STEVENSBURG, VA — A few years ago, Joe van Wingerden and his wife Georgia found themselves facing a problem —as the owners of a 12-acre greenhouse, they were about to lose their business’ anchor — a tulip operation. As experienced horticultural entrepreneurs, the couple turned their predicament into...

On Dec. 1, 2015 the Connecticut Pomological Society held its annual meeting at the Gallery Restaurant in Glastonbury, CT. Ninety members, guests and support staff met for the annual update as to what is new in orchard management and listen to fellow orchardists share their thoughts on issues of comm...

Farm safety takes many different forms. Sometimes safety concerns arise due to the physical environment itself -slippery floors, or misplaced tools – at other times, the proper use and maintenance of equipment is the concern. Sometimes safety is about common sense. Don’t smoke around flammable mater...

MORRISVILLE, NY – Hop growers and enthusiasts could find everything under the sun at the 2015 Cornell Hops Conference & Northeast Hops Association’s annual meeting on Dec. 5 at Morrisville State College. Wherever you have hops, you will have abundant concerns about the weather, diseases and pests, s...

It’s been almost three years since the original proposed Rules for Produce Safety and the Preventative Controls for Human Food, both portions of the 2011 Food Safety and Modernization Act, designed to prevent food-borne illnesses, were unveiled. Since that time, stakeholder input has led to re-evalu...

Benjamin Franklin called New Jersey a barrel tapped at both ends: New York City and Philadelphia. For better or worse, this is still true. Many New Jersey farmers take advantage of this by growing specialty crops for the cities’ restaurants. In addition to the lucrative tourist market, the ethnic di...

As cold weather sets in, greenhouse growers are already preparing for the spring season. Efficiently managing greenhouse crops means knowing your market’s needs and meeting those needs in the most cost-effective manner. Producing quality crops while minimizing the cost of operation is crucial, yet f...

Nearly 14.3 percent of the total carrot crop acreage in the United States is grown in organic farming systems. “Carrots are a significant organic production vegetable component in U.S. agriculture,” said Micaela Colley, executive director and research education director for the Organic Seed Alliance...

Small farms can always use new ways to improve the bottom line. The sharing economy business concept, sometimes referred to as collaborative consumption, is the idea that lending or borrowing goods, trading, bartering for or sharing labor is a way to reduce expenses and strengthen community friendsh...

by Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor, University of Vermont With poinsettias being the most popular flowering holiday plant in much of the world, most may not stop to think just how they got to be so popular. Their history begins in Mexico, in the early 1800’s. Poinsettias actually were around ...

Like tree fruit orchards, large commercial nut orchards tend to grow a single crop species, in rows, with alleys between them. The traditional orchard practice of herbicide strips within rows, and bare ground or perhaps a sod alley — often disced or chemically killed during the growing season, remai...

Part one: Overview of the WPS and changes in training and record-keeping Dr. Mary Ann Rose, director of Pesticide Safety Education Program for Ohio State University extension, says that the Worker Protection Standard (WPS) was established to reduce the risk of pesticide related injuries to workers a...

“If I bought everything new,” Mock said, “I’d only be able to put up three houses, instead of 10.” Over the years Mock has sourced his used houses and equipment from sellers in a number of states, including North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, Iowa, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. “I compare it to an...

by Heather Bryant, Regional Field Specialist, Food and Agriculture Bright and early Thursday morning, Oct. 29, 126 people arrived in Whitefield for the annual North Country Fruit and Vegetable Seminar and Tradeshow. This was the sixth year we’ve run this program at the Mountain View Grand and as usu...

Growers who use greenhouses or tunnels strive to keep crops in them for as much of the year as possible. Whether a greenhouse is used for a continuous cropping cycle or to extend the season, sanitation is critical to minimizing disease and ensuring a healthy crop. Steve Bogash, Penn State University...