Browsing by Author "Cooper, Jason"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Catalyzing Agricultural and Educational Resources to Move the Local Food Value Chain Needle in the Shenandoah Valley and Northern Piedmont Regions of Virginia
    Bendfeldt, Eric S.; Latimer, Joyce G.; Niewolny, Kimberly L.; Morgan, Kim O.; Vallotton, Amber; Price, E. French; Marston, Cyndi; Love, Kenner; Sutphin, Mark; Sastre-Flores, Beth; Cooper, Jason; Mize, Tim; Hilleary, Jim (2019-10-08)
    The Shenandoah Valley and Northern Piedmont Regions of Virginia are fortunate to have agricultural, cultural, and educational resources to catalyze and strengthen Virginia’s food system from farm-to-table. Despite growing demand and support for local food systems, barriers to sustainable success remain for farmers and food businesses, including limited or unwieldy value chain coordination, logistical hurdles, lack of transparent market signals, and inadequate scale, match and fit between producers and buyers.Educational outreach and value chain coordination has included: a Farm2Fork Affair and ongoing producer-buyer networking, Virginia Market Readiness Farm to Restaurant Workshops, On-farm Food Safety Walkthroughs, exploring a Soil Health Awareness/Action Campaign, and expanding the scope of the Shenandoah Valley and Northern Piedmont Buy Fresh Buy Local chapters in coordination with Virginia Market Maker.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Corn earworm monitoring in commercial sweet corn fields in Virginia, 2017
    Kuhar, Thomas P.; Romelczyk, Stephanie; Doughty, Hélène; Few, John; Sutphin, Mark; Deitch, Ursula T.; Love, Kenner; Maxey-Nay, Laura Michele; Cooper, Jason; Pottorff, Steve; Catron, Katlyn; Siegle, Laura (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2018-03-05)
    Discusses the monitoring of the corn earworm in sweet corn fields. This pest is the most significant pest impacting sweet corn in Virginia.
  • Thumbnail Image
    An Evaluation of Eight Basil Cultivars for Downy Mildew Resistance in Virginia
    Cooper, Jason (Virginia Tech, 2019-12-23)
    Production of fresh herbs is a trendy market that continues to grow in popularity in the United States. Basil (Ocimum baasilicum) is such an herb that is experiencing growth in popularity, especially sweet basil. In Virginia, sweet basil production is increasing and can occur both within the field and greenhouses. However, basil production faces certain challenges, with the most serious one being disease losses caused by downy mildew. With few effective control measures available it is important to find management practices that can assist in controlling this disease, particularly in organic systems. Thus, studies were performed examining eight different sweet basil cultivars during the summer growing season of 2019. The study took place at Adam’s Apples and Herbs, located in Shenandoah County in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and at Virginia Tech’s Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension (ESAREC) in Painter. At harvest, basil was weighed, by leaf and by stem, and then an average of the weight was calculated as was the height of each cultivar. Disease incidence and severity for each basil cultivar was recorded throughout the course of the study. Little disease occurred during the course of the study in the Shenandoah Valley. However, significant differences in basil cultivar growth and appearance were noted. At the ESAREC, downy mildew did develop and resistant cultivars proved to be effective at suppressing disease.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Survey of Pest Management Practices of Virginia Sweet Corn Growers, 2017
    Kuhar, Thomas P.; Romelczyk, Stephanie; Doughty, Hélène; Few, John; Sutphin, Michael D.; Deitch, Ursula T.; Love, Kenner; Cooper, Jason; Maxey-Nay, Laura Michele; Spencer, Janet; Pottorff, Steve; Siegle, Laura (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2017-12-05)
    Summarizes results of a 2017 survey of Virginia sweet corn growers.