Vegetable Growers News

Food Safety Debated; No-match Rule Gets Closer

Some pointed food safety comments have been printed on our Marketplace of Ideas page the last few months. I like that. It’s good to know our readers are paying attention and actively participating in the debates of the day. I’d like to see more opinions. They give me a better feel for the “on-the-ground” concerns of vegetable growers. (If you want to give me your opinion, e-mail me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or call 616-887-9008 ext. 102.) Let’s delve into some of these controversies, shall we? On page 44 of our November issue, Mike Adolph, food safety manager at K.W. Zellers & Son in Hartville, Ohio, wrote a Letter to the Editor objecting to a picture of a dog in a farm field (October 2008, page 16). “How can we promote food safety and continue to see the family pet in the…  » Read more

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Producers Pay More as Growing Gets More Expensive

Despite the skyrocketing cost of inputs and a national economy that seems to get gloomier and gloomier with each passing day, Tim Boals has never seen more opportunity in agriculture. Sure, the emerging credit crisis is worrisome, but as long as growers prepare properly, they should be able to get the money they need to maintain or expand their farms. As far as Boals, an area manager for Wilbur-Ellis Great Lakes, could tell, the credit crunch has yet to wreak havoc on the agricultural sector, which is still seen as an attractive investment for banks and other financiers. Boals, based in Sparta, Mich., works closely with finance agents to maximize growers’ return on investments. He encourages all growers to talk to their lenders as soon as possible and figure out a new line of credit for next year, because whatever they might have needed in…  » Read more

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Sarah Palin Corn Maze Gains Farmer National Attention

Google “Sarah Palin corn maze.” Seriously. Right now. Not at a computer? Sigh ... All right. Fine. I’ll do it for you. OK, typing it in. Well, well, well, what have we here? Guess Duke Wheeler was right. He really does have a corn maze designed to look like the Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate. The first Web site found in the Google search is http://www.whitehousecornmaze.com, the site for The Corn Maze at The Butterfly House in Whitehouse, Ohio. Duke owns the place with his wife, Martha Wheeler. If you look at the picture of the maze, you’ll see a rendering of Palin’s head and shoulders (complete with her famous glasses) with the words “Sarah America” written above. Continuing the Google search, you’ll find references to the Palin maze in all kinds of media outlets: The Dallas Morning News, FOX News, CNN.com, BuzzFeed, Kooky Liberals, etc. Duke,…  » Read more

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UK Asparagus Grower Extends His Season

Extending the season for fresh asparagus production in the United States would be of great benefit to the industry, from efficiencies of scale all the way to marketing. A United Kingdom grower has been experimenting with some innovative growing techniques that would allow him to harvest asparagus 37 weeks a year. Cobrey Farms in Herefordshire, England, west of London, started planting asparagus in 2003, with a goal of having 1,000 acres by 2010 – with 600 of the acres under low tunnels, according to owner John Chinn. The farm currently has 734 acres in the ground, with 35 acres grown organically. Cobrey Farms also has small plantings of white and purple asparagus. They quickly extended the harvest season to 17 weeks after the initial planting. They have steadily brought in new ways of extending the season and currently harvest the crop for the fresh market from late…  » Read more

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