Category: Tree Fruit
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Starting the 2025 growing season
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—…
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Vermont Apple Industry Survey
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…
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February 21: 129th VTFGA / UVM Fruit Program Annual Meeting and Winter Webinar series
Happy New Year: I have news of two exciting educational opportunities coming up in the next few months. First, the Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association will hold their 129th (!) annual meeting in conjunction with the UVM Fruit Program on Friday, February 21 at the American Legion Hall, 49 Wilson Rd., Middlebury, VT. The agenda…
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Save the dates: Educational opportunities for the winter season
I have two ‘save the dates’ to get on your calendars for the 2025 winter meeting season: The Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association / UVM Fruit Program 129th Annual meeting will be held at the American Legion in Middlebury, VT on Friday, February 21. The New England Extension Fruit Consortium will again offer a series…
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Cornell ENY Soil Health and Mycorrhizal Fungi Meeting August 15
While this meeting is based around apples, the concepts apply just as much to vineyards, so I am sharing to both lists. -TB Eastern NY Orchard Soil Health and Beneficial Fungi Workshop Northern Orchards Walker Farm 688 River Rd, Peru NY 12972 August 15, 2024 3-5pm (Rain date: August 16 if needed) The soils that…
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Midsummer orchard / vineyard management
I hope everyone is doing okay after the already wet season and this past week’s damaging rain event. Unfortunately, these events are too common, such that UVM Extension has a resource page ready to go: https://www.uvm.edu/extension/disaster-resources. I know that orchards and vineyards are generally on higher ground and thus likely saw less damage than the…
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H.706 Neonicotinoid bill and impacts on Vermont apple and grape producers
Since the Vermont House of Representatives and Senate voted to override the Governor’s veto of H.706, An act relating to banning the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, I have received a number of questions about the bill’s impact on fruit growers. The answer is, not much. The main focus of this bill is the phasing out…
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Vermont Apple IPM- Summer pest management
Sorry about the delay in getting this out, graduating a kiddo from high school is more of an event than I’d planned. Anyway, there are a few orchard items I want to touch on. First and probably foremost, the heat we are expecting this coming week could provide substantial stress to trees, not to mention…
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Weed Management Field Meetings in NY June 20 and 21
Passing this on from Mike Basedow at Cornell Cooperative Extension. -TB Weed Management Field Meetings June 20: Hudson Valley Mead’s Orchard 15 Scism Rd, Tivoli NY 12583 9am – 11:30am Join us on the morning of June 20th as we hear from Cornell University weed management specialists Dr. Lynn Sosnoskie and Dr. Yu Jiang regarding…
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UVM Apple IPM: Fruit set, insect activity picking up
Now that we’re past petal fall and many have had a chance to assess the effects of any thinning sprays applied last week, it’s worth assessing the situation as we head into summer. I have not made many orchard visits yet this year but have seen a few, most of my observations are from our…