Welcome to the first issue of the 2025 Facts for Fancy Fruit newsletter! I am excited to help carry on the tradition of providing timely, research-based information to fruit growers across the state. With all the crazy weather across the state this week, I know we are all dreaming of the day we can pick…Read more about From the Editor[Read More]
Welcome to Spring! Things have begun to green up here at Meigs as we’ve had some warmer weather and plenty of rain. Consequently, this week has been a push to make our first-of-season herbicide and fungicide applications in the orchard. Though we breached 80F a couple times already, our fruit trees and brambles do not…Read more about Crop Conditions[Read More]
Indiana has already experienced several tornadoes this year with more certainly to come. Of course, this is not unusual since Indiana is often considered on the far northeastern edge of “Tornado Alley”. Tornadoes get their energy from the battle between the cooler, drier Canadian air moving southeastward and the warmer, more humid air coming north…Read more about Tracking tornadoes over time[Read More]
A group of horticulture crop weed scientists across the country is seeking your help to determine the needs and barriers to adopting novel weed control technologies. Our focus is on perennial crops! This survey is confidential- your identity will not be linked to your responses. All questions are optional. It takes about 10 minutes to…Read more about Scientists Seek Perennial Fruit Grower Input on Novel Technologies[Read More]
Agricultural Producers Have Until April 15 to Enroll in USDA’s Key Commodity Safety Net Programs for the 2025 Crop Year In an effort to remind agricultural producers about USDA Farm Service Agency’s Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) enrollment deadline for the 2025 crop year. I am sharing a toolkit that includes…Read more about Stakeholder Toolkit[Read More]
Crop Status Plug plants set on black plastic mulch in late summer and early fall are approaching full bloom. Some early blooms may have been damaged by recent low temperatures. Moving forward, growers should remain vigilant in protecting these crops from potential frost injury (Figure 1). Bare-root plants that were planted on white plastic during…Read more about Plasticulture Strawberry Update from Southern Indiana[Read More]
New Sprayer Technologies & Best Practices: Vineyards & Orchards Tuesday, August 12th Quarry Hill Winery & Orchard Berlin Heights, OH GO.OSU.EDU/SPRAY2025 Indiana Horticulture Conference & Indiana Small Farms Conference March 3-5, 2026 Hendricks County Fairgrounds Danville, IN https://indianahortconference.org/ https://extension.purdue.edu/anr/_teams/dffs/small_farm_conference/index.html
A colleague recently emailed me a label for a new herbicide, Chateau® Complete (Figure 1). I first applied Chateau® 18 years ago, and the label that landed in my inbox looked very familiar. It took me a minute to figure out how this was different from previous formulations (Figure 2). “Chateau® Complete” is actually a…Read more about What’s in a (Herbicide) Name?[Read More]
Spotted Lanternfly Identification, Control, and Management Plus Spotted Lanternfly Effects on Indiana Vineyards Join Owen County Soil and Water, Indiana DNR, Purdue Extension and Owen Valley Winery on Saturday, April 12th 1-3 PM at Owen Valley Winery (491 Timber Ridge Rd Spencer, IN 47460) to learn about the invasive Spotted Lanternfly and the effects it…Read more about Join us to Learn about the Spotted Lanternfly & Its Effects on Indiana Vineyards[Read More]
Learn about tree fruit management from Dr. Peter Hirst, Purdue, and disease management from Dr. Melanie Lewis Ivey, The Ohio State University, on Wednesday, April 30th at 6:30 PM at Kercher’s Sunrise Orchards (19498 CR 38 Goshen, IN 46526). To register, call 574-533-0554 or email Mark Evans (mevans@purdue.edu).
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