Fruit Growers News

Colony Collapse Disorder still being studied

After the large-scale, unexplained losses of managed U.S. honeybee colonies during the winter of 2006-07, investigators identified a set of symptoms that were termed colony collapse disorder (CCD). In response to this problem, federal and state government, university and private researchers mobilized to define an approach to CCD, which resulted in the formation of the CCD Steering Committee, according to USDA’s 2010 Colony Collapse Disorder Progress Report. During the past three years, numerous causes for CCD have been proposed and examined, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that no single factor is responsible for the malady. Researchers continue to document elevated pathogen levels in CCD-affected bees, with no specific pathogen linked definitively to CCD, according to the report. In addition, tests to examine hives for known honeybee parasites (varroa mites, honeybee tracheal mites, Nosema species), which pose significant problems for beekeepers and once were highly suspected…  » Read more

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Does your farm market have curb appeal?

  Does your business have that “drive-by” appearance that draws new customers in and makes old customers want to keep coming back? In an increasingly noisy marketing world, there is no substitute for having a front lot appearance that sets the tone for profitable business transactions. It is so easy as owner/manager to overlook faded signs, parking lot potholes, peeling paint and similar tragedies as we go about getting through long, often stressful work days. Every piece of trash that is left lying on the ground eventually becomes many, and our businesses slowly degrade into so much compost. Customers notice new landscaping, upgraded signs and well-maintained parking lots by coming back and bringing friends. Word of mouth advertising only works if there is something worth talking about. Curb appeal today is more than the look of your store from the road or parking lot. With…  » Read more

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Growers worry about the availability of bees

From Florida to the Pacific Northwest, fruit growers concerned about the threats to honeybee colonies are starting to look to native pollinators for reinforcements. “It was the risk of not having pollinators that is the reason we started our projects,” said Alto Straughn, Florida’s largest blueberry grower. Straughn isn’t the only one with that fear. In Oregon, cherry grower Mike Omeg has seen populations of feral honeybees plummet in the past 10 years. “In some of our smaller orchards the ferals used to do the job, but that’s changed,” said Omeg, who now spends almost $50,000 per year to rent hives. Growers who want to reduce the risk of poor pollination should think in terms of Integrated Crop Pollination (ICP), according to Rufus Isaacs, berry crops entomologist at Michigan State University. “Just as growers think about IPM for pest management, we need to think about…  » Read more

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Horticultural crop sales grow 10 percent

Sales of horticultural crops increased by 10 percent from 1998 to 2009, compared to a 60 percent increase for all crop commodities in the same period, according to the 2009 Census of Horticultural Specialties, released Dec. 13 by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Categories where sales increased more than average include food crops grown under cover, bedding plants, nursery stock and propagative materials. Categories with a lower than average change in sales include sod, potted flowering plants, cut Christmas trees, dried bulbs, cut flowers and cut cultivated greens, according to the census. The 2009 census counted 21,585 operations in the United States with sales of $10,000 or more in horticultural specialty crops, a decrease of 2,173 operations since the last census was published in 1998. The single largest expense for horticultural specialty operations is hired labor, which includes salaries paid to hired workers, as…  » Read more

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Get farm marketing tips from jolly old England

Do you feel you’ve run out of new ideas for your farm market? Have you been a regular on the U.S. and Canadian farm market bus tours, and in some ways feel like you aren’t seeing anything new? If that describes you, you may want to bust out of the old ruts and consider joining me in April 2012 on an agritour to jolly old England. Our group will visit farm shoppes, adventure parks, a cookery school, farmers’ markets, a coffee shop, a farm restaurant and more, each hand-picked to help you expand your thinking and give you new ideas of ways to grow your business. My first farm tour to England was with the North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association (NAFDMA) in 1998, and I’ve known since then that I want to return and visit more of the United Kingdom – especially its farms…  » Read more

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