Vegetable Crops

Orange County’s 14,000 acres of muck soil, know locally as "black dirt" is famous for its vegetable crops, particularly onions, lettuce, radishes, sweet corn, and pumpkins. There are 70 black dirt onion farms producing more than half of the state’s onions on approximately 5,200 acres. There are over two dozen commercial vegetable farms on upland soils including numerous organic farms.

What's New:

Devastating Tomato and Potato Disease Detected Early this Season
Click here for information from NYS Agriculture News, June 2018.

Click here for more information and photos of Light Blight.

2014 Farm Bill updates

The USDA Farm Service Agency has released updates for the 2014 Farm Bill and the Program Signups for Fruit, Vegetable, and Livestock Farmers begin on April 15, 2014. Please note the TAP (Tree Assistance Program) 2014 sheet is not available yet so below is the 2013 version.

2014 Farm Bill Fact Sheet
Farm Storage Facility Loan Program
Livestock Forage Disaster Program
Livestock Indemnity Payments (LIP)
Tree Assistance Program for Orchardists and Nursery Tree Growers (TAP)

Guidelines for Managing Onion Thrips on Onion  by Brian A. Nault and Anthony M. Shelton, Department of Entomology, Cornell University. This article provides guidance for managing onion thrips infestations in onion fields using insecticides in a manner that will be successful and should minimize the development of resistance.

Cornell Guidelines for Pest Management (Cornell "Recommends") -- now online and searchable!

Stop Deer from Eating Your Profits  ...while helping to feed the hungry. Learn how to keep nuisance deer from destroying your crops and assist our Venison Donation program by providing meat for the needy!

Complete "On Food" Article by Maire Ullrich  You may have read parts of this published article -- here is the complete, unedited version.

Culinary Guide to New York Potatoes

Commercial Soil Analysis Service- link will take you to AgroOne Soil Services where you can select from a number of testing services.

Pink Root on Your Onion Transplants: To Plant or Not to Plant?

Infected Onion Plants Updated: Fusarium Detected!

Last updated July 30, 2021