Author: Terence Bradshaw

The recent warm weather has advanced apple bud stages significantly — we are at the half-inch green stage at UVM HREC and continued warm weather should keep things moving. I recorded a video at the orchard yesterday showing the bud development at the farm and discussing the need for disease management this week. Thankfully, there…

Join the University of Vermont Extension and Vermont Tree Fruit Grower’s Association at these hands-on field meetings at Yates Family Orchard in Monkton on May 8th and Wellwood Orchard in Springfield on May 9th from 4:30-6 p.m. We will discuss commercial tree fruit management practices, value added products, marketing, pest and disease updates, pollinators, and…

I am trying out some 21st-century technology this week. First, I dictated my message while on my commute (with light editing), so the ‘writing’ style and length may be a bit different than folks are used to. Second, I recorded an update from the UVM orchard and placed on our YouTube channel. I intend to…

I think burying my call for folks interested in receiving traps for orchard monitoring at the bottom of my first email last week left it unseen, so I’m resending on its own. Scouting season is almost here in Vermont orchards. We have some funds available to distribute traps to growers around the state to help…

Good morning: The growing season just keeps getting closer, I am calling today as the start of silver tip in McIntosh trees at the UVM Horticulture Research and Education Center. That means that the need for regular pest management is right on our doorstep. For decades, the UMASS Fruit IPM program published the ‘March Message’…

My longtime colleague and predecessor in this Extension role, Lorraine Berkett, always used to stress that “the growing season starts April 1”. By that she didn’t mean that we should be firing up sprayers by April Fools’ Day— although in one year I did make my first copper application to the orchard on March 30—…

I am sharing this update from the state Natural Resources Conservation Service office that Vern Grubinfger recently posted to his Vegetable and Berry Newsletter. -TB NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE UPDATE Travis L. Thomason, State Conservationist, NRCS-Vermont In alignment with White House directives, Secretary Rollins will honor contracts that were already made directly to farmers. Specifically,…

My graduate student, Eli Wilson, is conducting a survey to assess the status of orchard planting systems and farm diversification among Vermont apple producers. This is the same survey that was done in real-time at the 2/21 Middlebury meeting. If you took it there, please ignore. -TB https://go.uvm.edu/25orchardsurvey Good afternoon. The UVM Fruit Program is…

Passing this on from the VT Agency of Agriculture. All farms subject to the Food Safety Modernization Act are required to have at least one supervisor or responsible party who has completed this or a similar training approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Want to know if you’re covered under FSMA? Here are…

Good morning: The full schedule for the 2025 Eastern Viticulture and Enology webinar series is out: Fifth Annual Eastern Viticulture and Enology Forum Webinar Series. Eastern Viticulture and Enology Forum Series (EVEF) is a collaborative effort between the Penn State Extension Grape and Wine Team and viticulture and/or enology Extension programs from the following U.S.…