Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers 2025

This season has been hot and dry with scattered rainfall throughout the season for Northeastern Illinois. June average rainfall totals were approximately 3.80 inches, 0.50 inches below the 30-year average. July average rainfall totals have accumulated about 4.12 inches, 0.38 inches above the 30-...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration defines flooding as the flowing or overflowing of a field with water outside a grower’s control. This can result from an overflowing water body such as a river, lake, or a stream. Rainwater that pools in some parts of the field is not considered flooding. ...

Despite oppressive heat and humidity throughout the St Louis Metro East region, peach harvest continues with ongoing reports of good fruit size and quality. Harvest has moved out of the ‘Reliance’ window and into the ‘Red Haven’ window, to include cultivars like ‘PF-15A’, ‘Bounty’, ‘Newhaven’, and...

It never ceases to amaze me just how fast pumpkins grow at this point of the season.  For us moisture has been very good since the first week after transplanting.  These plants have been in the field right at a month.  Pumpkins are starting to vine out and I just put on a side dress...

No-till cover crop observationsPredator insects continue to thrive in the treatment tunnel (cover crops + cut flowers), including the many small spiders. The number of webs within all the tomato and pepper plants is impressive, especially as pest insects can be observed stuck in the webs. The white...

In early June, three cantaloupe varieties were planted under un-irrigated woodchip mulch to measure fruit quality and marketability in Northern Illinois. Varieties selected were ‘Hales Best Jumbo’, ‘Hearts of Gold’, and ‘Honey Rock’, all sourced and donated from Livingston seeds. The field was...

Dr. James Santiago, assistant professor and Illinois Extension horticulture specialist, is seeking grower input with this organic production survey. This 10-item...

The squash bug is the main pest of pumpkins in Illinois. Squash bugs overwinter as adults and move into pumpkin plantings in June (southern IL) and July (northern IL). They prefer squash and pumpkins compared to cucumbers and melons. In southern Illinois, two...

Research update from Karuna Kafle, master's student working in the Specialty Crops Entomology Lab, University of Illinois Department of Crop SciencesPlum curculio continues to be a serious concern for most peach orchards in Illinois...

Monthly update from Trent Ford, Illinois State Climatologist Climatological summer technically runs from June 1 to Aug. 31, but temperatures this year have more closely followed the astronomical calendar. The days immediately...

Agricultural water is a key potential source of fresh produce contamination on a farm or garden. Harmful microorganisms such as Salmonella and...

Tomato and pepper harvests began during the middle of June, but the last week of June really saw an increase in ripe tomatoes. Typically, with transplants set out the first week of April, tomato harvest begins in late June, but the first really big pick is around July 6 or 7. This year I think the...

There was a point where you could find strawberries, red and black raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries all in harvest. Strawberries are mostly done now, and the raspberries are also nearing the end of harvest. Blackberries and blueberries are in mid-harvest now. Early peaches are...

In addition to peach harvesting in the southern part of the region of cultivars like ‘Glenglo’, ‘PF 5D Big’, and ‘Sentry’, sweet corn harvesting started the last full week of June in the St Louis Metro east.  Comparatively, the northern part of the region is harvesting peaches in the ‘PF 8...

WeatherJune began with much-needed rainfall, with most areas receiving 1-3 inches over three days. Temperatures remained consistent at the start of the month, ranging from 70-80°F during the day and dropping to the 50s at night, accompanied by periodic showers and storms across the region. However...

Animals of all kinds, whether they are wildlife, domesticated animals, work animals, pets, or pests, are all potential sources of contamination to fresh produce and water sources on the farm. Animals can track their feces containing harmful microorganisms from one place to another so their presence...

After about 4.5 weeks of pre-sprouting in coconut coir, using heat mats, temperature controllers set to 77 F, and humidity domes, 8x 1020 flats of ginger rhizomes were ready for planting on May 16th. Additionally, one flat of tissue-culture ginger plants received on May 9th were ready as well....

Since 2016, the Rockford Illinois Extension office has been home to a small planting of honeyberry (also known as haskap) bushes. Originally supported by a Specialty Crops Block Grant, the project explored the potential of honeyberries—and goji berries—for Northern Illinois growers. (Spoiler: goji...

Muskmelons are considered a high value crop in Northern Illinois and continue to be a popular choice at farmers markets. Certain specialty melons like cantaloupe and honeydew are often too big to enjoy in one sitting, which can negatively affect fruit quality in just 1-2 days. However, muskmelons...

Mechanical termination of the annual ryegrass cover crop has continued to be a problem in the treatment tunnel. Some of the annual ryegrass plots have continued to regrow even after two cuttings. These last two cuttings were a challenge because the tomato transplants were already set and tied with...