Excess rains and droughts of the past decade pointed out the poor health and productivity of soils on many local vegetable farms. Coupled with high fuel prices and high fertilizer prices, growers have been eager to improve their soil management efforts. Reduced tillage leads to less fuel use and legume cover crops allow the farmer to grow nitrogen fertilizer, reducing their need for conventional fertilizer and the fuel and labor to apply it.

The Cornell Soil Health Test can be used to determine your field's soil management for percentage of water-stable aggregates. A soil with low % water-stable aggregates has  poor crop emergence, more crusting, more runoff, reduced root growth, increased root diseases, and fewer beneficial microbes to cycle soil nutrients.

Vegetable farms using conventional tillage and few cover crops had an average of just 18% water-stable aggregates, while farms using reduced tillage or extensive cover cropping averaged 36-39%. Innovative growers are now beginning to adopt both strategies to improve soils even more.

In addition, the Cornell Vegetable Program is working with a number of conventional and organic vegetable growers on increasing the use of a wide range of cover crops to fill open niches in rotations to improve soil health and grow nitrogen.

More Soil Health Content

2018 Annual Elba Muck Onion Twilight Meeting Featuring Herbicide Trial Tours

June 21, 2018
5:30 PM dinner, 6:00 - 8:30 PM program and tours
Elba, NY

All onion growers are invited to this event which will feature trial tours and demonstrations of pre- and post-emergent weed control in direct seeded onions. 2.0 DEC recertification credits and CCA credits will be available.

2018 NY Produce Auction Locations and Contact Info

Produce auctions in New York State have been formed so that produce growers have a way of marketing their product to quality minded buyers through open competitive bidding. Six of the eight produce auctions in NYS are in WNY! A map of produce auction locations across the state is provided along with auction days, times, and contact information.

Unsure how to purchase at a produce auction? The updated How To guide will give you some quick pointers on the auction terminology and how to make purchases at an auction.

Vegetable Sizing Templates Available

To assist farmers looking to sell into wholesale markets, vegetable sizing templates are now available for bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash. The crop templates are scaled to size (8.5 x 11 paper). They can be printed and used to create sizing templates to be used by workers on the wash and pack lines. Additional grading resources are available too.

Cornell Commercial Vegetable Guidelines Available

The 2018 Cornell Integrated Crop and Pest Management Guidelines for Commercial Vegetable Production are now available!

Written by Cornell University specialists, this publication is designed to offer producers, seed and chemical dealers, and crop consultants practical information on growing and managing vegetable crops in New York State. Topics include general culture, nutrient management, transplant production, postharvest handling, organic production, and managing common vegetable crop pest concerns. A preview of the Vegetable Guidelines can be seen online.

Highlighted changes in the 2018 Vegetable Guidelines include:

• Updated pesticide options for economically important vegetable crop pests.
• Significantly revised pest management practices.
• New onion and sweet corn IPM scouting report forms.

Cornell Crop and Pest Management Guidelines are available as a print copy ($41), online-only access ($41), or a package combining print and online access ($57.50). Shipping charges will be added to your order. Cornell Guidelines can be obtained through your local Cornell Cooperative Extension office, or from the Cornell Store at Cornell University or call (844) 688-7620.

Empire State Producers EXPO Proceedings

Proceedings from the Empire State Producers EXPO conference from 2011-2018 are available online.