Technology
WSU research for specialty crops boosted by $1.7 million
More than $1.7 million was awarded to Washington State University for specialty crop research including berries, potatoes, grapes, tree fruit, onions, carrots and Christmas trees, the Washington State Department of Agriculture announced Oct. 15 WSU... more »
Crop mix keeps customers coming back for more
When the Erbs talk about the diversity of their crops, they're not exaggerating. They grow 74 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, 54 varieties of peaches and nectarines and more than 100 varieties of pumpkins, for example,... more »
Robotics drive crop, harvest mechanization
In recent years, there has been an increase in the agriculture industry's level of interest in the development and deployment of driverless tractors, aerial surveying of farmlands, data collection, field management and other technology-based systems.The... more »
Payment card change shifts fraud liability onto merchants
There's a change coming Oct. 1 that will affect merchants who accept credit card payments – including farm markets and agritourism operations.The deadline marks a shift by the U.S. payment-card industry to EMV (Europay, MasterCard... more »
Hot sauce puts jalapeno grower on the hot list
Craig Underwood can't explain exactly why Huy Fong Foods' Sriracha Hot Sauce has exploded in popularity in the last few years, but he can always speculate. For one thing, consumers have developed a taste for... more »
Mississippi grower awarded for on-farm activities
Mississippi vegetable grower Allen Eubanks was recently selected as his state's winner of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award. He was nominated by Patricia Knight of Mississippi State University's Coastal Research... more »
Ground truthing technology utilizes sensors to determine crop trends
Agriculture today has transformed into a high-tech enterprise that most 20th century farmers might barely recognize.Alex Thomasson, professor of biological and agricultural engineering at Texas A&M University, said it was only 100 years ago that... more »
Plastic mulch machine can cut labor costs in half
At a Florida berry farm, it costs about $200 per acre in man-hours to remove plastic mulch and drip tape at the end of the season. By using a machine that can simultaneously lift and... more »
