It is starting to feel like spring.  Our area has actually been very dry for March until this past weekend when we got 1.23” of rain Saturday morning.  Prior to that the soil was exceptionally dry, having missed multiple other storm systems. Other than 0.35” of rainfall on March 5,...

Apple and peach growers, it is that time of year again to order your pheromone traps for insect pest monitoring. These traps should be used through harvest to monitor for pests. Traps are useful for monitoring many insects of fruit crops, and the most important pests for Illinois growers are listed...

Sprayers are up and running for the 2025 season.  Plasticulture strawberries are uncovered, and the first round of fungicide has been applied, as well as the first dose of fertilizer.  So far, no signs of ...

Vegetable transplants are growing well in the greenhouse and should be ready for planting within our high tunnels in the next 2 to 3 weeks. Peaches are in bloom and the summer apple variety in my front yard was at tight cluster. In partnership with our local high school FFA clubs, we hosted another...

Don’t expect it for the 2025 season in Illinois but look for a new apple and pear thinner from ADAMA under the trade name Brevis SG possibly in 2026.  The company’s U.S.  launch will start with Washington state this year, then expand in 2026.  The active ingredient, metamitron works...

Norovirus is the number one cause of foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States. The number of Norovirus cases reported to the...

This past week, after much preparation and study, I bench-grafted 24 semi-dwarf apple trees with a grafting-knowledgeable friend on Thursday the 13th in Bloomington. Grafting method used was the whip-and-tongue graft. With daytime temperatures topping out at 68F, and a light breeze, we couldn’t...

We are certainly wetter now than we probably have been in a few years at this time of year.  After starting 2024 in a drought we have rebounded on moisture.  I have tracked rainfall for CoCoRaHS personally and also tracked rainfall at the...

Trent Ford, Illinois State Climatologist, provided this weather update. Since the calendar turned over to 2025, we have been experiencing winter weather that, especially in southern Illinois, conjures memories of winters of yore. Average temperatures over the last 30 days ranged from the high teens...

The Unity Community Center’s Food Production and Demonstration Garden I manage every year has had to move. We are in the process of relocating the Food Production and Demonstration Garden to an area behind Unity Community Center that Extension owns – formally the site of a children’s garden. The...