One great way to make a profit during your farm’s agritourism event is by prioritizing your food and beverage offerings. Mike Holtzman, the founder of the Holtzman Group: Hospitality Experts/Profitable Food Facilities Worldwide, is well-known in the food and beverage industry. He hosted a session at...

The Real Christmas Tree Board (RCTB), in conjunction with Michigan State University Extension, recently hosted a presentation addressing elongate hemlock scale (EHS). EHS, also known as the fiorinia scale, is a serious armored scale insect pest known to infest ornamental and forest trees such as Can...

Selling your farm’s produce online won’t succeed without planning. Farmer Katie Olthoff recently presented “Maximize Your Online Store” as a FACT webinar . She owns ChopLocal , an alternative meat supply chain in Iowa that helps farmers generate and keep more profits. ChopLocal helps producers come ...

Apple growers know that red coloration in many commercially important varieties is a requirement for sale. Lack of color development is often related to lack of maturity: the apples simply are not ready for harvest. But sometimes the apples are ripe and just haven’t developed the degree of red color...

Think of it as one step beyond cover crops. Many conventional growers have now implemented soil saving practices such as no-till or cover cropping. Cover crops provide habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators, conserve soil moisture, reduce weed growth, enhance carbon sequestration, prevent nu...

During my career I had the privilege to serve as vice president of the Extension Division of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). I penned a monthly column called “Frontlines” in which I discussed diverse topics of interest to those in Extension. In one column I talked about the “E...

We like to have a little fun at the Country Folks Grower offices when certain holidays roll around. Check out our silly April Fool’s Day stories. Grow your own legacy with GreenStar Cooperative Imaging planting the seeds of a legacy and watching it blossom over the years. With GreenStar Cooperative,...

Tougas Family Farm is a second-generation farm located in Northborough, MA. The 53-acre farm was originally purchased in 1981 by Maurice (“Mo”) and Phyllis Tougas, but it has been owned by their son, Andre Tougas, since 2018. In 1986, the farm was preserved under the Agricultural Preservation Restri...

For farms, orchards and those who own wooded acreage, winter is the time for a variety of tasks: logging, land preparation, excavation, brush clearing and pruning. Many tasks require the use of heavy machinery, which predisposes workers to short- and long-term health issues. Abigail Kahrs, program c...