Vegetable, fruit, and organic farmers can register their production areas on Driftwatch.org to let commercial pesticide applicators know where the fields are. Beekeepers can also register sites where beehives are located. Once sites are registered and approved they appear on the Driftwatch registry map (see Fig. 1) and partnering applicators are notified. This helps applicators[Read More…]
Cover crops should be killed at least a couple of weeks before planting vegetables. That will give the cover time to partially decompose, and time for any cutworm larvae that may be in the crop to die or pupate. If wet weather delays killing or incorporation of cover crops, the time between incorporation and planting[Read More…]
(Information provided by Office of the Indiana State Chemist, 765-494-1492, www.oisc.purdue.edu) The Indiana Pesticide Clean Sweep Project designed to collect and dispose of suspended, canceled, banned, unusable, opened, unopened or just unwanted pesticides (weed killers, insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides, miticides, etc.) is being sponsored by the Office of Indiana State Chemist (OISC). This disposal service is[Read More…]
Purdue Extension is starting the Indiana Food Hub Network this year. So what’s a food hub? The USDA working definition is “a centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing, distribution, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced food products.” Extension educator Roy Ballard, who is workkng with Local Food Coordinator Jodee[Read More…]
WebsitesBotany and Plant Path Extension – Vegetables ag.purdue.edu/btny/Extension/Pages/VegetablePathology.aspx Entomology Extension – Vegetables – extension.entm.purdue.edu/veg/commercial/ Food Safety for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables – ag.purdue.edu/hla/foodsafety Hort Extension – ag.purdue.edu/hla/Extension/ Plant and Pest Diagnostic Lab – www.ppdl.purdue.edu Purdue Extension – extension.purdue.edu Purdue Small Farms – ag.purdue.edu/extension/smallfarms/ TwitterHort Extension – @PurdueHortExtRick Foster – @purduefvinsectNW Commercial Hort (Liz Maynard) –[Read More…]
Good Agricultural Practices A to Z Workshops. Funded by Purdue, as part of AgSEED Crossroads funding to support Indiana’s Agriculture and Rural Development, or by USDA/ISDA Specialty Crops Block Grant to Purdue. Programs focused on cantaloupe are also relevant to other fresh fruits and vegetables; all growers are welcome to attend. Register online at tinyurl.com/RegisterGAPsAtoZ.[Read More…]
Sometimes newly transplanted crops don’t take off like we’d expect. Consider the newly transplanted tomato seedlings in these images. In Figure 1, lower leaves are chlorotic (yellow) and leaflet edges and leaves curl downward. In Figure 2, lower leaves are chlorotic or bleached and some had necrotic (dead) spots. In Figure 3, some leaves have[Read More…]
Two USDA grant programs may be of interest to vegetable growers or grower organizations. The Rural Energy for America Program helps growers and small rural business improve energy efficiency, or purchase or install renewable energy systems. The program includes guaranteed loan financing and grant funding. For more information see the USDA website at www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/rural-energy-america-program-renewable-energy-systems-energy-efficiency or[Read More…]
For those who receive hard copies of the Vegetable Crops Hotline by US Mail, this will be the last issue mailed unless you have renewed your subscription for 2015. You may renew by 1) mailing subscription form included in this issue with payment, or 2) joining or renewing membership in the Indiana Vegetable Growers Association[Read More…]