UMaine News

University of Maine Cooperative Extension educator and cranberry specialist Charlie Armstrong said in an article in the Maine Sunday Telegram warm weather resulting from climate change could be behind this year’s successful cranberry harvest in Maine. Armstrong also said crops like peaches, typically better suited for warmer, southern climates, could become more common in the […]

University of Maine Cooperative Extension Director John Rebar was interviewed by Channel 8 (WAGM) in Aroostook County about several UMaine Extension programs that help Maine’s agricultural economies, including the Maine Food System and 4-H Youth development programs. Rebar said UMaine Extension also will hire a new soil scientist for the Presque Isle office to work […]

David Handley, a University of Maine Cooperative Extension educator and vegetable and small fruit specialist, was interviewed for Channel 2 (WLBZ) report on the spotted wing drosophila, a fruit fly that has Maine’s blueberry growers worried because it attacks ripening and not just rotten fruit. Handley, who is based at UMaine Extension’s Highmoor Farm in […]

Mainebiz magazine and South Portland radio station WGAN posted on their websites a report about the spotted wing drosophila fruit fly and noted University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s research into the relatively new-to-Maine pest. UMaine Extension experts are collecting the fly, which attacks soft fruit such as blueberries, for research purposes. Contact: Jessica Bloch, (207) […]

An article in the South Dakota Tri-State Neighbor agricultural news publication advanced an Oct. 1 composting demonstration and seminar being led by University of Maine Cooperative Extension educator and composting expert Mark Hutchinson. The presentation in Brooking, S.D., will include using composting as a way to dispose of animal mortalities. Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756

David Handley and Jim Dill of University of Maine Cooperative Extension were interviewed for a Lewiston Sun Journal article about the spotted wing drosophila, a fruit fly that has Maine’s blueberry growers worried because it attacks ripening and not just rotten fruit. Handley, a vegetable and small fruit specialist based at UMaine Extension’s Highmoor Farm […]

University of Maine Cooperative Extension educators and garden specialists Barbara Murphy and Diana Hibbard were interviewed for a Portland-area KeepMECurrent news report on community gardens and UMaine Extension’s Harvest for Hunger program, which generated more than 293,000 pounds of produce for soup kitchens, homeless shelters and individuals last year. Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756