
Spring 2023
Editorial: The Challenges We Face
I began my career as a Champlain Valley apple grower in June of 2016. Fresh faced after my college experience, I was excited to begin my adult life working in agriculture alongside my family. Food is my passion, and farming is such a great way to express that. I enjoyed my new beginnings in spring for about a week before our region was blindsided by the fire blight outbreak. Previously rare this far north, researchers visited from near and far as Champlain Valley growers attempted to figure out how to put the veritable wildfire at bay. I spent the summer getting a shotgun initiation into the trials of farming. My grandfather had always said that one great thing about what we do is the predictability. Prune in winter, set your crop in spring, maintain it in summer, harvest in fall. He neglected to advertise the less predictable aspects of the job, and little did I know that this event would set the tune for the rest of my career thus far.

Winter 2022
Editorial: The Challenges We Face
I began my career as a Champlain Valley apple grower in June of 2016. Fresh faced after my college experience, I was excited to begin my adult life working in agriculture alongside my family. Food is my passion, and farming is such a great way to express that. I enjoyed my new beginnings in spring for about a week before our region was blindsided by the fire blight outbreak. Previously rare this far north, researchers visited from near and far as Champlain Valley growers attempted to figure out how to put the veritable wildfire at bay. I spent the summer getting a shotgun initiation into the trials of farming. My grandfather had always said that one great thing about what we do is the predictability. Prune in winter, set your crop in spring, maintain it in summer, harvest in fall. He neglected to advertise the less predictable aspects of the job, and little did I know that this event would set the tune for the rest of my career thus far.

Fall 2021
Editorial: What My Dad Paul Baker Taught Us My sisters and I learned so much from our father. His hard work and endless long hours on the farm were only […]

Summer 2021
Start Them Young I remember my grandfather saying that when I was a kid. He would tell us that it didn’t matter what it was, just get interested in something. […]

Spring 2021
I am glad I am not driving a 1970 Ford Pickup Truck It was the summer of 1970. I was just home from Cornell for the summer. My uncle had […]

Winter 2020
When it comes to farm labor, it’s all action all the time! New York growers are skilled, flexible, innovative, bold, and creative problem-solvers and business people. If any of these […]

Fall 2020
What Keeps a Farmer Up at Night? Usually that answer would be simple, grow a safe high-quality product for your vendors, while fulfilling all of your contracts at a fair […]