Fifer’s Orchard Field Trip

Fifer’s Orchard is a sizeable farm operation that employs many people and grows a variety of crops. Fifer’s Orchard operates its own stores and ships crops all over the east coast. They grow a variety of crops and their best crops for making money were sweetcorn, pumpkins, peaches, and asparagus. It was surprising to learn that they grow about 1100 acres of sweetcorn but they also grow many crops in small trial amounts to diversify their products and to test them in fields of around 10 or 20 acres. They use different kinds of irrigation such as sprinkle lines, drip irrigation, hard hoses, and pivots. They also use technology such as GPS and trackers to be more efficient. There are many different challenges that they have faced this year with pests and disease. Many leaves were yellowed and diseased in their kale field which was the result of a much wetter year. It was interesting to hear about some of the challenges that Fifer’s Orchard will have to tackle in the next couple of years such as weather, climate change, government regulations, transportation of crops, and labor.

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