50th Anniversary
Organic growth drives evolution of fourth-generation farm
Arnott Duncan is a fourth-generation Arizona vegetable grower who left his family’s farm in 1985 and began growing a few hundred acres of conventionally grown row crops. “It seemed as though the general mix of... more »
Decades of development lead to mechanization of agriculture
Mechanized agriculture is the process of using agricultural machinery to mechanize work, greatly increasing productivity. In modern times, powered machinery has replaced many jobs formerly carried out by manual labor, or by working animals such... more »
Retiring manager mulls growth of Illinois industry
Diane Handley was raised on a corn, soybean and livestock farm, but never really had aspirations to a career in agriculture. That all changed after working a couple of jobs following college in unrelated fields,... more »
Pesticides now under more scrutiny
When “Silent Spring” was published in 1962, it triggered “fundamental changes” in the way pests were managed, said Jerry Baron, executive director of the IR-4 Project. Rachel Carson’s book was critical of the way pesticides... more »
Diversification preserves Karnemaat Farms
With 10 children, Kent Karnemaat has gone through a lot of baby food. He’s also grown no small amount of the produce that went into making it. Kent and his brother, Tom, are the fourth... more »
Ag engineer Dale Marshall played key role in developing harvest equipment
He’s worked on equipment that has fed farm animals, harvested vegetables, swept citrus off the ground and aided in poultry processing – and that’s only a partial list. Through all those projects during his career... more »
Technology, consolidation have transformed the vegetable industry
Greg Boese doesn’t know where the last 50 years went. “It’s just bang, somehow we got to this point,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t understand how it happened.” Boese, now 68, has spent... more »
History leaves trail of progress in controlled ag environments
For centuries a wide variety of techniques has been used to extend the growing season of horticultural crops. Glass jars, glass cloches, hotcaps, cold frames, hotbeds and greenhouses of various types have all contributed to season extension.... more »