High tunnel planting calendar now available

By Joshua Knight, Senior Extension Associate, Horticulture

The Center for Crop Diversification, in close collaboration with Hor-ticulture Department faculty (Drs. Rachel Rudolph and Krista Ja-cobsen), has developed a High Tunnel Planting Calendar, which is now avail-able on the CCD website at http://www.uky.edu/ccd/production/sys-tem-resources/gh-ht/plantingdates. There are three versions of the calendar, with one for each region of Kentucky, based on the generally safe length of season between the last spring killing frost and the first killing frost in au-tumn (See map figures at right with corresponding publication numbers).

Printed 12-inch by 18-inch versions are available by request from your county extension office, along with the High Tunnel Planting Calendar Fact Sheet (CCD-FS-9), which explains how to get the most out of the planting calendar, basic principles of season extension, and lists supplemental resources for high tunnel production.

The planting calendar itself gives information on direct seeding, transplanting, and harvest times for 22 crops and crop groups, but using the footnotes for alternative crops a grower can effectively ref-

What’s insideFarm Bill highlights .......... 3 KY Proud programs ........... 5

Coming upFeb. 13-16 - West Virginia Small Farm Conference, Charleston, WV. For details and to register, click here.

Feb. 14-16 - Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association Conference, Dayton, OH. For program and registration information, click here.

Feb. 21-23 - PickTN Confer-ence, Franklin, TN. For more information, click here.

Feb. 22-23 - Eastern KY Farmer Conference, UK Rob-inson Center, Jackson. Click here for details.

Feb. 28-March 2 - Indiana Small Farm Conference, Danville, IN. For details, click here.

March 1-2 - Organic Asso-ciation of Kentucky Confer-ence, Lexington. For details and registration informa-tion, click here.

January 2019Brett Wolff, EditorChristy Cassady, Editor/Designer

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Cooperative Extension Service University of KentuckyDepartment of HorticultureN-318 Agricultural Science CenterLexington KY 40546-0091(859) 257-1477Fax: (859) 257-2859extension.ca.uky.edu

Educational programs of Kentucky Cooperative Extension serve all people regardless of economicor social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed,religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, maritalstatus, genetic information, age, veteran status, or physical or mental disability. University of Kentucky,Kentucky State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Kentucky Counties, Cooperating.

CCD-IG-1

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erence up to 37 different crops. The colored bars for each crop and crop group also show the bo-tanical family for each crop, allowing a grower to quickly consider rotating crops among plant fami-lies, which can reduce pest and disease pressure.

For example, it is a good practice to avoid planting the same family in the same field at the same time of year multiple years in a row. This means that if you had a field of eggplant (nightshade family)

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in 2018 in the summer, you should avoid plant-ing eggplant, peppers or tomatoes in that field for the summer of 2019, though you could plant cu-cumbers, summer squash or melons in that field as they are all in the gourd family. Other options for summer planting in that field might include onions (garlic family) or basil (mint family). The combination of crop timing and botanic family all in one place makes such rotation planning much easier.

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Since our last Center for Crop Diversification newsletter of 2018, we’ve been busy finalizing new and updated resources and posting them oun our website. Our new print resources include a produce food safety fact sheet, Food Safety Modern-ization Act (FSMA): Produce Safety Rule Agricultural Water, Part 2 (CCD-PFS-4), by Dr. Paul Vijayakumar, et al1. We also have a new crop profile on Organ-ic Cucurbits (CCD-CP-136), and a new podcast featuring Jeremy Hinton, who with his wife Jo-anna operates Hinton’s Orchard & Farm Market in Hodgenville, KY, as well as a second market in Elizabethtown. You can hear Jeremy talking about

agritourism here.

Recently updated crop profiles include Straw-berries (CCD-CP-19), Plasticulture Strawberries (CCD-CP-16), High Tunnel Brambles (CCD-CP-8), Pumpkins (CCD-CP-114), and Turfgrass Sod Pro-duction (CCD-CP-74).

Look for these and numerous other resources on the CCD website at www.uky.edu/CCD/. 1Dr. Vijayakumar’s work is supported by the Food Safety Outreach Competitive Grants Program, Grant No. 2017-70020-27246 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

New CCD resources include food safety fact sheet, podcast

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By Matt Ernst, independent writer

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, or the Farm Bill, made a bit of history when President Trump signed it into law this past Dec. 20: it was the first time in more than 20 years that the four-year farm legislation passed Congress in the year it was intended. Here’s a look at some 2018 Farm Bill highlights of interest to specialty crop grow-ers.

Specialty crop grant programs and researchThe Specialty Crop Block Grant (SCBG) Program, authorized in 2004, provides block grants to state departments of agriculture for specialty crop re-search, technical assistance, education, promotion and related initiatives. The Center for Crop Diver-sification is partially funded by Kentucky Special-ty Crop Block Grants.

The 2018 Farm Bill continued to fully fund the SCBG Program, which distributed $72.16 million in funding nationally in 2018. Kentucky SCBG awards totaled about $340,000 in 2018 and includ-ed funded research projects on flea beetle control in organic crops, hops production and arthropod control in high tunnels.

The Farm Bill also continues funding for the Spe-cialty Crop Research Initiative, an $80 million pro-gram that awards significant funds for specialty crop research. Last year’s SCRI-awarded projects included an edamame research project in Virgin-ia, flatheaded borer research in Tennessee, and a controlled-environment culinary herb project in Michigan.

Additional specialty crop research topics funded in the new Farm Bill include invasive pest control and citrus greening disease.

Shoring up crop insuranceCrop insurance is often one of the major points of discussion and Farm Bill negotiations. Specialty crop groups are touting continued insurance pro-visions for some specialty crops in the 2018 Farm Bill, said Jim Bair, President & CEO of the U.S. Apple Association.

“During the past two years, as a leader in the Spe-cialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, USApple worked closely with congressional leaders to secure con-tinued funding for important apple-related, spe-cialty crop programs. USApple also played an ac-tive role to defeat proposed cuts to programs like crop insurance,” he said in a statement after the signing of the Farm Bill.

The Farm Bill also maintains existing disaster as-sistance for some specialty crops, notably through the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Pro-gram (NAP). Kentucky producers interested in these options for 2019 can contact local USDA of-fices for details.

Local foods and institutional purchasing programsThe Farm Bill maintained and expanded programs that promote produce purchases tied to govern-ment funds. The 2018 Farm Bill maintains the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), which promotes school produce purchases, and expands funding for the Food Insecurity and Nutrition In-centive (FINI).

The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition points out that the 2018 Farm Bill also continues programs important to many in the sustainable agriculture community. “By establishing per-manent, mandatory funding for innovative pro-grams like the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP), Congress has made a pledge to ensure that our nation’s next generation of farmers and ranchers have the tools and resources they need to thrive, and that our local food and farm systems can continue to flourish,” said Juli Obudzinski, NSAC Interim-Policy Director.

The LAMP program provides permanent base-line funding for the Farmers Market Promotion Program, Value-Added Producer Grant and Lo-cal Food Promotion Program. Information about these programs in Kentucky can be obtained from the Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (KCARD).

Farm Bill maintains specialty crop provisions

By Joshua Knight, Senior Extension Associate, Horticulture

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-tration shows an above average likelihood of the first 10 days in February being significantly wetter than average for the entire Commonwealth, along with a large portion of the Great Lakes, Midwest, and Upland South.

This first block of days in February are predicted to be warmer than average as well, in contrast to the scattered days with very low temperatures we’ve received in late January as a result of a weaken-ing arctic weather pattern generally referred to as the polar vortex, which was first described in air maps dating back to 1853. A weakened polar vortex allows the infiltration of warmer air to-ward the poles, resulting in masses of cold arctic air pushing toward the equator, bringing a rapid temperature drop. Due to the geography of arctic air masses, this push of cold arctic air generally pushes into the Midwestern, Central, Northeast-

Wetter beginning, but overall drier February ahead

ern, and Southeastern United States.

The latter half of February is predicted to be drier and colder than average for the eastern half of the United States, which could mean more of these arctic air masses are headed our way.

Hemp, marketing, agroforestry among Illinois webinar series topicsFrom University of Illinois ExtensionUniversity of Illinois Extension presents a weekly educational series for the small farm community.The schedule and topics are listed below. Webi-nars will be held from noon-1 p.m. Central time on Thursdays and are free. Click here to register.Feb. 7-Five Years In: What do we really know about growing and processing Industrial Hemp? Thomas Keene, University of Kentucky Agrono-my Specialist and Hemp Extension Associate.Feb. 14-Intro to Digital Marketing in the Local Food System, Grant McCarty, University of Illi-nois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator.Feb. 21-FSMA Produce Safety Exemptions and Guidance: What You Need to Know for 2019, Zack Grant, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator.Feb. 28-Maximizing your Production: Succession and Companion Planting, Laurie George, Univer-

sity of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator.March 7-Healthy Soil Produces Healthy Vegeta-bles, James Theuri, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator.March 14-The Best Practices for Maintaining Healthy Bee Hives, Doug Gucker, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator.March 21-Reducing Damage to Livestock and Specialty Crops from Wildlife, Dave Shiley, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator.March 28-Agroforestry for Diversification on Small Scale Farms, Bill Davison, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator.April 4-ABCs of Tomato Production, Bronwyn Aly, University of Illinois Extension Local Food Systems and Small Farms Educator.

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Thanks for reading!If you know someone who would enjoy our newsletter, or you’re not subscribed yet yourself, visit www.uky.edu/ccd/newsletter and click “Subscribe Now.” Or call Brett Wolff at 859-218-4384, or Christy Cassady at 859-257-1477. Stay up to date with the Center on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CenterforCropDiversifica-tion/

Christy Cassady, Extension Specialist

The CCD hits the road;visit us at these sitesIf you’re attending one of the following confer-ences this winter, come visit the CCD booth at their respective trade shows. We will have staff and publications available at the West Virginia Small Farm Conference, scheduled for Feb. 13-16 in Charleston, WV. For more information, visit https://extension.wvu.edu/conferences/small-farm-conference. That same week, the CCD will be participating in the trade show at the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA) Conference in Dayton, Feb. 14-16. For details, visit https://www.oeffa.org/conference2019.php.

The following week, we’ll be at the PickTN Conference in Franklin, TN, Feb. 21-23, and at the Eastern Kentucky Farmer Conference Feb. 22-23 at the Robinson Center for Appalachian Resource Sustainability in Jackson, KY. For details about PickTN, go to https://picktnconference.com. Details about the Eastern Kentucky Farm-er Conference are at https://rcars.ca.uky.edu/content/eastern-kentucky-farmer-conference.

As February comes to a close and March arrives, we will be manning booths at the Indiana Small Farm Conference in Danville, IN, Feb. 28-March 2, and the Organic Association of Kentucky (OAK) Conference in Lexington (March 1-2). For more infomation about the Indiana conference, visit https://www.purdue.edu/dffs/smallfarms/. For details about the OAK Conference, go to https://www.oak-ky.org/2019-conference-overview.

Stop by to say hello, and check out our many new and updated resources.

Kentucky Proud programs offeropportunities for fundingFrom the Kentucky Department of AgricultureKentucky Proud members and local organizations are encouraged to apply for funding from three Kentucky Proud promotional programs.

The Buy Local program provides incentives for participating distributors, restaurants and other food service businesses to buy and use Kentucky

Proud products for their customers. The program offers participants a 15 percent reimbursement for the cost of Kentucky Proud farm food up to $8,000 a year or a lifetime cap of $36,000. For guidelines and an application, go to kyproud.com/buylo-cal. For more information, contact Kelly Walls at kellyjwalls@ky.gov or (502) 782-4110.

The Farm to Fork program provides incentives for local organizations to host dinners that showcase local farms, farmers, producers and Kentucky Proud products while benefiting a local charity. Participating organizations may be reimbursed up to $750 for purchases of eligible Kentucky Proud food products and associated promotional expenses. For more information, contact Alisha Morris at alisha.morris@ky.gov or (502) 782-4119. For guidelines and an application, go to kyagr.com/marketing/farm-to-fork.html.

The Kentucky Proud Promotional Grant reimburs-es members for up to 50 percent of future eligible expenses for advertising, marketing, and reaching consumers at the point of purchase to promote agricultural products with direct Kentucky farm impact. Grants are limited to 10 percent of the applicant’s reported direct Kentucky farm impact up to $8,000 a year or a lifetime cap of $36,000. For more information, contact Jonathan Van Balen at jonathan.vanbalen@ky.gov. For an application, guidelines, and other documents, go to kyagr.com/marketing/grants.html.

Kentucky Proud is administered by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Funding for Kentucky Proud is provided through a grant from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund.

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Department of HorticultureN-318 Agricultural Science CenterLexington, KY, 40546-0091