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Index of Tree Fruit and Small Fruit Links
| General Links | Pome Fruit Links | Stone Fruit Links | Berry Crop Links |
| Newsletter Links | Weather Links | Disease Management Links | Organic Links |
| Postharvest Links | Nursery Links | Organizations Serving Growers |
| Government Links |
General Fruit and Pathology Links
- The Cornell Fruit Information Page is a cooperative effort between extension and IPM educators, horticulturists, entomologists, pathologists, economists, and engineers at both the NY Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva and academic departments in Ithaca. This site is in the developmental phase but currently provides a wealth of, or access to, an abundance of tree fruit and berry crop pathology, entomology, and horticulture.
- The New York State Integrated Pest Management Program promotes and develops sustainable methods to manage fruit diseases and pests that minimize environmental, health, and economic risks. This site includes disease and insect fact sheets and management programs for many crops.
- American Phytopathological Society is an international scientific organization that promotes the study of plant diseases and their control through publications, meetings, symposia, workshops, and the World Wide Web.
- NRAES Guide to Great Publications includes numerous publications dealing with all aspects of fruit farming.
- Cornell Cooperative Extension Online Catalog has a number of publications available for purchase.
- USDA Crop Profiles provide the complete production story for a
commodity by state and a look at current research activities directed at finding replacement strategies for the pesticides of concern. Crop Profiles include typical use information and have a common format
for ease of use.
Pome Fruit Links
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 KTFREC serves the commercial tree fruit industry of West Virginia through innovative research in plant pathology, entomology and horticulture and through educational programs for fruit growers. Educational resourcesa include a biweekly newsletter, diagnostic services, and this very nice web site, which includes an exceptional set of visual galleries for tree fruit pests, diseases and natural enemies for the North Atlantic Region, as well as links to related insect and disease information.
- Pennsylvania Tree Fruit Production Guide is a well-done, comprehensive production guide for all pome and stone fruits. There are individual chapters dealing with orchard establishment, diseases, pests, and their natural enemies, chemical management of insects and diseases, harvest and post-harvest handling of fruit and much more.
- University of Maine Apple IPM Program helps apple growers make optimum pest management decisions by providing state-of-the-art information on pest biology, monitoring, and management options. In addition to background information for planning and interpretation, the IPM Program provides updates on the current and upcoming apple pest situation during the growing season.
- UMASS Tree Fruit Advisor is focused on fruit growing in Massachusetts.
- University of Vermont Apple Program provides relevant and timely horticultural, integrated pest management, marketing and economics information to commercial tree fruit growers in Vermont and beyond.
- University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension Integrated Pest Management Program has an extensive website covering many aspects of integrated pest management. An emerging initiative on this website is the New England Extension Food Safety Consortium Good Agricultural Practices Project which provides information to produce growers on how to reduce microorganisms in fresh fruit and vegetables.
- Washington State University Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center is dedicated to the tree fruit sciences. Located in the primary fruit-producing region of the world, the center features
a cooperative, multidisciplinary approach to tree fruit production. Items of interest on this website include sections on entomology, horticulture, plant disease, soil and nutrition, organic and integrated fruit production, and post harvest issues.
- Fruit and Nut Network for Commercial Growers is maintained by Oregon State University and includes information on integrated fruit production, organic fruit production, pest management, nutrition and soils, irrigation, economics and finance, marketing and trade, consumers trend, technology and weather.
- Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food has a great deal of information on all aspects of apple production on their website, including business, cultural, and pest management, fruit harvest and storage and many other topics.
- Apple Root Stock Fact Sheets: The apple rootstock genotypes in these fact sheets represent, to the best of our knowledge, all the cultivars available for commercial purchase in the USA. This is a work in progress, and your comments and suggestions are appreciated and will be used in later revisions and refinements of the site. The information presented here was compiled from published descriptions of genotypes, discussions with orchardists, researchers, and nurseries, and unpublished experiments.
- Recommended Apple Varieties for Ontario provides information on planting zones, disease resistance and usage of various apple cultivars for the Ontario, Canada region.
- Pear Cultivars from the National Plant Germplasm System This site includes listing of all Pyrus germplasm in the National collection as well as being a network for other Pear breeding information.
- Market Diseases of Apples, Pears and Quince is a viewable version of USDA ARS Agricultural Handbook No. 376, which is currently out of print. It has excellent pictures and descriptions. Caution! Some of the chemical information may be out of date!
- Pome Fruit Diseases Caused by Viruses This resource from Washing State University (Prosser) provides a listing of Pome fruit Viruses and links to fact sheets on each virus, including excellent images of symptoms.
Stone Fruit Links
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KTFREC serves the commercial tree fruit industry of West Virginia through innovative research in plant pathology, entomology and horticulture and through educational programs for fruit growers. Educational resourcesa include a biweekly newsletter, diagnostic services, and this very nice web site, which includes an exceptional set of visual galleries for tree fruit pests, diseases and natural enemies for the North Atlantic Region, as well as links to related insect and disease information.
- Pennsylvania Tree Fruit Production Guide is a well-done, comprehensive production guide for all pome and stone fruits. There are individual chapters dealing with orchard establishment, diseases, pests, and their natural enemies, chemical management of insects and diseases, harvest and post-harvest handling of fruit and much more.
- New Jersey Commercial Tree Fruit Production Guide provides information on various tree fruit production topics such as wildlife management, orchard nutrition, pesticide strategies, weed control, tree fruit pests and their control and cultural practices for peaches, cherries and other stone fruit, as well as apples and pears. Rutgers Cooperative Extension also provides fact sheets and bulletins for various fruit and nut crops.
- University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension Integrated Pest Management Program has an extensive website covering many aspects of integrated pest management. An emerging initiative on this website is the New England Extension Food Safety Consortium Good Agricultural Practices Project which provides information to produce growers on how to reduce microorganisms in fresh fruit and vegetables.
 The Southeastern Regional Peach Newsletter is an informative newsletter geared to serve growers in the southeastern production states of Georgia and South Carolina. The newsletter is edited by University of Georgia pathologist Phillip Brannen and is published 5 to 6 times per year.
- Washington State University Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center is dedicated to the tree fruit sciences. Located in the primary fruit-producing region of the world, the center features
a cooperative, multidisciplinary approach to tree fruit production. Items of interest on this website include sections on entomology, horticulture, plant disease, soil and nutrition, organic and integrated fruit production, and post harvest issues.
- Fruit and Nut Network for Commercial Growers is maintained by Oregon State University and includes information on integrated fruit production, organic fruit production, pest management, nutrition and soils, irrigation, economics and finance, marketing and trade, consumers trend, technology and weather.
 Pennsylvania State University has pulled together an informative website focusing on one of the most important and potentially destructive diseases of peach. The plum pox website gives regular updates on the status of the virus in PA. In addition users will find a very detailed factsheet, numerous links and gatewyays to other important resources.
- Cherry Marketing Institute
- Northwest Cherry Growers
- Growing Apricots, Cherries, Peaches, and Plums in Wisconsin
- Singer Farms
Berry Crop Links
- The Cornell Fruit Information Page is a cooperative effort between
extension faculty, IPM educators, horticulturists, entomologists, pathologists, economists, and engineers
at both the NY Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva and academic departments in Ithaca. This
site provides a wealth of, or access to, an abundance of small fruit information. Some exceptional resources found on this site are the Berry Diagnostic
Tool, The Cornell Minor Fruits Page and a comprehensive listing of nurseries selling berries.
- Michigan State University Extension (Van Buren County)
has created an excellent resource of information for the production of small fruit and management of associated disease and insect pests. This site is
particularly good resource for blueberry production.
- Midwest Small Fruit and Grape Net is the source for
information on management, commercial production, harvesting, and marketing of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, highbush blueberries, and grapes in the Midwest. You can also gain access to the Midwest Small Fruit Pest Management Handbook, as well as to Ohioline where you can find a number of "bulletins" and "fact sheets" related to berry production.
- Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food has produced an extensive set of "fact sheets, infosheets, and publications" for a
number of crops. Follow the "Berries" link to an excellent resource directed for berry production in the Northeast.
- Pennsylvania State Guide to Small-Scale Fruit Production is a
comprehensive resource developed for people who wish to produce fruit on a small scale (on one acre or less) and who are not legally licensed to use pesticides. Bramble, strawberry, blueberry, gooseberry,
currant, and elderberry production are covered in-depth in this manual.
- Agricultural Alternatives. Unlike publications for experienced producers, the Agricultural Alternatives fact sheets are developed for those less familiar with
production agriculture. Each fact sheet contains information on marketing, production, enterprise budgeting, and resource requirements for a variety of crops (including berry crops) to help users make
a balanced evaluation of the enterprise for their operation.
- The Northwest Berry & Grape Information Center is one of the most
comprehensive information and communications resource for berry and grape production practices, research, and marketing. The website is produced by Oregon State University, Washington State
University, the University of Idaho, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service. This site features regional and international e-mail discussion groups and on-line discussion forums focused on fruit
growing. The primary intended audience is commercial growers, marketers, crop consultants, pest management advisors, educators, and researchers in the Pacific Northwest.
- The New Jersey Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension Center is a substation of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station of
Rutgers University. The Center generates and disseminates research information directly applicable to the production of high-quality blueberries and cranberries and develops new cultivars for industry.
- Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Plant Pest Handbook is a comprehensive, searchable online
manual of plant diseases and insect pests.
- University of Wisconsin's Cooperative Extension publication
listing is fairly extensive. If you look under "horticulture" and then "berries" you will find several online
publication dealing with strawberry, elderberry, currant and gooseberry horticulture and pest
management. Many of these can be reached through Dr. Patricia McManus' fruit pathology web page
as well.
- University of Florida's Strawberry Lab is a particularly good website
for strawberry pathology thanks to Dan Legard and Jim Mertley.
- University of California Fruit and Nut Research and Information Center consists of all University of California (UC) personnel with work related
to the production of fruit and nut crops. UC has faculty from several departments at three universities (Davis, Riverside, and Berkeley) conducting research related to the environmental and economic
sustainability of California fruit and nut crops. Although geared towards CA, it is a worthwhile site to become familiar with.
- Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium deals primarily with fruit
production in the Southeast. The consortium involves Clemson University, the University of Georgia, North Carolina State University, and the University of Tennessee and was initially established as the
Southeastern Small Fruit Center in January 1999. In March 2000, the name was changed to the Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium.
- Northumberland Berry Works is an experimental planting of gooseberries
and currants to ascertain the characteristics of cultivars and to evaluate the suitability of growing them in the Central Pennsylvania locale. At present there are approximately 80 cultivars of gooseberries and
40 cultivars of currants in the planting. Various cultural practices and modalities are evaluated. This project has been going on for the past ten years and some data is available for cultivars that have been
evaluated for several years.
- Wild Blueberries focuses on the North America native lowbush Wild Blueberry, or Vaccinium angustifolium. Lowbush blueberry thrives in the glacial soils and northern
climate of coastal fields and barrens of Maine and Eastern Canada so they are not grown commercially
throughout most of the Northeast. However, this is a well-done site and is worth a visit.
- The Small Fruits of New York: Historical Images was the
seventh and last in a series of fruit monographs published by the NY Ag Exp Station. This reference was completed by U. P. Hedrick in 1925 and has become a classic reference for those working with
cultivated varieties of Rubus,Ribes and Fragaria.
Newsletter Links
Tree fruit newsletters
Small fruit newsletters
Weather Links
- Northeast Weather Association is a consortium of
growers who have installed small weather stations on their land. Growers do not need to purchase and install a weather station to participate. Each day, information such as the temperature, relative
humidity, leaf wetness and precipitation is transmitted from the farm to the Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva. There, the raw data are processed and region specific pest forecasts are issued
based on their analysis. A grower can either choose to find the daily information from a personal computer or opt to have forecasts sent via facsimile.
- SKYBIT SkyBit, Inc. is an 11-year-old company specializing in development of
site-specific weather products for agriculture, energy, and other industries. SkyBit through its E-Weather Service "Ag-Weather" and research programs can provide custom data sets for
weather-dependent decisions. A variety of products have evolved over the years to assist decision making in the field. These products include integrated pest management (IPM) simulation and
forecast, irrigation schedule, frost predictions for select crops, as well as custom data for other commodities.
The following sites provide forecasts, radar images, and current weather warnings. Some of these sites
are better than others...I like the US Weather Pages.
Disease Management Links
- The New York State Integrated Pest Management Program promotes and develops sustainable methods to manage fruit diseases and pests that minimize environmental, health, and economic risks. This site includes disease and insect fact sheets and management programs for many crops.
- Pesticide Management Education Program PMEP promotes the safe use of pesticides for the user, the consumer, and the environment. PMEP serves as a pesticide information center for college and field extension staff, as well as growers, commercial applicators, pesticide formulators/distributors, environmental and conservation groups, and private citizens. This site provides information on pesticide applicator certification, chemical information (PIMS), pesticide regulations, pesticide impact assessment (PIAP), crop profiles and other pesticide related issues.
- CDMS (Crop Data Management Systems) is a privately held corporation located in Marysville, CA. Founded in 1983, and the company provides America's premier software service to access crop protection product label, MSDS, WPS and DOT information. Over 85 crop protection product manufacturers support CDMS by supplying and approving all information in the CDMS databases. There are over 1,500 crop protection product labels and 3,600+ MSDS in the CDMS databases.
- Green Book, a website developed by Chemical and Pharmaceutical Press, Inc., compiles pesticide product information (labels, supplemental labels, and MSDSs) provided directly by the pesticide companies in an unbiased presentation, adding extensive features to help users locate the specific information they need. They make this information available directly through books, CD-ROMs, and the Internet, as described on their site.
- The Organic Materials Review Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that specializes in the review of substances for use in organic production, processing, and handling. OMRI's services are directed to all aspects of the organic industry with a primary focus on the decision makers who deal with the compliance status of generic materials and brand name products. With the OMRI Generic Materials List and OMRI Brand Name Product List, OMRI provides guidance on the suitability of material inputs under the USDA National Organic Program standards.
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) covers everything A to Z about pesticides.
- Simplified Insect Management Program: A Guide for Apple Sampling Procedures in New York
- Visual Gallery of Tree Fruit Insect Pests of the Mid-Atlantic Region is a pictorial gallery of tree fruit pests and links to fact sheets on their identification, biology and management.
- Visual Gallery of Tree Fruit Diseases of the Mid-Atlantic Region is a pictorial gallery of tree fruit diseases and links to fact sheets on their identification, biology and management.
- Apple and Pear Insects is an online brochure produce by The Colorado State Cooperative Extension program, and includes information on apple and pear pests and their control, including links to insect fact sheets.
Organic Links
- Organic Agriculture at Cornell is a website sponsored by the Cornell Organic Production and Marketing Program Work Team, also known as the Cornell Organic Working Group.
- The National Organic Program
- The Northeast Organic Network is an innovative consortium of farmers, researchers, extension educators and grassroots nonprofits working together to improve organic farmers' access to research and technical support. Funded with a $1.2 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture's Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems, this multi-state, multidisciplinary team will be conducting research and extension and education programs on organic agriculture throughout the Northeast.
- The Organic Materials Review Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that specializes in the review of substances for use in organic production, processing, and handling. OMRI's services are directed to all aspects of the organic industry with a primary focus on the decision makers who deal with the compliance status of generic materials and brand name products. With the OMRI Generic Materials List and OMRI Brand Name Product List, OMRI provides guidance on the suitability of material inputs under the USDA National Organic Program standards.
- Organic Farming and Marketing - ERS/USDA is the main source of economic information and research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- Organic Farming Research Foundation, is a non-profit whose mission is to sponsor research related to organic farming practices, to disseminate research results to organic farmers and to growers interested in adopting organic production systems, and to educate the public and decision-makers about organic farming issues.
- Organic Agriculture Information website contains information on production, economic data, research results, farmer anecdotes, certification information, transition strategies, as well as many other subjects related to organic agriculture.
- Appropriate Transfer Techniques for Rural Areas (ATTRA), funded by the US Department of Agriculture, is a national sustainable agriculture information service managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology. It provides information and other technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, extension agents, educators, and others involved in sustainable agriculture in the United States. Publications include:
Postharvest Links
- Postharvest Information Network is a resource provided by the Washington State University Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center, for postharvest information on apples, pears, cherries, stone fruit, and general practices. Browse the database by clicking on a fruit, then select a subject area or fruit variety to see the list of related articles. You can also search the database by author, title, or key phrase.
- Postharvest Handling of Pome Fruit, Soft Fruit and Grapes This is the 2000 revised edition of the handbook Postharvest handling of pome fruits, soft fruits, and grapes, will contain much of the information from the 1994 edition as well as updated disease information. However it will not contain the extensive list of references on each disorder topic and the 1994 edition should be consulted when looking for detailed information on these subjects (viewable and downloadable reference).
Nursery Links
By no means meant to be a comprehensive listing or an endorsement of the following businesses. This is
simply a list of nurseries selling small fruit discovered to have web-based resources. Many of the
nurseries listed here serve commercial growers only, others are geared clearly towards home owners.
Some nurseries produce and sell a variety of fruit, others specialize, e.g., they sell only blueberries. In an
effort to remain impartial we have listed the nurseries in alphabetical order and left off any description of
the business.
- Burnt Ridge Nursery & Orchards Onalaska, WA
- Daisy Farms Dowagiac, MI
- DeGrandchamp's Farm South Haven, MI
- Edible Landscaping Afton, VA
- Fall Creek Nursery Lowell, OR
- Growit.com provides a searchable database of over 1000 nurseries. The
site also provides links to feature articles from a number of commodity/industry publications, such as the American Fruit Grower.
- Hartmann's Plant Company Lacota, MI
- Indiana Berry and Plant Company Huntingburg, IN
- Lassen Canyon Nursery Redding, CA
- McGinnis Berry Crops Limited Courtenay, BC
- Nourse Farms South Deerfield, MA
- One Green World Molalla, OR
- Raintree Nursery Morton, WA
- Southmeadow Fruit Gardens Baroda, MI
- Spooner Farms Certified Raspberry Plants Puyallup, WA
- Strawberry Tyme Farms Simcoe, Ontario
- Weeks Berry Nursery Keizer, OR
- Whitman Farms Salem, OR
Organization Serving Growers
General
Tree Fruit
- New York Apple Association is a non-profit trade association representing over 600 commercial apple growers in New York State. The apple industry produces about 25 million bushels of apples each year at a value of $137 million, making it one of the largest sectors in New York Agriculture.
- US Apple Association Through their government affairs, nutrition research and promotion, industry information, membership services and National Apple Month programs, USApple strives to provide all segments of the apple industry the means to profitably produce and market apples and apple products.
- The American Pomological Society is the oldest fruit organization in North America, founded by Marshall P. Wilder in 1848, to foster the science and practice of fruit growing and variety development.
- International Dwarf Fruit Tree Association was established in 1958 to promote an understanding of the nature and use of dwarf fruit trees through research, education and dissemination of information. In furtherance of this mission, IDFTA conducts an educational conference annually in February, publishes the conference proceedings and additional articles in the quarterly journal, Compact Fruit Tree, conducts an annual summer orchard tour in June, sponsors international tree fruit study tours, provides funding support for research projects through the Rootstock Research Fund.
- New York State Horticultural Society
- The New England McIntosh Growers Association is a non-profit grower-funded organization charged with promoting New England apples and raising public awareness of varieties that are grown here. In addition to marketing directly to New England supermarkets, we publish a quarterly newsletter, McIntosh News, sponsor numerous health events such as the Tufts 5K and 10K Road Races and Race for the Cure, co-sponsor a variety of promotional events with other New England institutions, participate in consumer and industry trade shows such as The Big E and actively promote an educational outreach program for teachers and schools throughout New England.
- California Apple Commission
- Colorado Apple Administrative Committee
- Connecticut Apple Marketing Board
- Maine Apple Marketing Committee
- Maryland Apple Promotion Board
- Michigan Apple Committee
- Minnesota Apple Growers Association
- Pennsylvania Apple Marketing Board
- Vermont Apple Marketing Board
- Washington Apple Commission
Berry Crops
Government
- New York State Agriculture and Markets
- NY Farm Bureau
- New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
- National Agricultural Statistics Service
- New York Agricultural Statistics Service
- USDA - Economic Research Service (ERS) is the main source of economic information and research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- USDA - Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the principal in-house research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). ARS, one of the Research, Education and Economics (REE) agencies, is charged with extending the Nation's scientific knowledge across a broad range of program areas that affect the American people on a daily basis.
- Environmental Protection Agency mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment — air, water, and land — upon which life depends.
- USDA Standards for Fresh Market Fruit provides viewable and downloadable PDF files on standards for Apples and Pears (Fresh, Summer/Fall) and Processing, Winter) and many other fruit crops.
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