Fruit and Vegetable News

Author: Adria Fernandez, Researcher, Grossman Lab As you make your field plans for this year, consider complementing your later-planted vegetable crops with an early spring cover crop. In fields where you plan to grow a vegetable with a summer planting schedule, like transplanted broccoli or cauliflower for fall harvest, or even a late succession of beans or sweet corn, you may have time to grow a cover crop to build and protect your soil until the vegetable is ready to go into the field.  Cover crops can serve several purposes in a short spring growing window: They can suppress weeds and keep the soil covered in the field while you’re waiting for transplanting time They can take advantage of the soil moisture and sunlight available in April and May to build organic matter that will become part of your soil reserves when the cover crop is incorporated. If the cover is a legume (like a pea or clover), it can also contribute to long-term nitrogen fertility by fixing atmospheric nitro...

High heat and humidity can make it dangerous for growers to work outdoors, while wildfire smoke and other air pollutants can make it dangerous for growers to breathe the air while working outdoors. We've been working with the U of M Doctor of Nursing Practice Program to develop guidance for fruit and vegetable farmers about safely working in high heat and poor air quality, and we're excited to share a new resource with you all. Over the last two summers we received a lot of questions from growers about staying safe during heat waves and periods of poor air quality. It was difficult to find resources beyond just tools for recognizing heat stress, so we brought in health and safety experts to help us develop some guidance that could be specific and actionable, allowing growers to create policies to keep themselves, employees, and volunteers safe.  Check out the new webpage here.  If you would like a printable PDF with this information, you can reach out to Natalie Hoidal at ho...

The University of Minnesota and University of New Hampshire are partnering to conduct on-farm research about the performance of legume cover crops in high tunnel vegetable rotations. The goal of this project is to enable high tunnel growers to reduce their dependence on purchased composts and manures by using nitrogen-fixing legume cover crops to support soil fertility, productivity, and sustainability.  Join us for an information session about our 2024-2025 on-farm high tunnel cover crop research trial on March 5th from 11:30 am -12:30 pm on Zoom . During this webinar you’ll learn more about participating in the trial and have opportunities to ask questions. The webinar will be recorded.  Sign up to learn more about the trial at z.umn.edu/ hightunnelcovercroptrial . We will send the webinar link and a calendar invitation to everyone who signs up.     

  The Emerging Farmers Conference is now accepting Calls for Proposals! The EFC is focused on farmers and led by farmers. It is for farmers who traditionally face barriers (including immigrant farmers and farmers of color) to the education and resources needed to have a successful and sustainable farm. SUBMIT A SESSION PROPOSAL HERE Do you have a session you'd like to share at the conference? Would you like to work with the EFC planning team to put together a presentation?  Do you have experiences to share that will help other emerging farmers become successful?  We invite you to submit a proposal for a session!  As a conference, we prioritize sessions led by emerging farmers, immigrant, indigenous and farmers of color.  We look for sessions that are either led by farmers or co-presented with farmers.  The style of learning preferred is hands-on, demonstrations, visual and observation based. Conference Dates: Friday November 1- Saturday Nov 2, 2024 - Minne...

This spring and summer our team visited 100 small-scale vegetable farms in Minnesota to do soil health assessments, and one of the key drivers of healthy soil was tillage. Soils with less tillage had better aggregate stability, faster water infiltration, and less compaction. While tillage is harmful in the long-term, it provides short-term benefits that can make growing vegetables easier. This article covers some of the main reasons that farmers till their soil and provides other ways to get the same benefits. Tillage is the practice of disturbing soil by digging, stirring, or turning. It is commonly used in vegetable farming to loosen compact soils, add residues to the soil, prepare fields for planting, incorporate fertilizers, and manage weeds. Reducing tillage provides long-term benefits to soil health. Soils that have less tillage tend to: Have more stability Resist compaction Hold more water Have less erosion Have enhanced biological activity Reason 1 for tilling: Loosening com...

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety Are you interested in updating your farm’s food safety plan, considering getting a GAP audit, or want to make sure you are up to date with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule? Have you considered selling your produce to schools, food hubs or wholesale buyers? These courses from the UMN Extension On-Farm GAPs Education program and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Produce Safety Program will provide in-depth information to fruit and vegetable farms about important steps to keep their produce safe and meet market requirements for on-farm food safety practices. All trainings offer a certificate of completion, which is accepted as documentation of food safety training for the Produce Safety Mini Grant available through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. Online GAPs Half-Day Training Course This 3.5-hour online course is a "one stop shop" to learn about food safety best practices in the production, washing, packing, storage...

Madeline Wimmer, Extension Educator- Fruit Production Image: members of the Grape Breeding, Enology, and UMN Extension team. Join us for the UMN annual grape research update, where you will hear about exciting research activities and graduate student presentations. Topics will include powdery mildew, wine chemistry, winter hardiness, as well as new selections of wine and table grapes. This event will take place in person with a remote option. When : February 20th, 2024 Time : 10:00am-1:00pm Where : Dakota County Extension Office, located at 4100 220th St. W #101, Farmington, MN 55024 Cost : FREE Registration : For the in person event, register here .                             Or register in advance for the Zoom remote option . Light refreshments will be served. For more information, visit https://enology .umn.edu/februa ry-20-annual-gr ape-research-up date or contact the Grape Breeding and Enology p...

Annalisa Hultberg, Extension Educator, food safety  If your farm needs to comply with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule, or your farm gets a GAP audit, you may have used the classic worker training video from the Produce Safety Alliance. This worker training video, which was originally available on CD, covers basic food safety principles for farm workers. Thousands of farms have used it to train their employees on basic hygiene and other Good Agricultural Practices at an annual training. It has now been updated, and is aligned with the FSMA Produce Safety Rule.  English, Spanish and Hmong versions are available for streaming on YouTube. Use this video to show all farm employees (even kids and other helps who may be handling fresh produce). You can then follow up with more discussion of why food safety is important on your farm, and your policies and rules such as when and where to wash hands, where to use the restroom, and your pets policy. Here are the direct links. Bookmark them,...