Fruit and Vegetable News

As seasonal employees begin working over the next couple of weeks, make sure you're following best practices to prevent heat stress and keep employee morale high. This post highlights best practices for acclimatizing workers to hot weather, and a new report about what diversified vegetable farm employees value in a workplace.

Author: guest contributor Jerry Ford, Network Coordinator, Sustainable Farming Association Insurance is very important for all farming operations, but is especially important for agritourism operations that host visitors on this farm. This article details important topics related to insurance for agritourism farms. Image: Cory Ryan This article was not written by an insurance professional or a lawyer. Please note that insurance policies vary across providers, and that agritourism activities like u-pick, farm stays, and tours all have different risks and considerations for insurance and regulations. This article is meant to serve as a starting place, but please reach out to a lawyer or insurance provider for more detailed information as it pertains to your specific agritourism activities. Before talking about insurance, let's talk about the law. Laws related to liability and agritourism We are fortunate in Minnesota to have a statute that specifically protects those of us involved i...

Marissa Schuh, Integrated Pest Management Extension Educator. Originally published in 2022, updated for 2023. We hear from growers in the summer about cutworm issues in high tunnel crops, oftentimes long after the damage has been done.  It is always hard to retrace the steps and figure out what caused the damage.  As crops go into high tunnels, now is the time to think about past cutworm problems so we can hopefully catch the culprits and work on the problem in the future. There are many species of cutworm, though they all have a habit of curling up when disturbed. Photo: Clemson University - USDA Cooperative Extension Slide Series , Bugwood.org. Who are the cutworms? “Cutworms” is a label that applies broadly to a large group of caterpillars with a wide range of life histories.  Some of the insects live in Minnesota year-round, while others migrate on weather fronts.  There are approximately 10 different cutworms and armyworms species we see in Minnesota that could ...