Blueberries
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 »
There’s Blueberry Production Potential in China
China is quickly reforming its economy to encourage entrepreneurial activity and exports. With the strong international demand for blueberries, it is no surprise that the Chinese are considering blueberries as a new crop. That’s according... 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 »
Kentucky Couple Spreads the Good News About Blueberries
When Jenny and Larry Martin moved to Kentucky in 1995, they brought more blueberry bushes with them than there were in the entire state. It was the genesis of the burgeoning Kentucky blueberry industry. The... more »
Growers Await EPA’s Decision about Guthion
It’s going to be more difficult and more expensive to control worms in apples, blueberries and cherries if proposals made by the EPA June 9 take effect. The final decision is expected in early October... more »
Guthion Use Set To End Sept. 30, 2012
The decision by EPA in mid-November to phase out all remaining uses of azinphos methyl (Guthion) by Sept. 30, 2012, will hit various sectors of the fruit industry differently. Three Michigan State University entomologists, speaking... more »
New Disease – Colony Collapse Disorder – Strikes Honeybees
Researchers are scrambling to find answers to what’s causing “colony collapse disorder,” a recently named disease that has struck commercial beekeeping operations across the country. The alarming die-off of honeybees has beekeepers fighting for commercial... more »
IFTA helped growers bring fruit trees down to size
On March 5, the International Fruit Tree Association observed its 50th birthday – marking a half-century of fruit growers working together to bring trees down to manageable size. Logically, such an organization should have been... 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 »
Washington’s Mid-Columbia Region Taking to Blueberries
In recent years, Columbia Basin growers have planted hundreds of acres of the sweet berries that traditionally are found in foggy valleys of Western Washington and Oregon. Seattle Post Intelligencer more »