Fruit and Vegetable News

  Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety Agritourism and U-pick farms may have different food safety risks and considerations than traditional fruit and vegetable farms, since the general public (who may not be well-versed in food safety considerations) are being invited to the farm.  Here are some key recommendations to keep your produce safe for U-Pick and orchards this coming season. Photo: Annie Klodd What are the risks? Many bacteria like  Salmonella ,  Campylobacter  and  E. coli  can be spread to fresh produce from animals and sick humans. Viruses like Norovirus and Hepatitis   can easily transmitted between humans via fresh produce and other food, surfaces and the air.  These bacteria and viruses can seriously sicken people, especially the young, old, and immunocompromised.  There have been outbreaks at agritourism farms, especially those that have animals. Take some basic precautions to reduce the potential for ...

Image: Grape bud development takes time from buds initially exiting dormancy until the first leaves and clusters are noticeable.       Perennial fruit crops require a period of dormancy to produce fruit each year. After fall acclimation a period of deeper dormancy, known as endodormancy, begins within a plant until it completes its chilling requirements (refer to the article, “ Understanding dormancy and chilling hours in perennial fruit crops ” for a detailed explanation). Once it has accumulated enough chilling hours, the plant goes from endodormancy to ecodormancy stage. This could be viewed as a transitional phase where dormancy is maintained by external environmental conditions rather than internal physiological factors. Eventually the plant exits dormancy and begins bud development to produce vegetation and/or flowers.      As bud development begins, the rate at which buds develop relates largely to ambient temperatures, and is influenced by soil...

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety If you are selling your produce to a school, early care or other institution, you might be asked about your food safety practices. The following information  is meant to help clarify what is required and what is allowed under Minnesota state food code when farms sell to markets like schools and other institutions.  What is allowed under law? To be clear,  as per Minnesota state statute, locally grown food is legal to procure for school meal programs and other foodservice settings. A farmer is not required to get any sort of license or inspection to sell to these buyers, as long as they grow and sell their own product, or what is called "product of the farm".  This means product that a farmer grows with no off-farm ingredients added. As per the Minnesota Department of Health,  food grown by farmers is an "approved source" . What about a GAP audit? A buyer might ask for a GAP audit, which is a verification of Goo...

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety  If your farm needs to comply with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, or you are curious about the new standards that were released by the FDA in relation to pre-harvest agricultural water, be sure to attend the webinar tomorrow 2/28 online to discuss these new rules and standards. We will have a national expert from the Produce Safety Alliance on water quality and fresh produce as the co-presenter. Title:   Updates on FSMA Water Rule: What You Need to Know and What Has Changed Time: Friday, 2/28/25, via Zoom Registration link :  z.umn.edu/FoodSafetyDeepDives2025 You will be able to register for the other webinars in this series. Webinars are every other Friday through April 11th from 9:00 - 10:15. More context for the FSMA Produce Safety Rule update On May 6th, 2024 the  U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a final rule on agricultural water  for pre-harvest water in the FSMA Produce Safety Rule.  ...

Best wishes to  Bill Hutchison , Extension specialist and professor in the Department of Entomology, on his upcoming retirement. University of Minnesota has been fortunate to have Bill's leadership and involvement in Extension's integrated pest management (IPM) program for many years. His work in IPM is recognized internationally and benefits growers, agricultural professionals, crop consultants, and fruit and vegetable processors. He has received many awards over the years including being named an Entomological Society of America fellow in 2021. His research and Extension efforts have made a significant impact in Minnesota and beyond.  Bill also emphasized that he has really enjoyed working with many fruit and vegetable growers over the past 35 years, and tackling such a diverse array of insect pest and invasive species issues, such as spotted wing drosophila and Japanese beetle. Thanks to the many growers who have allowed Bill and his team to conduct IPM research on the...

The ability to back up with already established free-standing apples trees can be challenging. Good pruning and training practices, year by year, can guide a tree into having a strong structure and canopy microclimate conducive to good fruit quality. The University of Minnesota (UMN) wants to support your efforts to learn how to prune dormant, woody fruit crops!  Recent posts on UMN Fruit and Veg News have highlighted upcoming events to deepen your knowledge about pruning either cold climate grapes or apples (feel welcome to join us for both if you grow both crops!) Links to information about 2025 pruning events: In-person pruning workshops  (Dates: various dates and times in March) Noon pruning webinars   (Dates: February 14th and 28th at noon) The following resources were previously created by UMN and provide information to assist pruning practices. Keep in mind that recordings of both upcoming pruning webinars will also be available on the UMN Small Farms YouTube ...

 Are you looking to have more in-person, hands-on experience learning how to prune either cold climate grapes or apples? This year, UMN Extension is offering a selection of winter pruning workshops, instructed by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension fruit production educator and UMN Extension local educators.  Semi-dwarf, free-standing apple trees are commonly trained and pruned to maintain a pyramidal shape known as "central leader" training. This allows for good sunlight and airflow that encourage quality fruit production. Apple pruning workshop registration links, dates, and times: 1. Grand Marais (Cook County); Wednesday, March 5th from 10am-12pm 2. Barnum (Carlton County); Thursday, March 6th from 1-3pm 3. Hinckley (Pine County); Friday, March 7th from 1-3pm 4. Duluth (St. Louis County); Thursday, March 13th from 1-3pm 5.  Moorhead (Clay County); Friday, March 21st from 1-3pm  Master Gardener led workshops: Two Harbors (Lake County); Saturday, March 15th from 10am-12p...