Commercial Vegetable Production

Operations with agritourism opportunities have really geared up for the fall season and everyone is hoping for great weather these next four weekends leading up to Halloween. The last weekend of September brought welcomed rain to the St Louis Metro East, breaking a moderate drought before it became...

Food Works Southern Illinois Farming Alliance is hosting a Mechanical Weed Control Field Day on two dates from two different locations in the southern Illinois region. Each of these is a full day workshop with lunch included. Tuesday, October 8, Beet Root Farm, Carbondale, IL with be hosting the...

In our current research project, “Strategies for Improving Biological Control of Insect Pests for Vegetable Growers Utilizing High Tunnels”, tomato harvest has ramped back up now that the raccoon situation is under control. Overall fruit size is smaller while flavor and white core has...

We’re about 3-4 weeks into apple season up here with new varieties being harvested each week. For the week of 9/20/2024, this includes ‘Gala’, ‘Honeycrisp’, ‘Early Fuji’, ‘Golden Delicious’, ‘Jonagold’, ‘Cortland’, ‘Pixie Crunch’, ‘Crimson Crisp’, ‘Senshu’, and many, many others. This can vary from...

August, so far, has given us a break from the excess moisture that July brought to the region. We have only gotten 1.29” of rain this month to date. Some crops are showing a little moisture stress, but overall, things look very good. Temperatures have been highly variable, with the earlier part of...

Now is the time when we need to think about what cover crops we are going to put out to help protect fields this winter. Here are a few thoughts to inspire you and help make those decisions.You can find cover crops to plant from now through November, but the earlier, the more options you have. If...

Farmers growing pumpkins and other cucurbit crops, like melons, might soon face a new challenge. A disease called Cucurbit Yellow Vine Decline (CYVD) was first detected in the late 1980s in Texas and Oklahoma. Since then, it has spread to the Southeast, Northeast, and Midwest regions of the United...

In our current research project, “Strategies for Improving Biological Control of Insect Pests for Vegetable Growers Utilizing High Tunnels”, tomato harvest has slowed down significantly, due in part to a severe raccoon problem. We have trapped almost 20 raccoons in the past three...

Out in the field everything is thriving with lots of moisture including the weeds! I think we had all forgotten how much rainfall drives weed pressure after two fairly droughty summers the past two years.  All summer vegetables are in harvest and doing well.  The rain has increased...

On July 16, we hosted the High Tunnel Production Field Day. This was the second year for this meeting and we plan to make it an annual event. Last year, USDA NRCS and FSA staff talked about programs that each agency offers to support high tunnel production and specialty crop growers. To build on...