http://stationerytrendsmagazine.com/index.php/article en dsigler@greatamericanpublish.com Copyright 2012 Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:24:30 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/how-many-veggies-can-a-woodchuck-chuck/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/how-many-veggies-can-a-woodchuck-chuck/#id:16914#date:15:24 Woodchucks, also known as groundhogs, are large members of the rodent family and voracious herbivores that can do a lot of damage to crops. Besides what they consume, their burrows can damage root systems. They mark their territory with scratching, chewing and urinating, said Stephen Vantassel, a wildlife control consultant with the University of Nebraska. In one study by the University of Connecticut, production of apples within 10 meters of a woodchuck den decreased by more than 30 percent, just from the woodchuck marking its territory. Removal Spring is the best time to remove damaging… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:24 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/virginia-farm-focuses-on-fall-entertainment/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/virginia-farm-focuses-on-fall-entertainment/#id:16913#date:15:18 Fall is prime time for Belvedere Plantation. The Fulks family, which runs the Fredericksburg, Va., farm and agritourism enterprise, spends all winter, spring and summer preparing for the busy season - when about 50,000 people visit the farm between late September and early November, said Donnie Fulks. He runs the business with his wife, Donna, and sons Ryan and Ian. The plantation, which sits on 645 acres today, goes back to the 1760s. During the American Revolution, Col. William Dangerfield, who owned Belvedere at the time, supplied George Washington's army with provisions from his farm.… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:18 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/making-traceability-work-is-target-of-industry-fda/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/making-traceability-work-is-target-of-industry-fda/#id:16912#date:15:13 It can be a long way from farm to table.And a lot of things can happen along the journey. With the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) calling for an effective protocol to track and trace foods in the entire supply chain, traceability is the word of the hour. Even as FDA has initiated pilots to examine the practices, processes and types of technology that might be available to help better trace foods in the event of a foodborne illness outbreak, the industry's Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI) is trying to stay the path to achieve supply… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:13 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/turn-marginal-land-into-haven-for-beneficial-insects/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/turn-marginal-land-into-haven-for-beneficial-insects/#id:16910#date:15:09 All growers probably have some land that doesn't quite meet their crop needs. Such marginal land can serve another great purpose, however, said Julianna Tuell, an entomologist with Michigan State University (MSU). Tuell told growers during a March meeting in Hart, Mich., that such land can be used for beneficial insects. Falling into two basic categories, Tuell said, beneficial insects are either natural enemies of pests or act as pollinators. Natural enemies can be predatory insects that eat other insects or collect them to feed their young, Tuell said. Some eat pest insects in both… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:09 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/pest-management-options-for-sweet-corn-growers/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/pest-management-options-for-sweet-corn-growers/#id:16909#date:15:06 Management of lepidopteran insect pests of sweet corn in New York state is changing. Tools not practical or in existence a few years ago are now widely available, including new insecticide chemistries and cutting-edge Bt biotechnology. In addition, many of the assumptions growers have relied on in the past are changing. Insect migration patterns are changing and old methods such as pyrethroid treatments are becoming less effective. As a result, historical assumptions about insect management in sweet corn need to be reassessed and new management tools must be developed to keep pace with changes that… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:06 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/sm/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/sm/#id:16908#date:15:03 Jane Bush of Charlotte, Mich., is a small farmer with a diverse mix of products for a broad range of local customers. The latest venture for her Apple Schram Organic Orchard is sales of early tomatoes and extended-season greens to hospitals in Jackson, Ann Arbor and Lansing, Mich., as part of the new Four Seasons Cooperative. Like many smaller, diversified farmers, Bush has had to patch together processing, distribution, marketing and even record-keeping solutions. Most of the more sophisticated services out there, which might handle the complexity of multi-product and multi-market farmers, are designed for… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:03 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/ret/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/ret/#id:16907#date:15:01 The unemployment ratio of returning veterans is higher than the national average, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor. Currently it stands around 12 percent. Enter AgWarriors. Based in Tulare, Calif., the organization is committed to identifying, training and placing veterans with an interest in and aptitude for agriculture in jobs, said Stacey Beachy, AgWarriors co-founder. "We believe the agriculture industry community is well suited to provide jobs to many returning soldiers," Beachy said. "Many of our friends in agriculture have expressed a need for bright, motivated and hard-working individuals to join their teams. AgWarriors… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:01 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/h1/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/h1/#id:16906#date:14:59 As the winner of a 25-by-100-foot Haygrove Gothic tunnel in the 2012 Great American Giveaway, Kermit Cutter of Newfield, N.Y., said he plans to use it to get more into farming. For the past four decades, Cutter has been a building contractor. He's also been raising beef cattle for 25 years, and growing vegetables for the last 10. He has slowly added crops over the years, and plans on farming as his retirement from building, he said. Cutter's wife, Alison Wiley, has been growing cut flowers for more than 25 years as Littleflowers Farms. She… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:59 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/h/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/h/#id:16905#date:14:55 Haygrove Tunnels and Vegetable Growers News will be playing hosts to the Great American Haygrove High Tunnel Tour in Britain Sept. 2-7. The tour will showcase some of Britain's finest high-tunnel operations, ranging from raspberries and strawberries to asparagus to sweet cherries. This isn't the first time Haygrove has hosted a tour of high tunnels in Britain. The most recent tour was held in October 2011 and featured several of the same crops under high tunnels. Following is an excerpt from the VGN blog covering the tour - which features examples of some of the… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:55 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/msu-closing-muck-soils-research-farm/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/msu-closing-muck-soils-research-farm/#id:16904#date:14:06 Like other land-grant institutions, Michigan State University (MSU) is experiencing a budget crunch. For that reason, officials are taking a hard look at the university's statewide network of 15 agricultural research stations, said Steve Pueppke, director of AgBioResearch, the MSU division that controls Extension as well as research centers. One of the stations, Muck Soils Research Farm in Laingsburg, is closing within the year, but not entirely due to tight budgets. A water issue there has made the station less than ideal for vegetable research, Pueppke said. The Muck Soils Research Farm is one of… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:06 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/early-warm-weather-worries-growers/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/early-warm-weather-worries-growers/#id:16903#date:13:36 States across the Midwest and East Coast were experiencing warmer-than-normal temperatures earlier this year. In March alone, average temperatures were 15˚ F to 20˚ F higher than normal, according to The Weather Channel. History in the making Tom Moore, coordinating meteorologist of Global Forecast Services at The Weather Channel, said you'd have to go back to 1910 to find a record of a March similar to 2012. In 1910, however, the warmth covered the entire country. This season's spell only seems to cover areas east of the Rocky Mountains, Moore said. "This weather is really… Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:36 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/maryland-farm-owned-by-same-family-since-1902/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/maryland-farm-owned-by-same-family-since-1902/#id:16530#date:14:39 There are several things Nathan Milburn credits for the continued success of Milburn Orchards, the family farm that has been in Elkton, Md., since 1902. Besides continued support from grower organizations, the strength and will of the Milburn family gets most of the credit. Esma Milburn established the orchard in 1902. His son, John W. Milburn, ran the farm until his sons, Evan and John, took over. Now, Evan and John are technically retired, but show up often to help the next generation. Nathan, Evan's son, is the crop and field crew manager these days,… Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:39 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/aster-yellows-can-distort-carrot-growth/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/aster-yellows-can-distort-carrot-growth/#id:16529#date:14:36 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false Aster leafhoppers are insect pests of carrots and many other crops grown in the upper Midwest. The majority of the economic loss is associated with these insects’ ability to transmit a bacterial pathogen called the Aster Yellows phytoplasma (AYp). Infections of AYp result in the disease condition described as Aster Yellows, which distorts plant growth and reduces both raw product quality and yield. Aster leafhoppers can overwinter on weeds or leftover crop residue in Michigan, but they can also migrate in large numbers on… Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:36 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/gl/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/gl/#id:16528#date:14:10 Your farm exists in a world economy that, according to David Kohl, professor emeritus of agriculture and applied economics at Virginia Tech, can be compared to Swiss cheese. He meant that some farms are having the best of economic times, while others are not doing well at all and falling out of the holes. What decides the fate of your farm depends on how well you pay attention to emerging trends within the world economy and how well you plan accordingly. The keynote speaker at the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention in Hershey, Pa.,… Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:10 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/experts-leaders-target-cantaloupe-safety/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/experts-leaders-target-cantaloupe-safety/#id:16527#date:13:47 One day. One hundred experts. One issue with exponentially greater implications. In a nutshell, those were the bones of the "Cantaloupe: Food Safety Priorities" meeting coordinated by the Center for Produce Safety (CPS) at the University of California, Davis in January. Scheduled in the wake of the 2011 listeria outbreak in cantaloupes, characterized as "the deadliest foodborne illness outbreak in over 25 years" by the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the gathering had a very specific purpose. "The industry needed to come together to talk about the events of last fall with cantaloupes,… Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:47 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/technology-helps-maintain-produce-cold-chain/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/technology-helps-maintain-produce-cold-chain/#id:16526#date:13:43 Transportation is one of the fastest-growing segments of the produce industry, fueled by a growing world population and scientific research that has seen an unprecedented increase in food production. Food safety and transparency have been key in the transformation of the cold chain, as new technologies enhance both. Satellite and wireless are two of the technologies pushing the industry forward. Purfresh is one of the companies that have taken advantage of satellites to monitor marine container atmospheres on freight ships. "Once (produce) is in transit, it's a lot of times the longest part of the… Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:43 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/t1/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/t1/#id:16525#date:13:40 Starker Wright shared a horror story with New York state growers in January. A scientist with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, Wright was a speaker at The 2012 Empire State Fruit & Vegetable Expo in Syracuse, N.Y. The villain of Wright’s horror story is the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), a voracious killer from a foreign land who will eat just about any crop and appears nearly impossible to kill. Wright works in the insect behavior and ecology program at ARS’ Appalachian Fruit Research Station in West Virginia. He said BMSB has done so much damage… Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:40 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/new-york-farm-still-recovering-from-hurricane-irene/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/new-york-farm-still-recovering-from-hurricane-irene/#id:16524#date:13:35 On Aug. 28, 2011, Hurricane Irene hit Schoharie Valley Farms. Richard Ball, the farm's owner, talked about the hurricane and its aftermath in January, during The 2012 Empire State Fruit & Vegetable Expo in Syracuse, N.Y. Ball's grows about 200 acres of vegetables and small fruit in New York state's Schoharie Valley, which is about 40 miles southwest of Albany, the state capital. As August was drawing to a close last year, Ball and millions of others were tracking Hurricane Irene as it moved up the East Coast. New York City was preparing for a… Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:35 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/state-office-can-help-michigan-farms-find-labor/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/state-office-can-help-michigan-farms-find-labor/#id:16523#date:13:31 Last year marked the first time Michigan farms had difficulty finding enough labor to harvest their crops, said Belen Ledezma, division director for Migrant, Immigrant and Seasonal Worker Services with the state of Michigan. With job openings in ag abundant, finding the right kind of skilled labor can be difficult. That is where Ledezma's office comes in, she said in a presentation given at the West Michigan Ag Labor meeting in Grand Rapids, Mich., in February. Ledezma's office runs the Agricultural Recruiting Service (ARS) out of Michigan Works!, the job fulfillment office of the Michigan… Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:31 GMT http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/accurate-i-9-forms-are-more-vital-than-ever/ http://vegetablegrowersnews.com/index.php/magazine/article/accurate-i-9-forms-are-more-vital-than-ever/#id:16522#date:13:27 When Blair Babcock, an agent with the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, spoke to attendees of the West Michigan Ag Labor meeting Feb. 15, he was running a little late. He was out that morning on an audit, and being I-9-compliant was fresh on his mind. "I have bad news," Babcock told his audience of growers. "With this being an election year and immigration reform in the news, there is added pressure on compliance coming down from the top." The pressure comes in the form of increased audits. Higher-profile candidates for audits… Mon, 19 Mar 2012 13:27 GMT