Packaging is one of the most important final steps you can do to ensure the freshness and quality of your produce. With the different types of packaging, it’s hard to know where to start and how to do it right. Remember the primary market drivers. The ideal retail-ready package is a shipping package that can … Read more
Like an intricate puzzle, soil health has so many different pieces it can be challenging to see what they are and how they fit together. One piece in rebuilding soil health is no-till farming. Also known as “direct seeding” in some circles, no-till farming involves keeping soil relatively undisturbed and protected with residue leftover from … Read more
Vulnerability, exposure and sensitivity may not be terms you expected to use when you got into farming. Yet, according to author-scientist-farmer Laura Lengnick, these terms are key to the new language of growing produce in our changing climate. There are multiple options available to determine your land’s vulnerabilities, exposures and sensitivities. Perhaps the easiest place … Read more
Weed specialists and agents at the University of California’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program advise growers to control weeds before corn plants reach 6 to 8 inches high. At that height, weeds will begin to affect corn yields because they start to compete with the plant for nutrients, water and light. Weeds that grow later … Read more
A shared language is an important part of getting along and of understanding what’s happening around you. In this era, when comprehending what’s happening in your fields may help your neighbors understand what’s happening in their fields and vice versa, a shared language around agriculture as it relates to climate change may be essential. This … Read more