College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences Illinois Extension

Blog Archive

stalks of brussels sprouts laying out on display at a market

From St. Louis Metro East: Adding pizzazz to your produce display

December 9, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Whoever thought up harvesting the entire stalk of Brussels sprouts may be on to something. Not only does it show consumers how brussels sprouts grow on the stem, it adds an interesting stacking texture to a display that draws interest.Locally, the St Louis Metro East has experienced a hard...

Finish this story

close up of young cover crop seedlings growing in a field

From Southwestern Illinois (Waterloo): December actually feels like December

December 9, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Our outdoor growing season has come to an end with a few subfreezing mornings, with the coldest I have seen so far being December 5, registering 16 degrees Fahrenheit. We got our first measurable snowfall on November 29, with about 3 inches of snow followed by 0.45 inches of very cold rain....

Finish this story

green seedlings next to black plastic irrigation tape growing in soil

From Dixon Springs Ag Center: Late seeded cover crops catching up in high tunnel

December 9, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Two of the three high tunnels are completely cleaned out and have been winterized. The other tunnel has been seeded and is overwintering cover crops for the fourth winter in a row. Due to late-season tomato and pepper harvests, cover crops were seeded during the first week of November, about a...

Finish this story

gray plastic container stacked on top of each other filled with red ripe tomatoes

Review of yields and gross sales for high tunnel tomato and pepper crops in 2025

December 9, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Yield data is collected every year from crops grown within the high tunnels at the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center in southern Illinois. Plots are assigned within each of the tunnels based on the type of research that is being conducted, and replicated data collection allows for statistical...

Finish this story

A group of pumpkins in a row

From Northern Illinois (Rockford): Pumpkins and apples October update

November 4, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

This October has brought excellent apple harvests across many Northern Illinois orchards, with a mix of traditional, PRI, and MAIA varieties showing strong performance. I visited several orchards this past month and saw healthy crops and steady visitor turnout. Post-harvest fruit quality has varied...

Finish this story

A head of broccoli on a plant

From Northeastern Illinois (St. Charles): Frost is near! Tips on how to extend the season

November 4, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Its officially Halloween season, but that also means that frost is near for Northern Illinois. Some parts of the area have been affected by spotty frost, like Kendall County and parts of Western Kane County, which takes most crops out of production. For the operations impacted by frost, there may...

Finish this story

A pile of red apples

From St. Louis Metro East: If only you could schedule rain events

November 4, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

The St Louis Metro East region has been so dry the last several months that it was rather bittersweet for the St Louis Metro East to receive a 3” rain event on one of the biggest fall agritourism weekends. On the one hand, the entire landscape was in desperate need of rain, but on the other...

Finish this story

close up of pearl millet seedhead in a fall planted cover crop field

From Southwestern Illinois (Waterloo): Irrigation makes big difference in fall crop performance

November 4, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

October started as a continuation of the above normal temperatures and dry conditions. Temperatures have started to get closer to average in the last half of the month and finally we broke our dry spell. We had 2.71 inches of rain as of October 19 which was the first rainfall in almost a...

Finish this story

Empty rows in a high tunnel after tomato plants, stakes, and strings have been removed. Random fruit is scattered among the rows.

From Dixon Springs Ag Center: Finally transitioning from summer crops to cover crops in high tunnels

November 4, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

The continued warm temperatures through October made for ideal growing conditions for the tomatoes and peppers within the high tunnels at DSAC. While not the large yields like in mid-July harvests, tomatoes harvested in October had excellent flavor, size, no white core issues, and were probably the...

Finish this story

bin of orange pumpkins with nice handles or stems in a field right after harvest

Reflecting on the 2025 pumpkin season

November 4, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

The 2025 pumpkin season is now mostly in the books for most growers, so I wanted to look back at some of the observations and challenges of the season.The early wet weather in May and then drought would probably be the biggest challenges. Where the drought and heat were most intense, we did...

Finish this story

graph with a red line above a blue line representing daily high and low temperatures in bloomington from aug 22 to sept 13 2025

From Central Illinois (Bloomington): Unity Community Center demonstration site update

October 6, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Weather and precipitation summary for Bloomington-NormalHere in central Illinois over the last 30 days, the hottest temperature observed was 91°F on September 13th, while the coolest temperature observed was 43°F on August 26th.Many mornings and...

Finish this story

words antibiotic resistance and a warning symbol on a clipboard

Invitation to participate in a food safety research project on antibiotic resistance

October 1, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Antibiotic resistance continues to be a problem, that needs to be solved. Antibiotic resistance is when it becomes more difficult to kill bacteria using antibiotics. When foodborne pathogens become antibiotic resistant, the people who contract a foodborne illness may not respond well to treatment....

Finish this story

lots of red apples hanging on limbs of tree

From Northern Illinois (Rockford): Apple and pumpkin update

October 1, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

As of this week, 9/22, we are about halfway into the apple season in Northern Illinois. I’ve had the opportunity to visit six orchards in the area this month and the crop looks good overall. Some orchards are running about a week ahead compared to last season. The end of September will bring...

Finish this story

display of orange, blue, and tan pumpkins on top of upside down milk crates

From St. Louis Metro East: Fall agritourism season has opened

October 1, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Despite droughty conditions much of the growing season, the pumpkin crop looks plentiful. Apple harvest is in the ‘Golden Delicious’ window, including ‘Pixie Crunch’ into ‘Braeburn’. Though in the tail end, tomatoes are still in harvest. Fall activities like corn mazes, pumpkin...

Finish this story

many orange jack o lantern pumpkins stacked in bins in a field

From Southwestern Illinois (Waterloo): Pumpkin season is here!

October 1, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Whether it feels like fall or not, fall is here, and pumpkin season has started. We have been very dry and other than a few breaks have had temperatures early in September in the 90s and now have dropped back to the mid to upper 80s for highs. Rainfall down here has been minimal. ...

Finish this story

row of tomato plants with red and green fruits inside a high tunnel

From Dixon Springs Ag Center: Late season tomato and pepper harvest

September 30, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Tomato harvest has been steady but less than mid-summer for the past three weeks mainly due to a more moderate flower set and fruits ripening slower, creating a reduction in overall fruit load compared to July. Peppers are continuing to size well and have allowed for a once per week harvest time...

Finish this story

A group of bowls of dried fruits and nuts

Handle dry and low moisture foods with food safety in mind

September 30, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Dry or low moisture foods do not quickly come to mind when we think about foodborne illnesses and the ways to reduce them. In fact, these foods are not among the top three foods linked to foodborne disease outbreaks in the United...

Finish this story

person talking and holding a microphone

Back to drought in Illinois

September 30, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Trent Ford, Illinois State Climatologist, provided this weather report. Fall came early in Illinois, with temperatures between 1.5 and 3.5 degrees below normal since late August (Figure 1). Nighttime low temperatures have dipped into the low 40s and upper 30s multiple times, and we set some low...

Finish this story

A patch of melon vines turning brown surrounded by green plants with yellow flowers

Northern Illinois muskmelon research update: Cantaloupes harvested in September

September 30, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

After missing an update in September, a lot has occurred in the melon research plot. Melons were maturing nicely until disease pressure set in late August, which was later identified as anthracnose. Melons started to show signs of disease on fruit, and vines were beginning to die off with immature...

Finish this story

cucumber fruit hanging on a vine in a high tunnel

From Northern Illinois (Rockford): High tunnel cucumbers yielding well

August 21, 2025

Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Northern Illinois Orchards OpenApple season begins toward the end of August. Most orchards have announced their openings for the weekend of August 23rd, with almost all open by August 30th. This timing is driven largely by 'Zestar!', a...

Finish this story

College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences Illinois Extension

101 Mumford Hall (MC-710)

1301 W. Gregory Dr.

Urbana, IL 61801

Email: extension@illinois.edu

EEO myExtension Staff Login