Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training Date: September 28, 2018, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (EST) Location: Southwest Purdue Agriculture Center, 4369 N. Purdue Rd., Vincennes, IN Purdue Extension will be hosting a Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Training on September 28th. The training will be held in the basement of the SWPAP building at the[Read More…]
Indiana State Department of Agriculture/Indiana Grown was recently awarded a grant in partnership with the Indiana State Department of Health, Indiana Dept of Education and Purdue Extension to create an all-inclusive local food sourcing guide for schools, called Indiana Grown for Schools: School Food Service Resource Guide. This two-year project will start with gathering information[Read More…]
Beginning in August, Purdue Extension will offer produce food safety trainings throughout Indiana. The trainings utilize the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) training curriculum and will be offered at multiple locations across the state. For produce farms that are covered under the Food Safety Modernization Act Produce Safety Rule, at least one manager or responsible person[Read More…]
The On Farm Readiness Review (OFRR) is now available and being offered to Indiana produce growers. The OFRR is a VOLUNTARY assessment of your farm’s readiness to be in compliance with the Produce Safety Rule. This is not an audit or inspection, but a chance for you to have a team of reviewers visit your[Read More…]
Many years ago, I was told that to successfully use fungicides on vegetables, one must use high spray pressures and hollow cone nozzles. However, I had trouble finding any research on this topic, just rumors. So, I did my own research. Dennis Nowaskie, Superintendent at the Southwest Purdue Agricultural Center (SWPAC) built a single row[Read More…]
Since there is an article about the application of insecticides in this issue, below I list 10 rules that will help vegetable growers apply fungicides effectively and safely. Apply fungicides prior to the development of disease. Although many fungicides have systemic (“kick back”) action they will not completely eradicate diseases after they have started. And[Read More…]
It’s not uncommon for us to get calls from growers who are expressing concern about a particular insecticide product that is not working as well as the growers would like. Often, growers will suggest that Product X is no good or that the target insect has now developed resistance to that particular insecticide. Before we[Read More…]
Have you ever wondered how much difference new plastic would make in terms of light getting to crops in a high tunnel? We replaced 6-year-old plastic on High Tunnel 1 at Pinney Purdue Ag Center last week. Figure 1 below shows the high tunnel before and after recovering, and pieces of the old and new[Read More…]