“We already have a lot of capabilities in managing our plants in a precise way,” Manoj Karkee, associate professor of biological systems engineering at Washington State University, said in a recent virtual presentation. The goal is to “manage our orchards and vineyards at the individual plant level....

Growing fruits and vegetables requires knowing how to plant, provide pest control, irrigating when needed and harvesting at the proper time. But along with the effort it takes to do all this, knowing how to handle the produce after harvest will assure that the grower will sell sound produce that wil...

At this time of various COVID-19 restrictions, you may not be able to serve your customers as you normally would, but communicating with them remains a vital outreach for your business. Think of communications as a three-step process in which you develop and implement the method, message and measura...

We need plants for food. Our livestock need them too. But we tend to focus only on what we can see when we’re growing them. Roots are critically important, and as summer continues to heat up, growers need to consider root health when caring for whole plants, whether they’re in the field or in the gr...

Many fruit farm owners inherit a family farm as their entry into the business after working on the farm for years and perhaps attending an ag school. Others purchase a farm they’ve worked on for many years. Robert Abendroth had never even seen his fruit farm before he bought it. It was just another ...

Dr. Jill Calabro, research and science programs director for AmericanHort, recently moderated a discussion on Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2(R3bv2). “The last find of this bacterial pathogen in the U.S. was 16 years ago in 2004, and it was eradicated then,” said Calabro. “R3bv2 is considered...

A nice, clean head of lettuce appeals to just about everyone, and hydroponic growing is one of the best ways to produce that lettuce. A good hydroponic system uses a fraction of the space and carries less risk than the same crop grown outdoors. Plants grow suspended in a nutrient solution, develop q...

In a recent discussion about how to keep farm workers healthy during the COVID-19 outbreak, Dr. Rich Stup, agricultural workforce specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension, discussed some options for employers. COVID-19 has mainly spread in large, urban areas, “but there’s no doubt it’s on the f...

A group of experienced farm market experts gathered recently to share thoughts on how to best conduct farmers markets this season. Mary Choate, University of New Hampshire Extension, provides some basic tips. “In addition to being six feet from others,” she said, “limit the amount of time spent in c...

A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a sensor that could have large implications for the agricultural industry. As plants bloom and fruits ripen, they produce and discharge a colorless, sweet-smelling gas called ethylene. While the release of ethylene is...

When Tim Stanton of Stanton’s Fuera Farms & Market decided to quit the dairy business, he wasn’t ready to give up farming entirely. Instead, he raised hay and vegetables for a farm stand and turned to agritourism as a revenue generator for his new business model. A U-pick pumpkin patch was the first...

Community supported agriculture (CSA) programs have become another means for producers to bring income to the farm as well as lock in markets and a revenue stream. Garrett Ziegler, MSU Extension Community Food Systems Educator, recently spoke on the topic as part of the MSU Extension Beginning Farme...

Your smartphone is with you all the time, but you likely ignore one of its functions that could really benefit your farm: recording videos. That’s why MidAtlantic Women In Agriculture presented “Smart Phone Movies,” led by Michele Walfred, communications specialist with University of Delaware. “Ther...

Fred Hulme, with the Technical Services division of ICL Fertilizers, opened the Greenhouse Growers Day at Shady Maple Smorgasbord earlier this year by saying that he wanted to talk about fertilizer and nutrition in a broader context – “in terms of your growing systems … intertwined with your cultura...

“I like to think of it as ‘the smell of the flower will draw in the bee,’” said Matt LeRoux, describing the importance of creating an identity for your farm business. “We’re not going to survive, especially small farms, if we don’t have an identity. This identity will draw in your target customer.” ...