Vegetable Growers News

Set yourself up for succession success

About a decade ago, Russell Costanza's son and daughter both decided they wanted to inherit the family farm. Their decision spurred Costanza to do something he'd been thinking about for years but hadn't gotten around to: Come up with a farm succession plan. Here's the family situation: Costanza, now 65, and his wife, Janice, own Russell Costanza Farms in Sodus, Mich. Their two children, Lisa and Todd, are both in their early 30s. Todd has two kids, with another on the way. Lisa's husband, Ron Hauch, has been working at Costanza Farms since he was a boy, and will be an equal partner in the farm inheritance, Costanza said. Costanza grew up on his father's Sodus-area vegetable farm. By the time he was in his 20s, he knew farming was a tough way to make a living, so he worked for an engineering firm for…  » Read more

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Central Kentucky farm market keeps diversifying

When Kevin Trunnell started growing sweet corn on the family farm near Utica, Ky., and selling it from a roadside stand after he got out of high school back in 1990, he hadn't really planned on it taking a much bigger role in his life. The Trunnell family had mostly grown livestock, tobacco and wheat on the farm, but now they grow more vegetables than tobacco. Currently, Trunnell grows 20 to 25 acres of sweet corn, 2 to 3 acres of mixed vegetables, 30 acres of pumpkins and squash and 1,600 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat. Kevin is the fourth generation of Trunnells to farm the land. He built a new market in 2007 that opened for the 2008 season. Behind the market, Kevin recently planted a wide variety of peaches and apples on high-density systems. He planted Gala, Granny Smith and Pink Lady…  » Read more

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Plan ahead before planting crops on marginal land

A fairly common situation involves a landowner wishing to establish crops on unprepared, marginal land. Owner goals vary widely, and often include producing food crops for local sales, home gardening or establishing wildlife food plots. Regardless of the proposed goal, the problems are often similar. The landowner's choice of field location may be limited to sites with very challenging problems, including problematic existing vegetation, undesirable soil pH (usually very acidic), poor soil fertility and drainage issues (often very sandy, drought-prone soils). People, especially newcomers to crop production, are often eager to get started and envision a smooth transition from what currently exists at their field site to what they desire as a final result. However, there are some important questions regarding site preparation that should be carefully considered before getting started. Are you open to the use of appropriate herbicides and synthetic fertilizers, or will…  » Read more

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Father, son carry on Massachusetts family heritage

When Mario Marini talks about farming, he talks about his heritage - and about the farm's future. "My parents worked hard to give me what I have, and I'm thankful to my son (Michael) because the farm will be allowed to continue," Marini said. The Marinis - along with three other families - purchased the original property in Ipswich, Mass., in 1928 when they moved to the United States from Italy. After the other families moved to other farm land, the Marinis became sole owners in 1978. Michael is the third generation to farm the land. Today, Mario and Michael farm 200 acres, 30 of which are on the home farm. The rest is leased land. They grow a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, and their top seller is sweet corn. "I'm trying to do too much," Marini said. "With 200 acres, you gotta…  » Read more

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Enza’s new bell pepper, Eazyleaf varieties hold promise for farmers

The biggest challenge processors and growers face when it comes to growing bell peppers and other row crops, like lettuce, is producing high-yielding plants with long shelf life and uniform size. One of the company's new bell peppers, which have not been officially named yet, is ideal for the open field and has four predominant lobes with dark green, 3.5- to 4-inch diameter fruits. Eduardo Villanueva-Mosqueda, senior breeder of peppers at Enza, said one of the main advantages of the new pepper variety is that it has resistance to bacteria leaf spot and tobacco mosaic virus. "We've also been able to do a lot to improve quality, color and yield with this variety," Mosqueda said. One of the main challenges in growing bell peppers, according to Freek Knol, Enza's national sales manager for the United States and Canada, is that in the beginning of the…  » Read more

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Pumpkin production up

Pumpkins belong to the cucurbitaceae family, which also includes cucumbers, squash, gourds, cantaloupes and watermelons. They grow best on soils with a pH of 5.8-6.6. Because they require a constant supply of moisture, soils with good filtration and water holding capacity are ideal. Pumpkins are a warm season annual crop and require 90-120 frost-free days to reach maturity. They are very sensitive to cold temperatures and even a slight frost can cause injury. In addition to soil, sun, water and seed, pumpkins need bees for complete pollination and fruit set. Pumpkins have both male and female flowers so bees are needed to transport the pollen from the male to the female flower. In fact, bees are so important that growers often rent one-two hives per acre to ensure optimal yields. Since pollination occurs at different times, multiple harvests are common. According to the Agriculture Marketing…  » Read more

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What is your soil’s cation exchange capacity?

What is your CEC? Don't take this as a personal question, but it is an important soil characteristic growers need to know and understand. CEC is short for cation exchange capacity - but what is that? What does CEC mean for you as a grower and how does soil with a low number differ from soil with a high number? Soil particles are negatively charged and attract positively charged molecules. These molecules can be nutrients, water, herbicides and other soil amendments. A soil particle's ability to react with these molecules is called the cation exchange capacity. If the CEC number is low, not many molecules are able to bind (react) to the particle surface. If the number is high, a larger number of molecules can bind to the particle's surface. Michigan soils have a wide range of CEC values with sand-based soils having numbers below…  » Read more

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Soil … it’s more than dirt

Soil is a living, breathing organism that, when properly managed, is a farm's best defense against an environmental disaster and a farm's best offense for financial stability. By understanding the makeup of soil, farmers can shield themselves against potential dangers and fortify their enterprises' financial success. Soil is comprised of abiotic (non-living) and biotic (living) components. These components work in tandem to ensure there is a strong soil structure. They also work together to form a place where plants, animals and microbes can live and grow. Abiotic soil elements are what most people think of when they think of soil. It is air, water, mineral matter and organic matter. The majority of this segment of soil is in mineral matter. Mineral matter is the sand, silt and clay that make up soil. The proportion of these in relation to the others is termed soil structure.…  » Read more

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Prison labor works for Colorado growers

With talk of farm-labor shortages across the country, can prisoners fill in the gap? Earlier this year, officials in Georgia and Alabama suggested using prison labor to replace missing migrant workers, but in Georgia at least, that hasn't happened. There was a pilot program last spring using workers who were on probation, but that was about it, said Charles Hall, executive director of the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association. Prison labor has worked in Colorado, however, especially for Joey Pisciotta, owner of Pisciotta Farms and Produce Marketing in Avondale. Pisciotta grows onions, watermelons, pumpkins and some commodity crops. Colorado toughened its immigration laws around 2005, and a lot of Pisciotta's migrant workers told him they wouldn't be coming back. That's when a state representative approached him about using prisoners as workers. Pisciotta was skeptical, but he needed workers and thought it was worth a…  » Read more

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Listeria hysteria

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 29 reported deaths from last fall's listeria outbreak. As of November, CDC reported 139 people with severe illnesses. Last September, CDC traced the listeria to tainted cantaloupes from Colorado's Jensen Farms. The outbreak led to national attention and a widespread drop in cantaloupe sales across the country, according to FDA, USDA and numerous news agencies. "I've had several customers ask me about cantaloupes every day," said Justin Weaver, the produce manager at Village Foods in Bryan, Texas. "People just aren't buying cantaloupes." Cantaloupes in court Several lawsuits have been filed as a result of the listeria outbreak. The lawsuits are aimed at anyone associated with the growing, distribution and sales of the tainted cantaloupes. Among the retailers dealing with the outbreak's fallout is Walmart. "As soon as we were made aware of the…  » Read more

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