The Fruit Growers Associations of Rhode Island and Massachusetts held their first combined twilight meeting of the season on April 20, 2017 at Phantom Farms, Cumberland, RI. The focus of the evening was options for controlling weeds in apple orchards and other perennial fruit crops. Kerri Stenovitch...

Managing plant diseases challenges many organic producers, but with the right products and techniques, farmers can improve yield, according to presenters at the recent eOrganic.info webinar, “Using biofungicides, biostimulants and biofertilizers to boost crop productivity and help manage vegetable d...

Cullen Farrell and Kyle Ober are passionate about ingredients because the best ingredients make the best juice. Co-founders of rijuice in Lancaster, PA, Farrell and Ober are enjoying success with a product they developed with a healthy mix of a dream and passion in the basement of a local bar three ...

In 2008 the Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) was first spotted in California, Since then it has emerged as one of the most devastating pests of small and stone fruit in nearly every state and worldwide. The pest, of Asian origin, can multiply its population by 200 times within one to two weeks. “In 201...

You’ve probably told someone, or perhaps someone has said those words to you: “It’s so good — you could sell it.” But should and could are two different concepts. You might have a reputation for making the best peach jam or the hottest jalapeño spread in your state, but is it really something others...

Following on the heels of its first, fully-funded promotional campaign, the Christmas Tree Promotion Board shared a campaign summary video with hundreds of Christmas tree producers across the country. “The video is a highlights reel of sorts; sharing the fun, heartwarming and creative activations fr...

The concept of community-supported agriculture (CSA) isn’t new, but farmers who have chosen to market fresh farm products in this manner have had to change things up a bit to keep customers coming back. “With CSAs, we’re always trying to put a new slant on things,” said Stephen Komar, Rutgers Univer...

Kate Aitkenhead and Ryan Vazquez of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) spoke at the Invasive Insect Certification Program for Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forest Pests provided by UMass Extension in early February. Faced with having 90...

If you want to sell pumpkins in fall and poinsettias in December, have your customers already visited your farm or market and purchased asparagus and annuals in spring? Selling any farm commodity takes planning, especially for crops which have a short but strong window during which the majority of s...

Brassica crops are susceptible to Clubroot, a soil borne disease scientifically known as Plasmodiophora . The disease affects crops worldwide and can cause complete crop failure. Two Oregon State University experts, Alex Stone, a vegetable cropping system specialist, and Aaron Heinrich, faculty rese...

The brown marmorated stink bug finding a comfy home in vineyards Researchers from across disciplines and regions are cooperating to track and control the pesky brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys (Stal), which is finding a comfortable home in vineyards across the U.S. The annoying l...

One aspect of Millennials which has not been examined very heavily (perhaps because it only yet exists in limited forms) is the study of how Millennials act as managers within the workplace. Do you have someone under the age of 35 in a management position at your business? Are you considering hiring...

A crisis always seems to happen when you have lots of things to do and very little time to spare. Machinery breaks, employees get sick, transportation bogs down, weather takes a turn for the worst — all outline the very definition of crisis — “an intensely difficult period of time.” When you must dr...

The Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, MA was the site of the 2017 Harvest New England Ag Marketing Conference and Trade Show in March. The Keynote Speaker was Craig Ostbo from the marketing firm of Koopman Ostbo Marketing Communications in Portland, OR. During his presentation, Craig stressed the...

“Keep cold, young orchard. Good-bye and keep cold. Dread 50 above more than 50 below.” Those words by eminent poet Robert Frost are a fitting start to this article about what is happening in Maryland in this spring of 2017. In Maryland the television news stations have been filled with dire warnings...