In a perfect world, we’d all have cash on hand to pay for everything we need. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world, and borrowing funds for large purchases – everything from land to equipment – is a common practice. The good news is you can refinance your loans (when it makes sense to do ...

Bitter pit isn’t only a problem of Honeycrisp. While Honeycrisp may be a newer cultivar, bitter pit is nothing new. Although Honeycrisp has become notorious for it’s susceptibility to developing this physiological cell breakdown, many other cultivars also have a tendency to develop the disorder. Bit...

Downy and powdery mildew, along with phytophthora and other blights, may be the nightmares of many a pumpkin grower. These fungal diseases certainly make those pumpkin vines look downright scary. They can also significantly reduce yields or cause problems if infected fruit is harvested and put into ...

After meeting the immediate needs of the past few months, you may be wondering how to proceed from this point. How have your marketing strategies changed and how will you meet those expectations? Questions arise – What do consumers need now and in the future? How will they purchase goods and service...

Autumn can be the busiest visitor season for many farms which highlight pumpkin patches, corn mazes, apple picking and other family-friendly adventures.But this time of year isn’t the only time agritourism is in full swing. How have farmers and business owners been handling it in the year of COVID-1...

It’s challenging to move a farm operation to new, vacant land. Bare ground is a blank slate, but jumpstarting a produce farm requires testing and amending soil, laying out irrigation, determining where to plant each crop and, in some cases, reconfiguring a marketing plan. Emma Jagoz knew there would...

As Maine continues its multi-phase reopening plan for businesses, farmers like Mike and Christa Bahner have been adapting to new regulations and getting creative in how they do business while continuing to grow. Mike said at the start of the season, everyone was concerned what the summer would look ...

WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS – The Hilltown Mobile Market was developed with key input from the Hilltown Food Council, an advisory group that meets monthly, made up of community partners and stakeholders. The market is staffed by Fletcher Schneeflock, a Cummington, MA, resident, with help from volunteer in...

In the Battle of Mobile Bay during the American Civil War, Admiral David Farragut uttered the phrase “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” That same all-or-nothing mentality inspired Stanton Gill, Extension specialist in IPM and entomology at the University of Maryland, to title his virtual presen...

BELMONT, NH – Joe and Cindy Rolfe took a chance when they decided to take up a relatively new way of growing apples in order to make the 72-acre farm they bought pay its own way – and maybe then some. Joe, the sixth of seven kids, moved to the farm with his family in 1963 when he was only a six-mont...

There’s plenty of confusion surrounding employers’ obligations in relation to government programs and laws surrounding COVID-19. Schaun Henry, partner in McNees, Wallace and Nurick LLC, and Brooke Duer, staff attorney at the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, recently discussed these ...

Farmers constantly have to be on the lookout for the next worst thing so they can still work toward raising successful crops. Cindy McKenzie, Ph.D., a research entomologist with the USDA-ARS, recently led an online session to talk about a growing threat throughout the U.S. – silverleaf whitefly. As ...

Female farmers face unique production challenges – one of which is that tools aren’t designed for their bodies. During a recent webinar, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Field Specialists Elaina Enzien and Kelly Mcadam offered tips to help women protect their most important tools – ...

Haunted hayrides and after-dark corn mazes can be big draws to farms late in the season, but in a year when sales and visits to public attractions have been anything but normal, how can agritourism sites prepare – or even open? The Haunted Attraction National Tradeshow and Conference (HAuNTcon) host...

Online horticulture sales were already increasing at the beginning of 2020, as today, consumers can have basically anything they purchase online shipped directly to their doors. The new nursery model means customers are shopping using photos rather than in-store experiences – and that model grew exp...