Peas are one of the first crops planted and harvested in New York. Fresh market, edible pod and processing peas are all produced. In fact, the state has a long history of processed pea production with a 10-year average of 17,689 acres grown. Processed peas are grown in fields ranging in size from 20 to 100 acres. Processors select the varieties to ensure consistent supply to the plants. The peas are machine harvested and shelled right in the field and taken to the plant for sorting, cleaning, freezing and packaging.

Fresh edible pod peas or podded peas which are shelled by the consumer are a delight in early season markets. These markets are more concerned with blemishes on the pods.

Peas are very sensitive to excess soil moisture and are susceptible to numerous soil pathogens. Weeds can quickly out-compete peas and are a special problem in late-April and May plantings when temperatures are favorable to annual weed seed germination.

Cornell Cooperative Extension Educators and Cornell faculty work together annually to conduct research on many aspects of pea production in the state. Below you will find educational information and results of our research trials.


More Peas Content

Berry Crops Field Workshop

August 29, 2017
5pm-7pm
Stephentown, NY

These workshops are directed at the commercial berry grower.
Monitoring for pests, designing an effective pest control program, understanding cultural and chemical SWD management strategies and general troubleshooting will all be part of this workshop.
There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

Best Management Practices for High Tunnel Nutrition and Soil Health

September 13, 2017
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Poughkeepsie, NY

Soil tests, foliar tests, foliar feeds, fertigation, managing for yield...long term soil health in a high tunnel isn't a simple process. It can have a lot of components and require a fair amount of analysis. Cornell Cooperative Extension, partnering with NOFA-NY in a New York Farm Viability Institute funded project, have been working to identify long-term soil health and fertility best management practices. We will share what has been learned.

Welcome Jim Meyers: New Viticulture Specialist!

Jim has been working with wine grapes for 10 years, first as a Viticulture Ph.D. student at Cornell then as a Research Associate. Prior to coming to Cornell, Jim studied Chemistry and Biology (B.S. West Chester University of Pennsylvania), Computer Science (M.S. Brown University), and had a successful career as software technology entrepreneur. This background is reflected in his viticultural research which has focused on computational tools for mapping canopy and vineyard variability, quantifying relationships between variability and fruit chemistry, and optimizing efficiency of vineyard operations. As an Extension Associate, Jim will continue some of these research activities while also looking for new projects that provide targeted benefits to appellations in Eastern New York. Jim will kick off his new appointment by visiting growers at their vineyards to gather first hand knowledge of the sites and to discuss vineyard operations, goals, and challenges. Building a complete catalog of vineyards in a territory that runs 300 miles along the Route 9 corridor may take a little while, but Jim feels that the effort will lay a solid foundation for future program activities while also clearly differentiating the needs of each appellation.

New Resources for Berry Crops

White Rot Update

Earlier in June I sent a garlic sample to the diagnostic lab hoping that I was wrong. The sample was covered in small black sclerotia, the size of poppy seeds, and white fungal hyphae crept up the stem. The results, unfortunately, matched the field diagnosis: White Rot. Within a couple days additional calls came from up and down the Hudson Valley as well as one in Western NY with similar suspicions. These samples have also gone to the lab for verification, but it looks like the latest pest to move back into the state is this nasty fungus.