Fruit and Vegetable News

  -Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator food safety  Food safety is a critical part of all produce farm operations. One of the best ways to protect your customers and prevent your business from being involved in a foodborne illness outbreak is to maintain good food safety practices on your farm and keep basic food safety records. Learning about Good Agricultural Practices and current food safety laws are a great way to build your farm's plan for preventing foodborne illness from spreading from food that you grow and sell.  One great way to do that is to attend a GAPs or FSMA training course.  Note:  All of these courses are accepted as documentation of food safety training for the  Produce Safety Mini Grant  from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, which will open later this winter. FSMA Produce Safety Rule Trainings If your farm is fully covered by the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, at least one supervisor or responsib...

The UMN Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) and the UMN Center for Sustainable Building Research are collaborating to design and build a prototype Clean Energy Farm Stand featuring solar power and cooling capabilities. The team is looking for input to help guide the design: you can complete their short survey here.  

The dormant season is a time filled with conferences, webinars, and workshops for growers to continue their education, along with everything else that comes up as a priority during this time.  Below are a few opportunities for continued education with fruit farming.  Minnesota Apple Growers Association Conference Description : This two-day conference is specific to apple production and goes over a number of topics relevant to commercial growers including breeding updates from UMN, information about trellising, roostocks, and more! Location : La Crescent, MN Dates : January 6-7 UMN Extension session : Supporting pollinators on apple orchards Register for this conference here! Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association Conference Description : A conference that supports a variety of education related to vegetable and fruit production with a wide variety of topics.  Location : Waite Park, MN Dates : January 28-29 UMN Extension session : Introduction to apple productio...

We often hear that funding is one of the biggest barriers to farming. Fruit and vegetable farms require a lot of infrastructure and equipment to get started and to scale up production. Take some time this winter to check out the following funding opportunities that can help you pay for equipment, infrastructure, and conservation initiatives.  RSDP farmer climate action funding - applications due January 2. Funding available to MN farmers outside of the 7 county metro for grants up to $8,000 for "shovel-ready" projects that can be completed by December 31, 2026. This grant can cover equipment, renewable energy projects, etc. This money is super flexible and can cover things that other grants cannot. Your soil water conservation district can pay for cover crop seed, EQIP can pay for a high tunnel - what can't be covered by these programs? Lakewinds Organic Field Fund provides small scholarships for infrastructure, equipment, etc. Their application will be open January 1-30 ...

  Annalisa Hultberg, extension educator, food safety Animal-based soil amendments such as composted manure and poultry litter can build the soil organic matter and water hold capacity of your soil. You may be applying them now. Fall is a great time to do that, as it can be better for food safety and for the health of your plants. Read on for more information.  What are the potential risks? All animal-based amendments carry a risk of microbial contamination, though many factors affect the level of risk in each. Different animals tend to be reservoirs for different pathogens. For example, poultry like chickens and turkey often shed  Salmonella  and  Campylobacter  and ruminants (cows and sheep) often shed toxigenic  E. coli  (STEC). It is not possible to know if an animal is shedding pathogenic bacteria in its feces by looking at the animal or observing its behavior. Therefore it is important to take care with all animal-based soil amendments, parti...

Join us at noon on Wednesday all winter long for a webinar focused on the finer points of fruit and vegetable production. Each week we will cover a technical topic related to the successful management of fruit and vegetable crops, from planning to irrigating to managing pests. The target audience is small to medium sized farmers, as well as aspiring farmers.  Where: Zoom When : Wednesdays January 7 - April 22, 12:00 - 1:15 Attend one or as many dates as desired Recordings of the sessions will be available after the end of the series for those who register Cost: Free These webinars are led by UMN Extension educators, industry experts and experienced farmers. Register: https://z.umn.edu/fvwinterwebinar Topics and dates: Jan 7 Finding and selling to new markets: restaurants, wholesale, and farm to school in 2026 Jan 14 Crop planning to meet production goals Jan 21 Adding fruit to your farm Jan 28 Is a high tunnel right for your farm? Feb 11 Pumpkin IPM throughout the season Feb 18 ...

Join us for a two-day, hands-on workshop to learn about using your time and space efficiently on your farm. Improve your farming skills to grow and sell more high-quality vegetables for wholesale, farm to school, and cooperative markets. Space is limited. Register early to secure a spot! Audience:  Farmers with 2-5 years of experience looking to scale up or sell to wholesale markets Dates & time: January 15 and 16, 8:30am - 4:30pm Location: Eastman Nature Center, 13351 Elm Creek Road, Dayton MN 55369 Cost: $75, materials, lunch and snacks included. Scholarship available. Instructors: Learn from UMN Extension, experienced farmers, and wholesale buyers Registration:  https://z.umn.edu/vegintensive Tomatoes graded and packed for wholesale markets. Topics include: selecting the right markets for your crops, crop planning, variety selection, efficient weeding tools, scouting for pest and disease problems, post harvest handling, sorting and grading produce for wholesale m...