Blueberries

Apple Castle celebrates 150 years growing apples

Few farms have the longevity and tradition of Apple Castle, a family orchard that has been growing apples for 150 years. Six generations of the Johnston family have dedicated their lives to apples and the... more »

Tree fruit growers still looking for a mechanical harvester

Michael Glenn, director of USDA’s Appalachian Fruit Research Station in Kearneysville, W.Va., can list all kinds of technological innovations that have aided tree fruit growers in the last 50 years: lasers and GPS for more... more »

Florida takes advantage of gap in blueberry market

Hundreds of small blueberry farms have opened in the Sunshine State in the past three decades, and blueberry production has increased more than tenfold in the past decade. The farmers hope to capitalize on their... more »

Georgia to take part in fruit chemical use survey

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will survey fruit growers in 12 states, including Georgia, for its biennial fruit chemical use survey. The agency will collect information on pesticides used, acres treated... more »

Control weeds this fall to improve fruit crop fields next spring

Fall is a good time to apply residual and systemic herbicides for control of difficult and persistent weeds in perennial crops. Many of the residual herbicides labeled for tree fruit and small fruit are recommended... more »

Spotted Wing Drosophila catches are picking up

Widespread monitoring in commercial fruit farms across Michigan by Michigan State University research and Extension staff has so far detected spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) at only a small proportion of the hundreds of sites where... more »

National Blueberry Research and Promotion Program to continue

USDA announced that highbush blueberry producers and importers have voted to continue the Blueberry Promotion, Research and Information Order.USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service conducted the referendum from July 5 to July 26. Eighty-eight percent of eligible... more »

First spotted wing Drosophila trapped in a commercial fruit crop

A single spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) has been trapped in a commercial Michigan fruit crop. This first detection in a crop field for the 2011 growing season occurred a full two months earlier than our... more »