Author: Terence Bradshaw

Good morning: I was hearing from some growers earlier this week, was called separately by another, and saw for myself when I was looking over the UVM orchard yesterday some concerning issues with fruit quality that I ascribe to a ‘hormone / stress mess’ in some situations. Many of us are seeing frost rings, the…

UVM’s new Commercial Horticulture website has officially launched, and some major changes have been made to the site’s format and organization. If you have any difficulty finding the information that you are looking for, feel free to contact Lily Carr (lacarr@uvm.edu), the editor of the new website, and she will promptly answer any questions or…

As the calendar flips to August, it’s time to wrap up field activities in preparation for harvest in Vermont orchards and vineyards. Foliar nutrient analysis – It is the time in the growing season to collect leaf samples in apples and petioles in grapes for analysis. Apple leaf samples are usually collected between July 15…

Important information from the VT Agency of Agriculture. Be safe out there, it sounds like another round of nasty weather is coming this afternoon.-TB Dear Produce Growers, As the response to this week’s devastating flooding continues, we hope that you and your families are safe. Our hearts and minds are with you during this time…

Yikes! This has been quite a week. Even the drier sites in northwest Vermont have seen a couple of inches of rain in the past week, and the worst- apparently my town of Calais- saw over nine and a half inches in the past two days. Southern Vermont is especially hard-hit, and Roads are a…

FYI Upcoming Webinars Fruit Crop Insurance Program – How Crop Insurance Responds After a Loss Thu, Jul 6, 2023 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT Crop Insurance is a widely adopted risk management tool utilized by over 10,000 northeast farmers, producers, and growers. This year’s late May freeze event has left the northeast fruit industry…

In order to better serve commercial growers, we will be updating the UVM Extension Commercial Horticulture website. The goals of these changes are to increase the website’s usefulness, functionality, and accessibility. Feedback from this survey will provide useful information to aid assessment of these updates. This survey will take approximately 2-5 minutes to complete. The…

FYI- this is one of the first steps toward USDA developing any relief programs beyond the regular crop insurance programs. This is in addition to the request made by the secretaries and commissioners of agriculture in the ten northeastern states.-TB State of Vermont OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

Good evening: Here’s another joint apple-grape bulletin. The news of the week is that we finally have a good dose of much-needed rain. Our trees and vines will appreciate this very much after the dry May and early June we experienced. For most sites, this should replenish the moisture that the plants have been begging…

Word is getting out in the media about the crop loss from the May 18 freeze. I am trying to manage the messaging a bit to nudge writers to encourage customers to support orchards and other farms this year. We don’t need the public writing the crop off before we even have. On that note,…