News
Posted on January 1, 2026
“More than 70% of cyber attacks are aimed at businesses with less than 100 employees. They’re not going for the big guys because the big guys can afford the big cybersecurity firms,” said IRS employee Sheba Gonzalez. At an event hosted by USDA, Gonzalez and her colleagues, all IRS specialists in tax...
News
by Sally Colby 
Posted on January 1, 2026
Look at a penny and zero in closely at Lincoln’s nose. That’s the size of the redbay ambrosia beetle (RAB), a tiny insect and key player in laurel wilt, an aggressive fungal disease of trees in the Lauraceae family transmitted by the RAB. Although important landscape and forest trees are in this fam...
News
by Enrico Villamaino 
Posted on January 1, 2026
At the American Society for Horticultural Science ’s sizzling summer summit in New Orleans, an unexpected underdog dazzled the data-driven crowd: the snow pea. Crisp and colorful, this cool-season crop took the spotlight in a seminar by Jacob Schwab, a graduate research assistant at the University o...
News
by Courtney Llewellyn 
Posted on January 1, 2026
Our sun has some incredible powers, not least of which is feeding the plants which feed us. But we can also harness its energy to help eliminate the plants we don’t want to grow – aka weeds. Soil solarization uses the passive solar heating of moist soil under transparent plastic tarping to reach hig...
News
by Courtney Llewellyn 
Posted on January 1, 2026
First, federal news: On Dec. 18, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to amend marijuana’s longstanding classification as a Schedule I federally controlled substance without accepted medical value. The order seeks to finalize a 2023 recommendation by the Department of Health & Human Serv...
Farmers First, News
How much time do we have?
Posted on January 1, 2026
Happy New Year, farm family! As I type these words, I find myself straddling the space-time continuum in a way that I don’t often do. The change from one year to another has heightened my awareness of both the nature and passage of time. What is the nature of time? In my writing present, it is still...
News
by Courtney Llewellyn 
Posted on November 30, 2025
It’s no secret that summers are getting hotter – as are autumns, winters and springs. That can make growing cold-season crops, such as broccoli, difficult. Luckily, a team of university researchers have assembled like the Avengers to help mitigate this dilemma. Conducting a multistate evaluation of ...
News
by Kelsi Devolve 
Posted on November 30, 2025
Receiving funding through a grant is a huge honor and success, but it takes a lot of work to earn it. Going through the process of applying for a grant can be really overwhelming, but the Tri-State Extension Dairy Team hosted a webinar to make the process easier to comprehend. UVM Extension Dairy Re...
News
by Kelsi Devolve 
Posted on November 30, 2025
Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the environment. With droughts, floods, fires, heat waves and other extremes, a lack of control can be completely paralyzing. Maud Powell, a professor of practice in the Small Farms Extension program at Oregon State Universi...
Country Folks
by Sally Colby 
April 1, 2026
Water is often referred to as the most important nutrient. Providing beef cattle with clear and odorless water is a good first step in meeting nutriti...
Country Folks
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin 
April 1, 2026
Maine has emerged as a national leader in researching and responding to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in agricultural land....
Country Folks
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
April 1, 2026
Getting ready for the planting season can feel like going to war against weeds, pests and crop diseases. To help farmers gear up for battle, Matt Pinc...
Country Folks
by Laura Rodley 
April 1, 2026
Pamela Rickenbach is owner, founder and director of Anam Cara Farm in Canaan, Maine, a sanctuary for retired, disabled and homeless workhorses. She is...