by Sally Colby

Rick Doyle was busy hosting the summer meeting of the Pennsylvania Christmas Tree Growers Association at Family Tree Farm in Red Lion, the family farm he and his wife Karen operate, but he took some time as the meeting closed to talk about what he has learned over the course of 20 years growing Christmas trees. Rick started small but is now growing close to 50 acres of trees on the 115-acre farm. [Read more…]

by Sally Colby

Dr. Joe Sommer, professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State University, says that Midwest farmers who have been using unmanned aircraft over grain crops have gained valuable information from this technology. “They already know how to fly 15-foot fixed wing aircraft over thousand-acre fields,” he said. [Read more…]

The pawpaw is the largest edible tree fruit native to the United States. It is the only temperate member of a new- and old-world tropical plant family (Annonaceae, Custard Apple family) that includes cherimoya and sweetsop. There are nine species of Asimina. The common pawpaw, Asimina triloba, has the greatest potential for commercialization. It is widely adapted with a native range from Florida to Michigan and as far west as Nebraska. [Read more…]

by Cammie Barden

Cultivate’17 was held in Columbus, Ohio from July 15-18 offering an opportunity for horticulturists to expand, improve and explore further into their trade.

Yearly attendees were greeted with a newly renovated and expanded Greater Columbus Convention Center. This increase of space allowed for more exhibitors to display their products, services and plant material. [Read more…]

At some time or another, most businesses find themselves developing various types of promotions to stimulate sales. Promotions are rarely “one-off” occurrences rather they are a part of an overall company promotional strategy. [Read more…]

Millennials are often called “the transparency generation.” They like to look inside things and behind the scenes — that’s why 38 percent of them listen to podcasts, according to Edison Research. Transparency and education is very important to them. It’s also important to our industry, where we have discussed at length the importance of educating consumers about what goes into making the products they consume. [Read more…]

If your business is sliding too close to a mid-season slump, super-charge your marketing strategy by asking your customers three important questions. What you learn from the exercise is sure to give sales a kick and launch your business into a more successful second half. It is all about the information — analytics in online lingo — and what you can learn from your best customers and soon-to-be best customers. [Read more…]

by Noah Rosenzweig and Chris Long, Michigan State University, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences; Sandesh Dangi and Phill Wharton, University of Idaho

Late blight was found in a potato plant in St Joseph County on July 7, 2017. Initial genotyping confirmed isolates as US-23 by GPI isomerase testing, but has not been confirmed by the Michigan State University Potato and Sugar Beet Pathology Laboratory. [Read more…]

It is with great pleasure for us to introduce a new column, “Grower Guidelines” by Carl Cantaluppi. Carl has worked in Cooperative Extension for 36 years in the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest. He will bring timely topics about fruit and vegetable production based on his experience.

Asparagus facts and pointers

One of the crops I have worked with extensively is asparagus. Gone are the myths about asparagus and we now have extremely productive varieties which can be easily grown. [Read more…]