Need Alternative Crop Ideas For Your Farm? Check Out These 10

Heritage (heirloom) indeterminate beans are on the comeback trail in West Virginia, according to Lewis Jett, an Extension Specialist in Commercial Horticulture at West Virginia University. Jett’s team at WVU recently completed a three-year project to improve trellis design for greater harvest efficiency of heirloom runner beans. One of the inhibiting factors to commercial production of heirloom beans is the high labor requirement for harvesting. The trellis design significantly affected marketable yield. The cross-arm trellis design had a marketable yield that was 15% to 35% higher than the vertical trellis. Photo: Lewis Jett, West Virginia University See the full article.

Expect demand for Asian vegetable to continue increasing, says Naveen Kumar Dixit, an Extension Specialist and Associate Professor of Horticulture with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES). Not only does the U.S. have 24 million Asian Americans, representing 7.2% of the population, imports like bitter gourd (shown here), moringa, and calabash can be poor, arriving with fungal diseases. See the full article.

Edamame is an immature vegetable soybean. and isn't a natural crop for large-scale Washington state  farms, says Carol Miles, Director of the Northwestern Washington Research Extension Center and a Professor in the Department of Horticulture at Washington State University. “In the main vegetable production zone in central Washington, the climate is too hot during the day and too cool at night, limiting pollination and pod fill,” she says. “In western Washington, the climate is too cool during the day, which delays pod fill and harvest.” However, small-scale growers are successfully producing the crop in western Washington for farmers’ markets, Miles says. She offers a few tips: Use green bean harvesters for harvesting and time the harvest before the pods turn yellow. See the full article.

Vegetable growers in Pennsylvania are branching out into cut flower production, says Karly Regan, Penn State Extension Commercial Horticulture Educator. The flowers are not replacing an existing crop, Regan believes. Instead, they appear to be providing an expansion opportunity for families in which all members want to stay in the business. The cut flower business ranges from farm market sales to supplying grocery stores with local flowers. Photo: Karly Regan See the full article.

In Wisconsin spud country, growers are adding red kidney beans to the mix, says Yi Wang, Assistant Professor of Horticulture at the University of Wisconsin. “I think the major reason is the growing demand of plant-based proteins desired by younger generations,” Wang says. “The abundant groundwater resource in Wisconsin ensures good irrigation management for the kidney beans.” The acreage devoted to red kidney beans fluctuates with the price of row crops like soybeans. Prices down? Kidney bean production increases, and vice versa. Photo: Howard F. Schwartz, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org See the full article.

Olives thrive between latitudes of 30° and 45° in both hemispheres. California, which accounts for 95% of U.S. olive production (but still less than 1% of the world’s production), lies in the middle of that zone. So, why do olive growers choose to proceed in an 8b hardiness zone (15°F to 20°F)? Growing conditions in the PNW thrive due to diminished pest pressure. And because olive trees are drought-tolerant, they are increasingly attractive to individuals concerned with climate change, says Heather Stoven, an Extension Horticulturist with Oregon State University (OSU). Plus, heat domes are now hitting the area. Olives offer growers a way to continue growing. Photo by Heather Stoven, Oregon State University See the full article.  

The U.S. currently imports 95% of its elderberries from Europe, where approximately 30,000 acres are dedicated to the crop. “How often do people get to be at the very beginning of an industry? That’s where we’re at with this,” says David Buehler (shown here with his wife and business partner Ann), co-owner of Elder Farms, Mount Vernon, MO. “My goal is to have a lot more acres in the ground. We need more people to grow this. Let’s build up an American inventory and American acreage. We’re all kind of learning and pioneering this together, and that’s what really makes it fun.” Photo courtesy of Starboard and Port Creative See the full article.

Coffee is almost fully imported. But why not grow it here? "Why not California?" says Cinzia Fissore, an Associate Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Whittier (CA) College. "It’s outside the ‘coffee belt’ but not that far out.” California’s soil and climate differ from regions where coffee has been historically produced. she says. For instance, coffee is frequently grown at a low to sub-neutral pH, yet the plant has done well in California’s higher pH. California coffee is also grown near sea level in full sun rather than at elevation in the shade. More than 65 California growers in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Diego counties already produce coffee commercially under the auspices of Frinj Coffee, co-founded in 2017 by tropical fruit farmer Jay Ruskey. Photo courtesy of Frinj Coffee See the full article. 

A study initiated by the Florida Bamboo Growers Association (FBGA) to understand the potential of industrial bamboo farming in the region has revealed previously unrecognized potential for the bamboo crop industry. A bamboo shoots crop could potentially yield 6,000 to 10,000 pounds per acre, far exceeding current harvest rates of about 2% that volume. Photo courtesy of OnlyMoso USA See the full article.

The University of California, Davis, has established the Stuart & Lisa Woolf Fund for Agave Research to focus on outreach and research into the plants and their viability as a low-water crop in the state. “The rainfall patterns and growing conditions in California are different from those where tequila is made,” says Ron Runnebaum, an Assistant Professor of viticulture and enology. “I really believe we could be very competitive with Mexico. See the full article.