Specialty Crops

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...

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...

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. ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The following article was written by Dr. James Santiago, Assistant Professor Horticulture, University of Illinois Department of Crop Sciences. Many specialty crops we consume develop from flowers including apples, squash, beans, peas, etc. Having an elongated shape, the State of Illinois has...

As kids go back to school, operations have started the shift from summer crops over to fall crops, which includes the transition from peaches to apples. Peaches are in the ‘Cresthaven’ window, with cultivars like ‘Encore’, ‘Autumnstar’ and ‘Laurol’ yet to finish out the season.  Apples are in...