The Vegetable Beet

Reducing tillage in vegetable production – an interview with Kevin and Annelie from Good Turn Farm

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 10:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Rue Genger interviews Kevin Anderson and Annelie Livingston-Anderson to learn about the reduced tillage systems they use to produce vegetables and flowers at Good Turn Farm, in Pepin County Wisconsin. Kevin and Annelie share their favorite low-tillage production systems, benefits they’ve seen for soil health, and advice for growers who are getting started with reduced tillage methods. We also hear about the Johnson-Su composting bioreactor that Kevin and Annelie are trialing with the Land Stewardship Project.

Reducing tillage in vegetable production – an interview with Liz Dwyer of Dancing the Land

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 10:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Rue Genger and Liz Dwyer of Dancing the Land, Clearwater Minnesota, mix philosophy and practicality into their conversation about farming, food, and caring for the land. Liz describes the evolution of the several different reduced tillage systems that she and her partner Curtis use on their land, how their livestock are integrated into annual production systems, and the importance of adaptability and observation in developing systems for your farm.

Deep compost mulch for vegetable production – an interview with Jimmy Bauman of Farm Fam

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 13:45:46 -0500

Deep compost mulch systems are gaining popularity among vegetable growers who want to reduce tillage. In this episode, Rue Genger interviews Jimmy Bauman about the deep compost mulch systems used at Farm Farm in Princeton Minnesota. Jimmy describes the path he and his partner Heather have taken to reduce tillage, build soil organic matter, and refine their deep compost mulch system for vegetable production.

Managing soilborne diseases with biofumigation

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 16:12:12 -0500

In this episode, Natalie interviewed Meg McGrath, a plant pathologist from Cornell, and Jim Jasinski, IPM coordinator at Ohio State University, about using biofumigation to manage soilborne diseases. We discuss how it works and tips for growers who want to try it on their farms.

Knocking the wind out of soil diseases

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 11:13:23 -0500

In this episode we talk to Anna Testen and Bob Philbrun, from Ohio, about a method for directly competing with and destroying soil diseases by encouraging a special group of microbiology, called anaerobes. Like day shift and a night shift clocking in and out, the anaerobes rule with oxygen is removed from the soil, leaving behind a tilthy planting medium wither fewer plant disease-causing pathogens.

Building organic matter without building phosphorus

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 18 May 2022 13:29:32 -0500

How do we build organic matter on farms without over-fertilizing our soils? And what are realistic goals for increasing organic matter? In this episode, Natalie Hoidal interviews Dr. Nic Jelinski, a soil scientist at the University of Minnesota. They talk about soil formation, how organic matter accumulates in soil, broadening our metrics for soil health, and how different practices like compost additions and cover crops contribute to organic matter in the longer-term.

Where phosphorus comes from and where it goes

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Tue, 17 May 2022 12:14:27 -0500

Across the Great Lakes region, we see vegetable farms with very high levels of soil phosphorus. In this episode, Natalie Hoidal interviews four ecologists who study nutrient leaching in freshwater ecosystems to understand how much it matters for vegetable farms to have high phosphorus levels in their soils, and what we can do about it.

Tunnel trouble: increasing many things, but not yield

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Tue, 17 May 2022 11:09:48 -0500

High tunnel crops often look great for the first few years, but as tunnel soils begin to build up salts and alkalinity, we begin to see plant health problems around years 3-5. In this episode, Natalie Hoidal interviews Dr. Elsa Sanchez and Thomas Ford from Penn State about trends they've seen in high tunnel soils, and strategies for dealing with common problems.

Sweet Corn and Beans Succotash - live from Great Lakes EXPO

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 08:00:00 -0600

In this special mid-winter offering, three university researchers agreed to be interviewed and recorded for this live and in-person show. They were Marty Chilvers, specializing corn and bean diseases; James Dedecker, specializing wildlife management; and Zsofia Szendrei, specializing in insect pests of vegetables. This show is brought to you by Fartless Beans, and Heavy Metal Tube Man.

Unique Upicks - live from Great Lakes EXPO

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 08:06:53 -0600

In this special mid-winter offering, three operations agreed to be interviewed and recorded for this live and in-person show. They were Blake Farms (Armada, MI), specializing in fruits, vegetables, and agritainment; Hoopers Farm Garden (Traverse City, MI), specializing in cut flowers for events; and Will Forage for Food (Grass Lake, MI), specializing in wild food tourism and educational events.

Ovewintering Pests Part 2: Diseases

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 09:19:32 -0600

Ben Phillips interviews Lina Rodrigues-Salamanca about how diseases get through the winter. A written synopsis of this content will appear in the January edition of Vegetable Growers News, in a column called Great Lakes Veg Connections.

Overwintering Pests Part 1: Insects

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 09:18:06 -0600

Ben Phillips interviews Zsofia Szendrei about how insects make it through the wintry times. A written synopsis of this content will appear in the January edition of Vegetable Growers News, in a column called Great Lakes Veg Connections.

Broccoli Roundup

GLVPN — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 11:00:00 -0500

Listen to a broccoli dream team discuss disease management, markets, varieties, insect control and more! Natalie Hoidal interviews Dr. Bhabesh Dutta of Georgia, Thomas Bjorkman of Cornell and Susan Scheufele of Massachusetts, a team tackling broccoli production east of the Mississippi. Learn more about their multi-state work on developing varieties and markets and improving pest and disease management.

Wildlife Management for Vegetable Growers

GLVPN — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 08:00:00 -0500

Caw, Caw, phwump, chk chk boom, arrgghhhh! It doesn't take long in farming to start to sympathize with Elmer Fudd, as it seems mammals are always one wing flap/paw/hoofprint ahead of the limited tools we have. Listen as we chat with James DeDecker about vertebrate pest management (P.S. sounds at the beginning were, in order, bird distress call "squawk box," a propane cannon, a shotgun, and an exasperated grower).

Also check out a library of factsheets, videos and more on vertebrate management available through Michigan State University, plus this article that puts fencing costs in perspective.

Getting Your Vitamins All Winter Long with Leafy Greens Production

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 11:00:00 -0500

This week's show is all about getting set for the 4th growing season; winter! Planting dates are crucial for winter greens to yield during and through the Persephone period when we have fewer than 10 hours of light a day. When to heat? What kinds of insulation options are available? Lewis Jett is here to talk about preparing hoophouses for and tending to winter leafy green vegetables.

Follow up questions can be sent to Lewis at Lewis.Jett@mail.wvu.edu .

Be the pumpqueen and pumpking you were meant to be

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 20:00:00 -0500

With pumpkins starting to color up, do you already have pumpkin spiced lattes on your minds? Next week the Vegetable Beet will be gnawing on the important pumpkin questions. Join Ben Werling of MSU Extension as he talks to the pumpkin duo, Nathan Johanning of University of Illinois Extension and Brad Bergeford of the Ohio State University Extension about how to be the pumpkings and pumpqueens you were meant to be!

Here are some resources that were discussed in this week's episode.

The Midwest Veg Guide

More powdery mildew fungicides for cucurbits from the Ohio State University.

Asian Greens and Other Culturally Appropriate Crops

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 14:00:00 -0500

Bok choy, fava greens, daikon, oh my! This week, University of Kentucky Extension Agent, Bethany Pratt, and Common Earth Gardens Executive Director, Laura Stevens, and Agricultural Consultant Stephen Bartlett join the podcast to talk about the production of Asian greens and other culturally appropriate crops, working with refugee populations, and the challenges and opportunities when it comes to marketing these crops.

The Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers has a chapter on Asian vegetables.

Regarding some of the topics we touched upon, check out the following websites for context and background information about the food sovereignty movement:

www.usfoodsovereigntyalliance.org

Hold onto your oomycetes!

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 17:00:00 -0500

Hold onto your oomycetes, folks! This week Mary Hausbeck joins us from Michigan State University to talk about a group of pathogens called oomycetes, also known as water molds. These include downy mildews on foliage, and the complex of Phytophthora, and Pythium rots on roots and fruits. What makes them different and more challenging than regular ol' fungus and bacteria? With loads of experience and research on these pathogens, Mary will have you saying "ooooo!-mycetes" and "oh!-mycetes" instead of the profanity you might otherwise use.

Keep up with Mary at veggies.msu.edu.

Virus Mystique & Management

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 21:00:00 -0500

CMV, INSV, TSWV, SqMV, WTF? Viruses are a confounding complex of pathogens of our vegetable crops that can hide in overhead ornamentals in greenhouses and non-crop weeds in fields. How can you prevent them from infecting plants, identify if plants are infected, or manage plants after infection? Brett Arenz, from the University of Minnesota, and Jan Byrne, from Michigan State University, join us to discuss these mysterious plant problems.

The Garlic Guru - From Clean Seed to Scaping

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 15 Jul 2021 08:00:00 -0500

Join us this week for the Garlic Guru of Ontario, Travis Cranmer. Garlic is one of those polarizing crops that people love or hate. But, those who like to eat it, tend to really love it. And those who grow it, really love to grow it. Planting in fall, harvested in summer. How strange!? What should you know about seed quality and sourcing, and what do you with the flower scapes of hardneck garlic? Travis will take us from A to Z. No vampires allowed.

Vegetable Abiotic Disorders

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 19:00:00 -0500

There are many things that look like a disease, or insect damage, but they are not! What are they called? These are "abiotic" disorders, and they get their name from being "non-living" causes of plants stress and yield reduction. Cold snaps, heat stress, wind, hail, low spots, and pH and nutrient levels in soil and water are common causes for abiotic disorders, and Becky Sideman is here from the University of New Hampshire Extension to talk out some of the common and tricky ones with us!

Here is Becky's factsheet on Blossom End Rot.
Here is Becky's video about Yellow Shoulders management.
Here are the American Phytopathological Society Compendia that detail disorders in addition to diseases and insects. They are now available for free as pdfs!

Ugh bugs! Organic Cucumber Beetle Management

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 15:00:00 -0500

Ugh Bugs! Organic cucumber beetle management is an annual ordeal for both conventional and organic growers, but there are more limited options for sprays on organic vine crops. What is it about this bug that makes it so difficult to deal with? What can I do about it with the sprays available, and other tools beyond the boom? Celeste Welty, at The Ohio State University, has pondered and researched these questions in her career as a fruit and vegetable entomologist in the Buckeye State. Join us and learn!

Organic Certification 101

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 19:00:00 -0500

Ope! Starting a farm or transitioning a farm to certified organic is tough! New crops, new pests, new markets, and new paperwork. Jake Overgaard, certification specialist from Midwest Organic Services Association (MOSA), and Vicki Morrone, organic systems academic specialist from MSU, are here to discuss the pitfalls and easily-missed or commonly screwed up things that require extra time to remedy and could have gone smoother for Organic Certification.

You can get more information on organic certification from mosaorganic.org, including a nice set of factsheets to keep your head from spinning.

Onion Stemphylium

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 16:00:00 -0500

$temphylium Onion Blight can cost onion growers $ in so many ways. Hear about ways to get a handle on the SOB as Dennis Van Dyk chats with Christy Hoepting about Stemphylium control in onions.

Christy mentions at some point "What the frick is a FRAC?" Here is a quick run down of the products and their FRAC codes from Christy's most recent trial in 2020. "Always be rotating through them and guard the 7's with your life".

Viathon = tebuconazole + potassium phosphite = FRAC 3 + 33
Luna Experience = fluopyram + tebuconazole = FRAC 7 + 3
Luna Tranquility = fluopyram + pyrimethanil = FRAC 7 + 9
Inspire Super = difenoconazole + cyprodinil = FRAC 3 + 9
Quadris Top = difenoconazole + azoxystrobin = FRAC 3 + 11
Merivon = fluxapyroxad + pyraclostrobin = FRAC 7 + 11
Rovral = iprodione = FRAC 2
Scala = pyrimethanil = FRAC 9
Endura = boscalid = FRAC 7
Cabrio = pyraclostrobin = FRAC 11
Quadris = azoxystrobin = FRAC 11

Strawberries for Vegetable Growers

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 13:00:00 -0500

Interested in growing strawberries in a vegetable rotation with the same tools and equipment you would use for vegetables? Can't get the lingo straight? This episode is for you! Ben Phillips interviewed Courtney Weber, berry breeder from Cornell, and Annie Klodd, fruit specialist from University of Minnesota, about strawberries production styles for June-picking that can work for vegetable growers.

A summary of this podcast was written up for the Vegetable Growers News Veg Connections Column.

Here are a couple of resources that could prove useful going forward.

This Penn State University production guide includes plasticulture instructions for both plug and bare root plants. https://extension.psu.edu/strawberry-production

This University of Minnesota variety list contains attributes that are useful for far northern growers: https://blog-fruit-vegetable-ipm.extension.umn.edu/2020/12/choose-strawberry-varieties-based-on-38.html

This North Carolina State University plant supplier list has the main players for sourcing plug plants and bare root plants. Consider reaching out to southern producers of plug plants up to a year in advance. https://ncstrawberry.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Plant-Suppliers-2020.pdf

Catch my (herbicide) drift? Veggies in the era of expanded dicamba

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 10:00:00 -0500

Dicamba, 2,4-D, and bears, oh-my! Matt Kleinhenz talked with Doug Doohan about herbicide drift in vegetables, especially as we farm in the volatile world of dicamba-resistant field crops.

Here is a great set of factsheets to help identify, prepare for, and respond to herbicide drift:
https://ipm-drift.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/dicamba-and-24-d-fact-sheet-series

Here is the regional survey about your experiences with herbicide drift that can help guide research and policy:
https://ipm-drift.cfaes.ohio-state.edu/news/survey-herbicide-drift-launches

Tips for summer lettuce production

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 26 May 2021 16:00:00 -0500

Katie King interviewed Ajay Nair, from Iowa State University, and Emily Fagan, from Humble Hands Harvest, about summer lettuce production. Seeds or transplants? Timing for continuous cutting or harvest? How to keep ahead of summer stresses that affect flavor and bolting? Does irrigation affect quality?

Microbial inoculants: when are they worth using?

GLVPN — Wed, 19 May 2021 15:00:00 -0500

Natalie Hoidal interviewed Lori Hoagland, from Purdue University, about microbial stimulants, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. This was a topic we touched on in the Organic Media Mixes and Fixes episode but wanted to go deeper on! It's neat stuff! Can we co-opt this complex inter-species communication and communalism in an annual production system?

Pre-season Pumpkin Tips

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 12 May 2021 23:00:00 -0500

Ben Werling interviewed Brad Bergefurd, from Ohio State University, and Nathan Johanning, from University of Illinois, about pre-season pumpkin tips. Both Brad and Nathan maintain their own personal pumpkin patches outside of their jobs at their universities.

Beatnik Pumpkin skit written by Ben Werling, performed by Ben Phillips.

Water for Urban Farms

GLVPN — Wed, 05 May 2021 15:00:00 -0500

"Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink". It can be hard to get reliable and affordable water for urban vegetable farms even when there is water infrastructure running through nearly every street and building.

Ben Phillips interviewed Naim Edwards, from MSU Detroit Partnership for Food, Land, and Innovation (DPFLI), and Micah Hutchison, from the Genesee County Conservation District, about water access and use efficiencies for urban farms.

Michelle Wallace, from Central State University, provided many thoughtful questions for this episode, and serves the greater Toledo area with respect to urban farming pursuits. She can be reached at mwallace@centralstate.edu.

City Water Shanty written by Ben Phillips to the tune of Drunken Sailor. Performed by Ben Phillips, Jim Isleib, and Naim Edwards.

Potato Seed from Spud to Bud

GLVPN — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 09:00:00 -0500

Dennis Van Dyk interviewed Steve Johnson, from the University of Maine, about potato seed piece handling from spud to bud. How do seed age, size, and storage conditions affect your final stand, and what disease prevention options work best? Steve is a true master of his material, and was a pleasure to interview.

You can see more of Steve's work on potatoes through the University of Maine pesticide credit system. This is website is technically for pesticide applicators in Maine, but don't have to pay for anything to watch his videos and read his accompanying resources.

The song, Spud to Bud, is a topical re-write of Stompin' Tom's Bud the Spud. Words and performance by Ben Phillips.

Alternatives to Plastic Mulch

GLVPN — Wed, 21 Apr 2021 14:00:00 -0500

Natalie Hoidal will be interviewing Steve Poppe and Nate Dalman of the University of Minnesota. Is plastic mulch a key part of your farm that you wish you could ditch? Natalie will get the scoop on possible alternatives to plastic mulch, including non-living mulches and cover crops.

Here is a synopsis of Steve Poppe's research on biodegradable plastics in strawberries: https://blog-fruit-vegetable-ipm.extension.umn.edu/2019/02/developing-annual-day-neutral.html

Here is an article about Nate Dalman's living mulch work in strawberries:
https://fruit.umn.edu/living-mulch-strawberries-what-we-learned

At 35:00, Black Plastic Mulch is a cover of Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead, with lyrics reworked for the topic of alternative mulches. Lyrics by Ben Werling and Ben Phillips. Performed by Ben Phillips.

A black plastic mulch raised bed
For a fast-growing summer plant
It’s non recyclable

That she brought from a sales man
In a winter of best laid plans
But it left a big mess

Living or dead, we need a mulch
Living or dead, we need...

A novel non-plastic mulch
Or a short-growing legume mulch
That won’t crumble or compete

But I can’t go another day
There’s a price to pay either way
If I just turn my head

Living or dead, we need a mulch
Living or dead, we need a mulch

And if I could yield the same as ever
With mulch that blocks weeds, then leaves forever
By spring time, by spring time

From Cradle to Crate: Bacterial Diseases of Tomato

GLVPN — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 19:00:00 -0500

Ben Werling interviewed Cheryl Trueman, who works with Ontario tomato growers at the University of Guelph. Flex your epidemiology muscles-on a non-Covid subject-as we chat about bacterial diseases of tomatoes-how they spread, and what you can do to slow them down. Do tomato plants need to mask up?

Cheryl has an article that summarizes much of what we talked about today. https://onvegetables.com/2019/06/06/managing-bacterial-spot-in-ontario-tomatoes-updated-best-management-practices-for-field-production/

Go Plant Activators!

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 16:00:00 -0500

Ben Phillips interviewed Steve Bogash, of Marrone Bio Innovations, and Dan Egel, vegetable pathologist at Purdue. They discussed a special group of fungicides that work inside of the plant to "turn on" their own natural chemical defenses against pathogens. They go by many names, including Plant Activators, Plant Defense Regulators, and Defense Activators.

Theme music for this episode, Go Plant Activators!, was a topical parody of Go Go Power Rangers by Ron Wasserman. Parody lyrics and performance by Ben Phillips.

Spring Sprayer Startup at Center Ice

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 19:00:00 -0500

Ben Werling interviewed Jason Deveau (@spray_guy), from the Ontario Ministry of Farms and Rural Affairs, about ways to avoid frustration when starting up your sprayer for the first time. Jason is also one of the hot shot founders and content producers for sprayers101.com, a great place to learn about all things sprayed!

Seeds in the Hot Seat

GLVPN — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 16:00:00 -0500

This week Katie King interviewed Mohammad Babadoost, from the University of Illinois, and Fracensca Rotondo, from The Ohio State University, about seed treatments for vegetables.

Here is the OSU guide to hot water seed treatment.

Law and Order: Seed Unit written by Ben Phillips. Performed by Ben Phillips and Mike Reinke.

Springtime in the Hoophouse

GLVPN — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 13:00:00 -0500

Matt Kleinhenz interviewed Jud Reid about spring time transitional hoophouse production decisions. Both Matt and Jud have a ton of experience with this, and tackled lots of great questions!

Boys' Hood Greenhouses bit by Ben Phillips.

Organic Media Mixes and Fixes

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 14:00:00 -0600

This week Ben Phillips interviewed Liz Maynard, Wenjing Guan, and Lori Hoagland about their work on organic transplant media for starting vegetable seeds. Here are a few things they left us with.

Growing Media for Productive Transplants - Indiana Small Farms Conference 2021

Organic Growing Media – How Can it Affect the Health of My Transplants - eOrganic webinar December 2020

Organic Potting Mix Basics, M. Wander, U of I - eOrganic resource node.

Jumping worms, Bradley Herrick, Ecologist/Research Program Manager, Univ. of Wisc.-Madison Arboretum - Emerald Ash Borer University

"My Germination" lyrics by Ben Phillips, based on The Who's "My Generation". Performed by Ben Phillips and Liz Maynard (flute).

Lessons learned from Covid: Preparing for the 2021 Growing Season

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 18:00:00 -0600

Natalie Hoidal rejoined Annalisa Hultberg, from the University of Minnesota, and Amanda Byler, from Great Lakes Bay Health Centers, to catch up on COVID-related lessons learned on farms through 2020.

Get vaccinated if you get a chance.
Communicate openly and respectfully with your employees.
Hopes without a plan are just a wish.

Rekindling the Flame

GLVPN — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 12:00:00 -0600

New episodes March 3!
glveg.net/listen

Help GLVPN be a go-to show for you!

GLVPN — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 10:00:00 -0600

Head on over to glveg.net/listen and let us know if you liked the show, and if you would listen again as a live broadcast or a podcast for later listening.

Song is Chances by Silent Partner, accessed through YouTube Audio Library.

CFAP 2, Money for You

GLVPN — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 11:00:00 -0500

Ben Werling and Florencia Colella interview Benita Meekhof, from the Farm Service Agency about CFAP 2, the renewed and modified COVID-19 support program that specialty crop growers definitely need to check out.

Visit farmers.gov/cfap/specialty, call your FSA office, and apply by December 11!

Bonus Sponsor Content!

GLVPN — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 11:00:00 -0500

Here is a compilation of all the sponsor ads from the 2020 season. Wow, it's nearly 12 minutes long!

00:25 Miracle Carp
01:15 Larry's Leaning Pumpkins
01:59 Half-Baked High Tunnels
03:35 The Dissipation Station
04:16 The Bubble
05:04 The Letter B
05:23 Macro Bio Bros
06:30 Brassica No. 5
07:03 Bobby's Cobby Lobby and Sweet Corn Emporium Multi-Purpose Fishing Corn
08:44 A World Without Lorsban [TRAILER]
09:33 WBIN The Bin

For real though, the North Central Integrated Pest Management Center and USDA-NIFA were sponsors. Let's hope they never hear this.

Pumpkin Decisions in the Final Stretch

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 15:00:00 -0500

We're in the final stretch for pumpkin season, with market demand increasing in mid-September through the end of October. We have Brad Bergefurd and Nathan Johanning on this week to calm your jitters, and answer your questions about what can and can't be done at this point in the season.

This year both University of Illinois and The Ohio State University offered virtual field days for their pumpkin variety trials. See those at the links below!

2020 Illinois Pumpkin Virtual Field Day
https://extension.illinois.edu/events/2020-09-03-2020-pumpkin-field-day

2020 Ohio Pumpkin Virtual Field Day
https://u.osu.edu/jasinski.4/pumpkins/

Phytophthora Phthoughts

GLVPN — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 16:00:00 -0500

How can growers living with this devastating disease of cucurbits, peppers and tomatoes produce a harvestable crop? We invited Dr. Christine Smart to discuss this perplexing pathogen. Dr. Smart works on the "Phytophthora farm" at Cornell University, land which is dedicated to researching solutions growers can use to deal with this disease.

A World Without Lorsban

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 22:00:00 -0500

Chlorpyrifos pesticide registrations are on their way out, due to human health risks. What will fill the gaps for key pests and vegetable crops? Our guests are Brian Nault , Faruque Zaman, and Dan Gilrein of Cornell University.

Summary of regulatory actions for chlorpyrifos at EPA

The Brassica Pest Collaborative

Growers can also send a request in via the IR-4 website to petition for a needed pesticide (organic or conventional) use for onion maggot, cabbage maggot or any other pests/diseases/weeds needing management alternatives.

Links to talks given by Brian Nault:
Onion Fly Pest Management - 2020 Empire EXPO
Cabbage Maggot Management - 2020 Empire EXPO

Peppers, Hot

GLVPN — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 20:00:00 -0500

Bells are boring! This is a show for those seeking hot head and ethnic markets with peppers that make tongues sizzle. Our guests are Ben Phillips, from MSU, and Charlie Rohwer, from University of Minnesota.

Trial results can be found at bit.ly/mwvegtrials

Cleaning & Sanitizing Postharvest Equipment

GLVPN — Wed, 05 Aug 2020 13:00:00 -0500

It's not fun, but we need to get it done! What's the difference between cleaning and sanitizing? What are clean breaks, and how do they fit in with cleaning and sanitizing? How should postharvest practices change given novel coronavirus? Melanie Ivey (OSU) and Amanda Deering (Purdue) joined us to talk about food safety in the packinghouse.

Here is the EPA List N of disinfectants that can be used against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2-covid-19.

Managing Sweet Corn Caterpillars

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 16:00:00 -0500

Our guests are Celeste Welty, from OSU, and Laura Ingwell, from Purdue. Today, we will be chewing the cob about wormageddon in sweet corn.

We spent some time on trapping. Nothing beats the data collected from your own trap in your own field. But, there are a number of efforts to collect trapping data in a way grower's can reference. Here are a few in our region.

Great Lakes and Maritimes Pest Monitoring Network 2020. This is an international trapping effort focused mainly on Western Bean Cutworm and True Armyworm.

Purdue Corn Earworm Trapping Network. This brings you to the Purdue webpage about corn earworm, with a spreadsheet embedded at the bottom of the page with trap data from 6 sites.

The Ohio State University Pest Trap Reports. There are 10 other pests that are trapped and logged here. Each link will open a Google Sheet with trap data.

Late Summer Covers for Veggie Rotations

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 22:00:00 -0500

Our guests are Marisol Quintanilla, from MSU, and Sam Wortman, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We talked about cover crops that can be planted after an early-harvested vegetable, and into the fall. Are you covered?

Irrigation Setups for Vegetables

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 20:00:00 -0500

Our guests were Ron Goldy, from MSU, and Lyndon Kelley, from MSU/Purdue talking about irrigation setups for vegetables from sources to sprinklers.

Visit https://www.canr.msu.edu/irrigation/ for more information on Specialty Crops irrigation.

Specialty Crops Information Videos

Irrigation Overview - Lyndon Kelley - https://mediaspace.msu.edu/media/1_81hubozs
Moisture Sensors - Dr. Younsuk Dong - https://mediaspace.msu.edu/media/1_t6dgpqwu
Trickle Irrigation Presentation - Phil Ausra of TRICKL-EEZ Irrigation - https://mediaspace.msu.edu/media/1_ew36f1n6
Trickle Irrigation Q&A - https://mediaspace.msu.edu/media/1_w89cbkai
Water Resources - Lyndon Kelley - https://mediaspace.msu.edu/media/1_yd2w4fos

Also, check out What's Growing ON? Episode 5: Most Crop Per Drop for a nice in-depth discussion of irrigation as well!

A Biostimulating Discussion

GLVPN — Wed, 08 Jul 2020 15:00:00 -0500

Our guest is Matt Kleinhenz, from OSU. One of Matt's recent lines of study has been on plant-health enhancing microbial products. There tends to be a lot of confusion in this arena with new terms, claims, and a rapidly evolving industry. So, we have invited Matt to help us get it all straight. You can catch up with Matt's work on his Bugs in a Jug website.

Getting Elemental with Boron

GLVPN — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 14:00:00 -0500

Our guests are Carl Rosen, from the University of Minnesota, and Dan Egel, from Purdue. Carl's research and outreach program is concerned with plant nutrition and nutrient management with particular emphasis on commercial vegetable and fruit crop production. Dan focuses on disease control in vegetable crops. We spoke to them today about what Boron does for plants, and what uses are advisable. Preventing disease? Killing weeds? Ensuring proper nutrition? Foliar or soil-applied?

Avoiding the Powdery Mildew Blues

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 20:00:00 -0500

Meg McGrath, the Mildew Guru from Cornell, spoke with us today to talk all about powdery mildew in vine crops! Meg has spent a career learning how pathogens survive between crops, investigating factors that favor disease development, evaluating fungicides and resistant varieties, developing scouting protocols and action thresholds for timing the initiation of fungicide applications after disease detection.

Here is the main page of resources that Meg has put together on this topic.
https://www.vegetables.cornell.edu/crops/cucurbits/cucurbit-powdery-mildew/

This page includes downloadable lists of varieties that are marketed as having resistance to powdery mildew (and other diseases and disorders), updated conventional fungicide recommendations, and also a comprehensive collection of microbial and oil-based fungicides that are OMRI-listed.

Predicting Pest Pressure

GLVPN — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 08:00:00 -0500

Hindsight is 20/20 when it comes to pest problems when a missed management opportunity passes. What information can help you get ahead of the curve? And what does it all mean? Our guests today are Dan Egel, vegetable pathologist from Purdue, Keith Mason, entomologist and Enviroweather station network manager from Michigan State University, and Cheryl Trueman, vegetable pathologist from the University of Guelph in Ontario. Together we discuss the weather tools available to growers for predicting both insects and diseases in vegetable crops.

Here are some of the weather network resources that our guests shared.
Prediction tools for diseases and insects that overwinter here
Lots of models for Michigan - https://enviroweather.msu.edu/
Lots of models across the NE and Midwest - http://newa.cornell.edu/
Diseases for melons in Indiana - http://www.melcast.info/
Diseases for sugar beets in Michigan - http://www.michiganbeets.com/dsv.cfm

Tracking tools for diseases and insects that blow-in
Forecasting "insect rains" moving on weather systems - http://www.insectforecast.com/
Tomato/potato late blight forecast for Michigan - https://www.canr.msu.edu/psbp/resources/disease-tools/late-blight-disease-forecast
Tomato/potato late blight tracking nationwide - https://usablight.org/map/
Cucurbit downy mildew tracking in Michigan - https://veggies.msu.edu/downy-mildew-news/
Cucurbit downy mildew tracking nationwide - https://cdm.ipmpipe.org/
Corn earworm trap data for Indiana - https://extension.entm.purdue.edu/veg/cornearworm/

Do's and Don't's For Submitting Samples and Reading Results

GLVPN — Thu, 11 Jun 2020 10:00:00 -0500

Our first guest today is Lina Rodriguez-Salamanca, Extension Plant Pathologist and Diagnostician, at Iowa State University. In the ISU Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic, Lina focuses her efforts on disease diagnosis and its importance in disease management and IPM implementation. Our second guest is Kyle Broderick from the University of Nebraska Extension. As the Plant and Pest Diagnostics Extension Educator, Kyle coordinates the Plant & Pest Diagnostic Clinic we can help diagnose plant disease and insect problems and provide management recommendations.

Hoophouse Nutrient Management

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 04 Jun 2020 13:00:00 -0500

Today’s episode is HOOPHOUSE NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT. Our first guest today is Judson Reid, Extension Vegetable Specialist, at Cornell University. Judson focuses on cultural practices, small farm operations and season extension techniques. Our second guest is David Van Eeckhout from The Good Acre food hub in St. Paul, Minnesota. As The Good Acre’s Grower Support Specialist, David combines his experience in farming and business to help their network of farmers be sustainable both financially and in the field, including crop recommendations and food safety protocols.

Near the end of the Q&A session there was some discussion about citric acid rates for organic producers to acidify their irrigation water. Here is a link that was shared: https://www.pthorticulture.com/en/training-center/acid-choices-for-reducing-water-alkalinity/

Pumpkin Planting for Halloween Markets

GLVPN — Thu, 28 May 2020 09:00:00 -0500

Brad Bergefurd and Nathan Johanning are both Extension Educators based in the southern tier counties of Ohio and Illinois. They also both raise pumpkins as personal businesses. Together we will discuss planting time decisions to hit your target markets for conventional and strip-till/no-till systems.

Nathan talked about a no-till transplanter, and pictures of his and another type can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KIpvlYrmCshsyOLM8Iax0yT_XVwva8ky?usp=sharing

The white thread: early season weed management

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 20 May 2020 18:00:00 -0500

Our guests today were Dan Brainard, Professor of Horticulture at MSU, and Stephen Meyers, Weed Scientist at Purdue University. Dan’s recent work focuses on using seedbed prep, mechanical weeders, and cover crops for weed control. Stephen focuses on helping vegetable growers using herbicides safely and effectively, as well as testing new products.

How can growers prepare a seedbed to start off as weed-free as possible?

How does weather affect the activity of pre-emergence herbicides?

Are there any characteristics of herbicides that can be used to predict how their performance and safety will vary in dry vs wet soil conditions?

What tools are most effective for cleaning up small weed escapes in early-sown veggies?

How do pre-emergence herbicides interact with shallow-weeding tools like basket weeders?

Seedbed prep + health transplants: freeze edition

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Thu, 14 May 2020 07:00:00 -0500

In this epidoside we interviewed Anne Verhallen, Soil Management Specialist Horticulture at the Ontario Ministry of Food and Rural Affairs, and Ajay Nair, Professor of Horticulture at Iowa State University about soil dynamics during freeze events, and their potential effects on germinating seed and emerged vegetable plants, assessing freeze damage, and on maintaining transplants when they must be held due to poor planting conditions.

Weathering the COVID-19 Content Storm

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Wed, 06 May 2020 20:00:00 -0500

In the first episode, on May 6, we interviewed Amanda Byler, a Family Nurse Practitioner who works with migrant worker communities at Great Lakes Bay Health Centers, and Annalisa Hultberg, University of Minnesota Extension Educator for on-farm food safety, about farm family, farm worker, and customer safety as we enter our production season during a global pandemic.

Some resources that were discussed can be found here.

Federally Qualified Health Center map
- These health centers serve under-insured and uninsured people by offering sliding scale fees, increased Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, and some specialize in bilingual migrant health services.
COVID-19 Response Plan Template for Fruit and Vegetable Farms
- This is a big shared effort to make a template COVID-19 plan for your farm. You can request a copy to customize for your own use.
CDC: What To Do If You Are Sick

From Amanda: "I also wanted to add a little clarification [at 37:00 minute mark] – the CARES Act eliminated cost of testing specifically for UNINSURED patients. Many insurances are waiving the co-pays and additional cost of testing but the question specific to the CARES Act is aimed at uninsured patients."

Welcome Vegetable Producers

Great Lakes Vegetable Producers Network — Fri, 01 May 2020 13:00:00 -0500

It is May 1, and welcome to the Great Lakes Vegetable Producer’s Network, a live weekly roundtable discussion during the growing-season for commercial vegetable producers in the Great Lakes and Midwest region. We broadcast live via Zoom at 12:30 ET/11:30 CT every Wednesday from the first week of May to the first week of September.

Topics will include things of interest to small and large growers, organic and conventional.

To join the live audience, subscribe and get the login at glveg.net/listen. You can also get the Zoom smartphone apps there.

If you have a vegetable production issue that you would like discussed, simply email it, along with your phone number, to greatlakesvegwg@gmail.com.

The format we’re running with will be a 30 minute interview and discussion with some experts from the region, on topics that seem relevant for the week or month. Then, we’ll open it up for another 15 or 20 minutes for some live audience participation with the hosts and guests of the week.

This coming week, MAY 6: WEATHERING THE COVID-19 CONTENT STORM
We will interview Amanda Byler, a Family Nurse Practitioner who works with migrant worker communities at Great Lakes Bay Health Centers, and Annalisa Hultberg, University of Minnesota Extension Educator for on-farm food safety, about farm family, farm worker, and customer safety as we enter our production season during a global pandemic.

Music: Gypsy Dance, Topher Mohr and Alex Elena, Youtube Audio Library.