Equipment

Commentary: Rules govern union access to farms for ‘heat sweeps’

The United Farm Workers labor union has recently engaged in a flurry of activity. UFW public communications call these actions "heat sweeps during harvest,"meaning they may continue throughout the summer and fall. Key to this... more »

Tart cherry over the row harvest

Michigan State University Extension is inviting members of the northern tart cherry industry and affiliates to view a harvesting of tart cherries planted in a high density block research trial at the Northwest Michigan Horticulture... more »

Grape berry moth pressure lower in 2015

With July going past quickly and early August approaching, it is time to alert growers to the approaching window for protecting clusters from the third generation of grape berry moth. For the most southern parts... more »

Predicted 2015 apple harvest dates

The predicted harvest dates are now available at all locations on theMichigan State University Enviro-weather website. In general, 2015 predicted harvest dates are roughly a few days behind normal and a few days ahead of... more »

New conservation program helps farmers retain crop nutrients

A new edge-of-field monitoring program allows the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to work with farmers and conservation partners, such as Michigan State University Extension and the River Raisin Watershed Council to evaluate crop... more »

Industry veteran rides the waves

Gary Pullano, associate editor for Fruit Growers News, is blogging this week from the International Fruit Tree Association's Regional Summer Tour in Washington state.Washington state apple grower Jim Doornink survived the turn-of-the-century (21st, that is)... more »

Disease Update: Rots wreaking havoc on stone fruit

The extremely wet weather over the last month has triggered rot issues in both sweet and tart cherries. As a result of the volume of fungal spores flying around and the persistent warm wet conditions,... more »

IFTA tour story ripe with industry progress

Gary Pullano, associate editor for Fruit Growers News, is blogging this week from the International Fruit Tree Association's Regional Summer Tour in Washington state.When you gather 170 people from seven countries, including those from nine... more »

Increase of spotted wing Drosophila in berry crops

Monitoring for spotted wing Drosophila (SWD) over the past week has revealed an upswing in the catches of SWD in monitoring traps. Numbers have gone from a few per trap to some catching more than... more »

Blueberry fruit rot severe this year

Anthracnose (also called ripe rot) in blueberry, has been quite severe this year, especially in highly susceptible varieties such as Bluecrop, Bluetta, and Blueray. Anthracnose in blueberry is caused byColletotrichum species, the very same troublesome... more »