CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Jan. 23, 2025 —Illinois agricultural and forestry producers who want to address or improve natural resources are encouraged to sign up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program or EQIP. Tammy Willis, Illinois Natural Resources Conservation Service State Conservationist,...
The last month or so has provided some time to catch our breath and think about the upcoming growing season. Most of the seeds and supplies have been ordered but investigating new products and items is still underway. The winter meetings are a great time to meet with vendors and industry...
The winter season gives us time to relax a bit and to plan for the next growing season. University of Illinois Extension would like to work with you in meeting some of your food safety learning and implementation goals. You may have already taken a food safety training related to fresh produce and...
Fresh produce packing facilities come in different sizes and designs. Some maybe fully closed and others partially closed with a few legs and a roof. Some may be permanent structures and others temporary. Farms may also use their limited space to accomplish multiple activities which may include...
Did you know that the USDA has a crop insurance policy tailored for the small organic or specialty crop farmer? It is called the Micro Farm policy for farms with no more than $350,000 of approved revenue. These are an “insured revenue” type of policy and is available in all 50 states. There...
For Northern Illinois orchards, the 2024 season has concluded. Between Halloween and Thanksgiving, some of the orchards have limited hours with pre-picked apples as they begin to shut down for the season. One of the final cultivars in October is 'Evercrisp' a 'Honeycrisp x Fuji' MAIA apple...
As strawberry plasticulture growers are closing in on the end of the fall growing season for the annual production system, the impact of the relatively new strawberry fungal disease, Neopestalotiopsis, is starting to be seen. Even with diligent spray programs, plant death and decline has still been...
As winter is upon us, there are things that growers can do to deal with winter pests. Of course, this is particularly important in winter production and here in Illinois, this is primarily done in high tunnels and greenhouses. In high tunnels, no pest is worse in winter production than aphids (...
After a warm dry spell of weather in October, we are more wet and have more typical temperatures. We made up for lost time in precipitation having 8.03 inches of rain for the month of November (as of 11/26). Most of this came on 11/4 and 11/5 when we got 6.37 inches of rain. This...
