News
Posted on April 1, 2026
Irrigation got its moment in the sun at the most recent Cultivate, though not in the way you might expect. Forget the glossy tech booths and glitzy gadgetry – the real action was in a seminar room where Gerry Spinelli, production horticulture advisor for nurseries, floriculture and controlled enviro...
News
by Courtney Llewellyn 
Posted on April 1, 2026
Pots, trays, media and seeds are ready to go. And so are the pests and diseases ready to muck everything up. Emma Lookabaugh, a technical service rep for BASF, spoke about four basic things to focus on when getting the jump on nursery diseases at the most recent Cultivate event. While some may seem ...
News
by Enrico Villamaino 
Posted on April 1, 2026
Vegetable vitality begins beneath the surface. In organic systems the success story often starts with something small yet significant: the transplant. In a focused and forward-thinking presentation, Ajay Nair, Ph.D., and Smriti Chaudhary, research assistant, from Iowa State, explored how dry media r...
News
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin 
Posted on April 1, 2026
Organic certification is a third-party verification system, allowing the certifier and its inspectors to verify what is happening on an organic farm. “What does the inspector want to see? They want to see records that demonstrate that you’re meeting the organic standard,” said Nicole Dehne, the cert...
News
by Enrico Villamaino 
Posted on April 1, 2026
The 2025 Irrigation Show & Education Week brought together growers, consultants and tech tinkerers hungry for tools that can stretch every drop. In the middle of the bustle, Dr. Stacia L. Davis Conger, state irrigation specialist and associate professor of irrigation engineering at LSU’s AgCenter, d...
News
by Sally Colby 
Posted on April 1, 2026
In a presentation hosted by BalChem, Andrew Rose of the nonprofit organization Bioeconomy Information Sharing & Analysis Center (BIO-ISAC), discussed a critical and timely question: Could your operation survive a cyberattack? Rose refers to himself as an “accidental expert” in cybersecurity. He was ...
Farmers First
Time Flies
tecnavia 
Posted on April 1, 2026
Hello, farm family! Have you ever walked by a weedy bench and thought, “I’ll just pull a few weeds,” only to realize you then worked for over an hour? Me too. The positive side of that is that I got lots of weeds pulled rather than just a few. The drawback is I now have less time to do the other thi...
News
Courtney Llewellyn 
Posted on March 23, 2026
In time for National Ag Day on March 24, the nonprofit Rural Minds announces the launch of the new Farmer Mental Health Resilience Program in support of mental wellness for farmers and farm families. This critical new initiative aims to support the ag community by providing farmers and the individua...
Country Folks
by Deborah Jeanne Post 
September 9, 2026
Farming is listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as one of the most dangerous occupations in the U.S. Add to this the financial uncertainty of the ...
News
by Laura Rodley 
September 1, 2026
Rod Wert has been growing Christmas trees since 1986. He named his operation Blue Ridge Christmas Tree Farm as it was in the Blue Ridge Mountains in P...
News
by Sally Colby 
September 1, 2026
The Transition to Organic Partnership Program (TOPP), organized by USDA’s National Organic Program , has helped farmers navigate the transition proces...
News
by Enrico Villamaino 
September 1, 2026
A farm bonfire has a certain magic. Hayrides roll in from the fields, boots crunch across the ground and a crackling blaze gives families a warm place...