Sarah Farley and I are looking forward to seeing many of you at our Stateline Fruit and Vegetable Growers Conference at NIU Rockford on Monday, February 17th. We have a number of University of Illinois Extension educators presenting for the first time at this event such as Nathan Johanning, Alexis Barnes, and Nick Frillman. They’ll be providing expertise on important topics for new and established growers like weed management in pumpkins, living mulches, and mushrooms. Additional sessions will cover compost, cider apples, organic production, and apple crop load management, As always, Drs. Athey and Babadoost will be sharing valuable information for this upcoming season. So, please make plans to join us this year!

It was great to see some of you at the GLExpo in Grand Rapids this December. Along with the Everything Local Conference the end of the month in Springfield, I hope to see some of you at the Growing Wisconsin Conference in Wisconsin Dells and Cider Con in Chicago. This is a very busy month ahead with great specialty growers conferences including our own. 

For the most part, Northern Illinois has escaped the main pattern of heavy snow fall this month that other areas of the state have seen. Each week, we are getting some snow, sometimes less than an inch, but temperatures are remaining fairly frigid. The week of January 20th will see us encounter air temperatures on Monday and Tuesday below -20 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Pruning Classes

I am again offering pruning classes for new and beginning commercial-noncommercial growers this February in northern Illinois with February 11 in Rockford and February  25 in Elizabeth and Freeport. These dates (especially February 25) would be too late for most growers in central and southern Illinois as pruning should be wrapped up by then. Most established northern growers would be wrapped up by mid-February too. As you start your pruning process, feel free to reach out with questions and photos you may have. One of my approaches to pruning is using color-coding systems to think about the branches to keep and those to remove. Further, pruning on sunny days can help you see where the shade exists and the sunlight that needs to come in to support fruit development. 

The above photo of a cross-section of 'Contender' peach in northern Illinois was taken in spring 2024, showing signs of winter damage (photo credit G. McCarty, Illinois Extension 2025). The tree was delayed in leaving dormancy, finally leafing out in May. It did not produce peaches last year. Though commercial production of peaches are both uncommon and not really recommended in northern Illinois due to winter challenges, some growers are devoting a row or two to try them out. Still with severe air temperatures this week (1/21/2025) near -25 to -30 degrees Fahrenheit for multiple days in some spots, it is expected that peach buds this far north will be killed for the 2nd year in a row. I'll be examining buds later this week. 

Additional thoughts

While spring will be here shortly, this is a good time to return to some of those questions-issues you were facing last summer and fall and find solutions for them. In the last week, I’ve spoken to growers about challenges with rootstocks, biologicals, summer pruning, cider regulations, grant opportunities, pumpkin varieties-marketing, and stone fruit cultivars. So, reach out to your Extension educators/specialists, both near and far, to get some of your questions answered before this season is truly in full swing.