Vegetable Growers News

1 month ago | vegetablegrowersnews.com | Doug Ohlemeier

Pressed by inflation, escalating input costs, labor availability and competition from other venues, it’s more difficult than ever for farm market operators to effectively price their products. The latest Fruit and Vegetable Growers News Farm Market Pricing Survey reveals farm market operators’ dominant concerns, factors influencing how farm marketers charge for fruits, vegetables, bakery products, cider and other food.

1 month ago | vegetablegrowersnews.com | Alexa Franco

Ask anyone in agriculture what keeps them up at night, and labor is going to come up early in the conversation. For years, Bellair Farm in Central Virginia lived that reality — trying to manage a diversified operation with a revolving door of seasonal workers, local hires and idealistic interns. Every season felt like starting over. Training from scratch. Losing key help halfway through harvest. Hoping the weather would cooperate, but also that the team would show up. It was exhausting.

Nov 30, 2024 | vegetablegrowersnews.com | Michael Brownbridge |Mark Freeman |Julie Graesch

Plant health in its simplest terms, integrated pest management (IPM), is a decision-making process that combines tools and strategies to identify and manage pests. Integrated plant health management (IPHM) takes things a step further, emphasizing a more holistic approach that includes plant nutrition and other methods that promote plant tolerance of abiotic (environmental) and biotic (pests and diseases) stresses as a first line of defense.

Nov 28, 2024 | vegetablegrowersnews.com | Doug Ohlemeier

With consumers going from seeded to seedless watermelons and desiring darker rinds and smaller size melons, breeders are upping their game and producing better varieties that aren’t seeded, too big or light- skinned and possess characteristics other than disease resistance.

Nov 22, 2024 | vegetablegrowersnews.com | Doug Ohlemeier

Marking its 50th year, Hartung Brothers has become a successful grower and shipper of pickling cucumbers through effective practices in disease and pest management, harvest equipment efficiencies and valuing its workers’ ideas. The family-run company grows cucumbers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Canada and recently expanded its operations into Yucatan, Mexico.