Fruit and Vegetable News

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety      Do you raise livestock on your farm?  Do you grow vegetables in a high tunnel? Do you use the tunnel structure to house the livestock at any point during the year? If so, we would love to hear from you!  UMN Extension is developing a new research study to help generate data to support safe integration of livestock and vegetable operations. The purpose of the research will be to gather data to support evidence-based recommendations around safe integration of livestock and vegetables.  To participate, please fill out this anonymous survey. If you are interested in participating in the research, you can include your contact information and the research team will be in touch with more details. The data sampling would occur this fall and winter. You will be eligible for a $300 stipend as well as results of soil sampling analysis if your farm is interested and eligible for participation. https://z.umn.edu/Li...

Article originally written by Annie Klodd (2020) and updated by Madeline Wimmer (2024, 2026), UMN Fruit Production Extension Educator. Given that it's nearly October, we're far away from the start of the 2027 growing season, but now is a good time to think about ordering apple bare root trees for future plantings, which can take up to two years for some specialty orders.  Most growers are familiar with the fruit characteristics offered by various apple varieties, which are determined primarily by the scion, or the top portion of the apple tree. However, one of the most important questions to answer prior to ordering apple bare root trees is "Which rootstock should I choose?"  Why do apple trees have rootstocks? A Honeycrisp apple tree (scion) grafted onto a G.935 rootstock.  (Photo credit: Annie Klodd) Apple trees are propagated asexually by grafting. While some plants, like grapevines can be asexually propagated using cuttings, the branches used for fruit trees are ...

Authors: Marissa Schuh Much of Minnesota got some rain in the last week -- from overwhelming barrages in Southeast Minnesota to the first rainfall in months in the Northwest. Much of the state needs the rain , but it is making harvest and storage of longer-season crops much more difficult. One issue we see when it is wet is an uptick in diseases. One we are particularly curious about the UMN right now is white mold . This disease has a wide host range -- it gets into most vegetables we grow, and can get into cut flowers as well. The most distinctive symptoms are what plant pathologists call sclerotia – these structures look like mouse dropping and act as bunkers for the pathogen, allowing it to lay in wait many years until the right conditions and host are available in the future. It can occur in the high tunnel and in the field, in a year like this it is most likely to show up in irrigated plantings. As you harvest brassicas and clean up high tunnels, let us know if you see white mo...

Authors: Natalie Hoidal, Madeline Wimmer, Katie Black, Ryan Harp The current El Niño is likely to be the strongest we've seen in our lifetimes. How can we prepare for it? El Niño events typically get stronger through the fall and peak in the winter and often result in a warmer cold season in Minnesota. For context, the warmest winter on record in MN (2023-2024) happened during a relatively moderate El Niño. A stronger event means that we expect some stretches of notably warmer winter weather. Although warmer conditions could mean less snow cover, it’s possible we won't actually see a drier winter, just precipitation in the form of rain; snow may not linger as long. If we look back to the last El Nino in 2023-2024, the winter was dry, but the following spring was very wet, meaning that we didn’t see lasting impacts of dry conditions in the following growing season. According to Kenny Blumenfeld, MN DNR climatologist, strong El Niño events can result in “active” weather in the fo...

Join a Climate Resilience Cohort for growers in your region this fall! Hosted by Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP), UMN Extension, University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership, and Land Stewardship Project, these two-day cohorts provide an opportunity to connect with fellow farmers in your area and develop an adaptive whole-farm management strategy that builds on your experience and expertise. Over the course of the cohort, you will: Learn more about the potential impacts of increasing climate variability and change on your agricultural operation. Evaluate climate risk management options that best support your farm and family goals by reducing risks and capturing new opportunities associated with changing climate conditions. Make a plan to implement selected climate resilience strategies and evaluate their effectiveness over time. Schedule Overview: Day 1 (9:30 am - 3:30 pm): Learning, discussion, and beginning your farm's resilience plan. Day 2 (8:30...

Article written by Madeline Wimmer, UMN Extension Fruit Production Educator. Kathleen Rhoades is a plant breeder who works for the Savanna Institute, a non-profit organization that focuses on sustainable food production systems. Their major emphasis is on agroforestry, which integrates trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming. Agroforestry can be the main focus of a farm, be combined with farm landscape needs such as windbreaks, and riparian buffers, or complement already-existing row cropping (alleycropping) or grazing settings (silvopasture)*. The use of a crop that can be incorporated into one of these systems or settings can include its leaves (used for fodder), seeds, or fruits, while lumber can also be used in some cases. One example fruit tree in their program is the American Persimmon ( Diospyros virginiana ), which has received little attention from other research organizations in past decades. This is one of two crops that Kathleen Rhoades is working on in her breeding p...

 Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety The Cyclospora outbreaks across the country are continuing to cause thousands of illnesses. The patient counts related to the outbreak in Michigan are at more than 14,700 currently, and nearly 20,000 total nationally. What is going on? The CDC and other public health entities are still not certain what the source of the contamination is. View these new resources to learn more about this parasite, how to keep it off your vegetables, and how to talk with your customers.  What the heck is Cyclospora? You my be getting questions from your customers about this foodborne parasite, since this outbreak is reacord-setting. To be clear - the investigation is still very much ongoing.  Iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms grown in Mexico is likely the source of some of the illnesses, though likely not all.  UMN Extension has created a short video that covers the key topics and messaging points for responding to customer concerns ...