For growers battling stubborn weeds across the Northeast, a new spark of interest is running through the rows. In a presentation titled “Sparks in the Row: What Electrical Weed Control Does to Weeds,” researchers Luísa C. Baccin and Marcelo L. Moretti of Oregon State University joined Joshua W. A. M...

Livestock manure is a plentiful, renewable resource. Nearly 1.4 billion tons of it is created each year in the U.S. alone. Much of it is utilized as fertilizer on commodity crops, but what about using it on vegetables that often go straight from the fields and into hungry mouths? A team from Morehea...

“The famous quote about food hubs is when you’ve seen one food hub, you’ve seen one food hub. They’re like snowflakes,” said Katelyn Porter of the New England Food Hub & Processors Network at a meeting hosted by Healthy Communities of the Capital Area in Hallowell, Maine. According to USDA, a food h...

“’There’s money in the account’ is not an effective business strategy,” Penn State Extension’s Carla Snyder joked during a recent “Lunch & Learn.” As a farm business owner, it’s important to know the status of every cent of cold, hard cash, not just your assets or investments. Effective planning can...

Play is important for children of all ages, and children’s play areas can become an integral part of your agritourism operation – but these spaces must be created with safety in mind. A session at the most recent Great Lakes Expo led by Nate Bosch, landscape architect with Outdoor Discovery Center o...

At the most recent Cultivate Conference , growers packed together to soak up smart strategies on a deceptively simple subject: watering. In a session titled “Optimize Moisture Management to Grow Your Best Crops Ever,” Nick Flax, technical services specialist at Ball Seed Company, made one thing clea...

According to some, elderberries have a taste similar to blackberries and black currants but have a more “earthy” flavor. Their unique flavor is enjoyed by many these days in culinary treats and elderberry medicine extracts. The market for elderberry is still being studied and expanded. So a team of ...

“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...