico Villamaino 
March 2, 2026
Water is waning and landscapes are feeling the squeeze. Lawns and landscapes are increasingly left to languish under water use limits. In response to ...
News
by Sally Colby 
March 2, 2026
A recent shift toward more restrictive weed control measures along with new, mandatory pesticide application rules has been mandated by the EPA. Wesle...
News
by Enrico Villamaino 
March 2, 2026
At the Cultivate Conference in Columbus, one presentation invited landscape professionals to loosen their grip and embrace a little chaos – with purpo...