Labor

Contest planned to find blueberry harvester

Naturipe wants to hear from innovators, developers and technology integrators who have ideas for a fully functional industrial prototype of an automated blueberry harvester.Although “The Blue Challenge” is a few weeks away from an official... more »

How to recruit labor for your farm

Finding hired help willing to work on a farm that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year –including Friday and Saturday nights, July 4, November 15 and December 25– can be a real... more »

Report: Agriculture industry short 22,500 college graduates for job openings

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new report showing tremendous demand for recent college graduates with a degree in agricultural programs with an estimated 57,900 high-skilled job openings annually in the food, agriculture, renewable natural... more »

Farm safety training now available online

The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) is offering three online farm safety training courses free of charge until May 31 courtesy of Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and the Canadian Fertilizer Institute (CFI).Each year, CASA and... more »

Joe Klein: Michigan Fruit Man of the Year

Joe Klein is a lucky man. “I feel so blessed that I live where I live, that I do what I do and that I know the people and work with the people in this... more »

Using exclusion netting helps manage SWD in blueberries

Dale-Ila Riggs, owner of The Berry Patch at Stone Wall Hill Farm, a diversified fruit and vegetable farm in Stephentown, New York, has been attempting everything imaginable to reduce the impact of spotted wing drosophila... more »

Piece-rate ruling could cost Washington growers millions

A legal case involving paid rest breaks for piece-rate workers could have “catastrophic” consequences for Washington state growers if the court rules against the defendant, said Dan Fazio, director of WAFLA, a services provider for... more »

Grape buds injured in northwest Michigan for second year in a row

A year ago, when reports came out on severe winter kill to wine grape buds in northwest Michigan, everyone assumed that such unprecedented cold would not likely happen again. Unfortunately, the assumption was wrong. The... more »