Produce Grower magazine

Produce Grower magazine Serving vegetable and fruit greenhouse operations of North America. Subscribe for free at producegrower.com. Published by GIE Media.

Strawberries are already one of the most important crops in the produce department, but the way they are produced is sta...
09/08/2026

Strawberries are already one of the most important crops in the produce department, but the way they are produced is starting to widen, writes Brandan Shur, Ph.D. researcher at Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences.

Some growers are looking at greenhouse and high-tunnel strawberries because the pressure points in the industry are easy to see. Labor is expensive, weather feels less predictable and retailers want supply consistency.

Read Shur's full research article on vertical farm strawberry production:

https://www.producegrower.com/article/greenhouse-strawberry-production-rootzone-substrates-vertical-farms

Gerardo “Jerry” Lopez, an associate professor and extension specialist in STEM, food safety and environmental microbiolo...
09/03/2026

Gerardo “Jerry” Lopez, an associate professor and extension specialist in STEM, food safety and environmental microbiology in the University of Arizona School of Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences, has spent years tracking how the parasite gets into agricultural water and onto fresh produce.

Part of FDA's Cyclospora task force, Lopez spoke about why the parasite is so hard to trace, how people can protect themselves and what most people get wrong about it.

Read the full Q&A here: https://www.producegrower.com/news/university-of-arizona-cyclospora-traceability-expert/

A multistate outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and Salmonella infections linked to alfalfa sprouts distributed b...
09/01/2026

A multistate outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and Salmonella infections linked to alfalfa sprouts distributed by Everything Sprouts LLC and sold under the Calco and Everything Sprouts brands has sickened 55 people across 15 states, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The outbreak involves multiple strains of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and one strain of Salmonella Agona. Of the 55 people sickened, 46 were infected with E. coli, seven with Salmonella and two with both pathogens. Four people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

For more information: https://www.producegrower.com/news/alfalfa-sprouts-e-coli-salmonella-outbreak-fda-cdc/

With data being as recent as Aug. 17, CDC has reported 15,716 laboratory-confirmed cases of Cyclospora, 828 hospitalizat...
08/27/2026

With data being as recent as Aug. 17, CDC has reported 15,716 laboratory-confirmed cases of Cyclospora, 828 hospitalizations and two deaths across the United States since May 1. CDC also said it is investigating at least six other clusters of illness and no sources have been confirmed yet.

Forty-seven states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, are reporting cases, and CDC said states may report higher case counts than CDC because they may include cases that do not meet CDC’s formal reporting criteria.

For ongoing coverage: https://www.producegrower.com/news/cdc-reports-15716-cyclospora-cases-in-united-states-and-investigates-at-least-six-other-clusters/

Our Vertical Thinking columnist Eric W Stein, Ph.D., executive director at the Center of Excellence for Indoor Agricultu...
08/25/2026

Our Vertical Thinking columnist Eric W Stein, Ph.D., executive director at the Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture, says his interest in controlled environment agriculture began about 15 years ago. He says:

"I am not a plant scientist by training, and I must confess when I started, I was completely clueless about growing plants under controlled conditions. I made several mistakes regarding plant health that many of you may find comical."

Here are three lessons Eric learned:

🥬 Make sure your plants are getting enough light in the PAR region and that the environment supports growth.

🥬 Make sure your plants are getting enough high-quality water and oxygen in the root zones.

🥬 Make sure you have an IPM program in place, and don’t be afraid to use the big guns if critters show up anyway.

Read the full details about each lesson here:

https://www.producegrower.com/article/controlled-environment-agriculture-vertical-farming-growing-tips/

Appropriate, scalable technology is the missing key to profitable vertical farms, writes our Vertical Thinking columnist...
08/20/2026

Appropriate, scalable technology is the missing key to profitable vertical farms, writes our Vertical Thinking columnist Eric W. Stein, executive director at the Center of Excellence for Indoor Agriculture.

Automation, robots, large language models, sensor networks, IoT and AI dominate conversations today. The conventional wisdom is that tech equals innovation equals profits. But is that true? Eric would argue not necessarily.

Instead:

🍅 Focus on plant health, light, water, nutrients, CO₂, airflow, etc.
🍅 Optimize for Mean Time Between Intervention (MTBI)
🍅 Separate what must be smart from what should be simple

For the full breakdown on balancing CEA tech and automation, read more here:

https://www.producegrower.com/article/vertical-farm-tech-controlled-environment-agriculture/

The Agricultural Act of 2026, the Senate's version of a Farm Bill, failed to move out of committee after a 10-11 vote al...
08/18/2026

The Agricultural Act of 2026, the Senate's version of a Farm Bill, failed to move out of committee after a 10-11 vote along party lines.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry met Aug. 6 to debate the Senate’s version of a Farm Bill. More than 200 amendments were proposed as part of the bill’s markup process, and after four hours of debate, the committee voted on whether to advance the bill for consideration by the entire Senate.

The sticking point is how quickly states would be required to take on a larger share of administrative costs for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP. The Republican members of the committee were in favor of a one-year delay, while Democrats pushed for two years.

Read the full story here to find out the next steps:

https://www.producegrower.com/news/farm-bill-stalls-in-senate-agriculture-committee/

Provoke Insights’ 2026 Grocery & Produce report, surveying 1,500 Americans aged 21 to 65 in March 2026, delves into the ...
08/13/2026

Provoke Insights’ 2026 Grocery & Produce report, surveying 1,500 Americans aged 21 to 65 in March 2026, delves into the reasons various demographics stick with one grocery retailer and specific produce growers.

🍅 According to the report, fresh produce is the reason 1 in 5 shoppers choose where they buy groceries.

🍅 36% of shoppers stated they choose produce brands based on quality.

🍅 23% of shoppers choosing grocers based on produce offerings listed themselves as urban shoppers.

For the full report, read more: https://www.producegrower.com/article/consumer-report-provoke-insights-grocery-produce-2026/

Machine learning in CEA begins with relatively simple but effective approaches that do not require the complexity of dee...
08/11/2026

Machine learning in CEA begins with relatively simple but effective approaches that do not require the complexity of deep learning, according to author Rob Eddy, the Resource Innovation Institute’s resource efficiency horticulturist.

Simpler approaches often work well for specific, focused tasks where relationships between inputs and outputs are relatively straightforward. They’re easier to implement and understand than deep learning systems, and their decisions can be readily traced and explained.

For Eddy's full rundown on AI and CEA machine learning, read more here: https://www.producegrower.com/article/machine-learning-deep-learning-ai-crop-management-cea/

In a WARN notice delivered to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development on Aug. 5, Revol Greens' i...
08/07/2026

In a WARN notice delivered to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development on Aug. 5, Revol Greens' interim CFO Michaele Gobel announced, “Barring a successful sale of the site or Company, on October 4, 2026, Revol must close its entire facility at 2781 50th St., NW Medford, Minnesota. If the site or Company is not sold or hasn’t received incremental funding before this date, the closure is expected to be permanent and will impact an estimated 89 employees.”

Revol also submitted a WARN notice Aug. 5 to the Texas Workforce Commission, citing the possible closure of its greenhouse in Temple, Texas, for the same reasons. The Texas closure would affect 115 workers.

GIE Media has reached out to Revol Greens for comment about a sale or funding agreement. We will update this story as more details emerge.

Read the full article here for ongoing coverage: https://www.producegrower.com/news/revol-greens-seeks-sale-or-funding-before-closing-in-october/https://www.producegrower.com/news/revol-greens-seeks-sale-or-funding-before-closing-in-october/

Address

5811 Canal Road
Valley View, OH
44125

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Produce Grower magazine posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category