Vegetable Growers News

[Top Banner] Outstanding Seed Company - May, Expires 5/31

August 2011

Featured Article

Ag employers feel the pinch from E-Verify, state reforms

If you weren't familiar with E-Verify before, you're probably familiar with it now. E-Verify is an Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's I-9 form to data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) to confirm employment eligibility, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a division of DHS. Some employers are already required by state or federal law to use E-Verify. For example, most employers in Arizona, Georgia and Mississippi have to use E-Verify because of recently passed laws. E-Verify also is mandatory for employers with federal contracts or subcontracts that contain the Federal Acquisition Regulation E-Verify clause, according to USCIS. A bill currently in the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to make it mandatory for all U.S. employers to use E-Verify. The Legal Workforce Act, introduced June 14, would give agricultural employers more time to implement the system than other employers. "We recognize that the agriculture industry is a special situation and we need to treat them differently," said Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas and the bill's sponsor. "We do not require them to check current employees that return to work. That allows them to build… » Read more

All Articles

Irrigation experiments continue at MSU asparagus field

At an experimental asparagus field in western Michigan, researchers and students are trying to find the best way to irrigate the perennial crop. The research being done on the 2.5-acre field in asparagus-rich Oceana County is a collaboration between the state's asparagus industry and Michigan State University (MSU) personnel, who planted crowns there last year. The researchers are studying more than just irrigation. Ben Byl, an MSU graduate student, was at the field in late May, installing PVC irrigation tubes with a group of students. Byl, 29, is in the process of finishing school and taking over his family's asparagus farm in Oceana County. As a grower, he's interested in observing the results of the irrigation project, which is led by MSU Professor Dan Brainard. The researchers have separated the field into three sections: one with no irrigation, one with sprinklers and a third with… » Read more

Ontario anaerobic digester closes energy loop

For a pair of Canadian entrepreneurs in Leamington, Canada, renewable energy is living up to the hype. Dennis Dick and Roger Tiessen launched Seacliff Energy in January. Central to their 1.6-megawatt plant is the anaerobic digestion of processing vegetable wastes. "This is something that satisfies my conservation gene," Dick said. "We're not the only green energy technology around, but we figure we're the best. We're better than carbon neutral; we're a carbon sink." Organic materials are trucked in from the nearby Bonduelle Canada plant in Windsor. They're used as the feedstock for methane production. The methane powers an enormous Toromont Cat engine to produce enough electricity for 1,600 homes. Heat captured from the engine comes close to meeting the requirements of a greenhouse Dick leases to an organic tomato grower. "For every kilowatt of electricity produced here, almost an equal amount of thermal power is… » Read more

Lifting of Michigan deer-baiting ban reopens market for growers

When Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder took office this year, he split the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Department of Environmental Quality back into two separate offices, with new leadership. This laid the groundwork for the overturning of one of the most controversial decisions to come from DNR in recent years: The ban on baiting whitetail deer. The baiting ban was enacted in 2008 after a single, captive deer in a private herd near Grand Rapids, Mich., was found to have chronic wasting disease. CWD is a terminal disease that is contracted in deer from nose-to-nose contact. The immediate reaction from the DNR director at the time was to eliminate baiting as a source for contact. The ban went into effect roughly one month before archery season was set to begin. It also coincided with the harvest season for carrots, apples and other produce.… » Read more

Maryland market feeling good about the future

Emily's Produce is a family owned and operated produce market in Dorchester County, Md. Paul and Kelly Jackson started the business in 1999, under a roadside tent. The business kept expanding over the years. The Jacksons named the market after their daughter, Emily, whom they wanted to bring into farming so she would appreciate the work that is put into growing and raising crops. Paul Jackson is a fifth-generation grain farmer who is always looking to expand their products and business. He is committed to adding something new to his market every year. One of the market's biggest draws is strawberries, but Kelly said sweet corn brought them to where they are now. "Emily's Produce has grown into a family friendly business whose goal is to provide the best customer service and produce the best quality products," Kelly said. "We have a great team committed… » Read more