Purdue Extension presented its first Fruit, Vegetable and Hemp Field Day post-pandemic at the Meigs Ag Center in July 2022. Extension Specialists and Graduate Students presented specialty crop research to 45 attendees. Attendees had only good things to say about the event. ” Great information and research.” “Great variety of experiences and knowledge.” “I felt…Read more about Purdue Fruit and Vegetable Field Day – July 20, 2023[Read More]
Petrus Langenhoven
Horticulture and Hydroponic Crop Specialist
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Petrus Langenhoven's website
Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Petrus Langenhoven's website
The 2022 Purdue Small Farm Education Field Day was a big success. Nearly 72% of attendees reported that they learned something new. Nearly half indicated they plan to adopt recommended practices for diversified farming systems, and over a third (36.0%) plan to adopt recommended practices for creating, improving, or strengthening their business. Half (52.0%) indicated…Read more about Small Farm Education Field Day – July 27, 2023[Read More]
Dr. Betty Feng’s lab within the Department of Food Science at Purdue University is hosting a series of webinars this March and April. The webinars are free to anyone who wishes to participate and will cover various topics, including on-farm food safety and agriculture soil management. Food Safety Plan (accumulative series of webinars) March 21…Read more about Webinar Series – Scaling up Your Small and Medium-sized Farm[Read More]
Adopted from a Farmers.gov bulletin, March 7, 2023 A new, simplified direct loan application is now available for all producers seeking a direct farm loan from the Farm Service Agency (FSA). The new application, reduced from 29 to 13 pages, provides improved customer experience for producers applying for loans and enables them to complete a…Read more about USDA’s Simplified Direct Loan Application is Now Available for all Producers[Read More]
The EQIP program is a great program that helps growers to get access to finance and technical assistance. I reached out to Sarah Vaughn, District Conservationist at the Lafayette NRCS Service Center, and she had the following comments. “Applications for EQIP financial assistance are accepted throughout the year. Indiana’s EQIP deadline is typically mid-December. Producers…Read more about NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) Financial Assistance[Read More]
The 2023 cover crop survey is underway Adopted from NCR SARE news release, “Farmers: Share Your Thoughts on Cover Crops in the National Cover Crop Survey!“, March 1, 2023 Farmers are invited to share their thoughts on cover crops in an online survey. Why do you plant cover crops…or why don’t you? What do you…Read more about Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education News[Read More]
I conducted a summer squash (zucchini) variety trial at the Throckmorton Purdue Agriculture Center/Meigs Horticulture Facility, Lafayette, IN, a few years ago (Figures 1 & 2). We evaluated ten varieties with cylindrical fruit shape characteristics. (Table 1). Unfortunately, one variety, Felix, is no longer available. Standard zucchini production protocol was followed. Diseases and pests…Read more about Planning on Growing Summer Squash this Summer?[Read More]
Recent price increases and supply chain shortages for fertilizers, chemicals, and energy have impacted farm profitability and viability. As a result, many Indiana farmers are interested in alternative and more sustainable approaches to maintaining crop productivity and building soil health, such as applying composts to their soils. Applying compost to the soil is common in…Read more about Are You Thinking of Applying Compost to Your Soils?[Read More]
Welcome to the Vegetable Crops Hotline (VCH), Purdue Extension’s exclusive newsletter for people in the business of growing vegetables. Our outstanding contributing authors have outdone themselves once again. Spring is almost upon us; before we know it, we will be seeding and planting vegetables outdoors. This issue is packed with great information. Information that will…Read more about From the Editor’s Desk[Read More]
Welcome to the Vegetable Crops Hotline (VCH), Purdue Extension’s exclusive newsletter for people in the business of growing vegetables. As things might change from year to year, so did the newsletter editorship. In December 2023, Wenjing Guan handed the role over to Petrus Langenhoven. “Wenjing, I think I am safe to say that on behalf…Read more about From the Editor’s Desk[Read More]