Raspberries & Blackberries
New Concept Cherry Harvester Has Its Debut
For years, cherry growers have worked with large trees. It was a major challenge to contain their vegetative vigor and get them into full fruit production in less than six or eight years. Now that... more »
Cider Mill Brings Opportunities, Challenges
Jollay Orchards will open Grandpa’s Cider Mill just in time for its fall harvest festival. The festival begins Sept. 10, the weekend after Labor Day, and ends Oct. 30. In early August, the new cider... more »
Tart Cherry Growers Consider Spending More on Advertising
Cherry Marketing Institute (CMI) staff members used the occasion of the CMI annual meeting in mid-January to press tart cherry growers to double their investment in advertising and promotion. They were talking to the right... more »
High-Value Crops Perfect for High-Value Land
Over the years, northern Maryland has changed from a bucolic rural countryside into a high rent district. Soaring land prices have driven out certain kinds of farming, but farmers who have changed what they produce... more »
Pennsylvania Farm Specializes in Adding Value
Soergel Orchards sells fruit salad in a special basket for $54.99 – and people are willing to pay for it. The secret is the basket: a carved-out watermelon. Each hollow melon can hold 12 to... more »
Illinois Orchard Draws from Chicago Suburbs
The “Jonamac” in Jonamac Orchard doesn’t just stand for the apple variety, even though the orchard grows plenty of them. It also stands for Johnson-McArtor, the last names of the two families that have owned... more »
Primocane Raspberries Fit Just Fine on Maryland Farm
If managing raspberries were easy, would they still sell for $4.50 a pint? Nathan Milburn hopes so. In 2001, Milburn Orchards ventured into raspberries for the first time. The Elkton, Md., family was expanding the... more »
Some Areas See Crops Reduced by Weather
On the first day of summer, the Michigan Frozen Fruit Packers Association pulled together its members to evaluate the outlook for production of fruit crops, in Michigan and the nation.About 150 people attended the 51st... more »
EPA Pulls Plug on Some Guthion Uses
The Environmental Protection Agency has decided to end the use of azinphos-methyl (Guthion, Azinphos-methyl 50WS) on peaches, nectarines, caneberries, cranberries, potatoes, cotton and Southern pine seed.EPA ruled that existing supplies of the insecticide can be... more »