The Hudson Valley Laboratory is an essential part of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station.
The topography, soils, climate, and geographic location of the Hudson Valley provide local growers with unique opportunities and challenges:
The longer growing season in the Hudson Valley allows orchardists to grow long- season apple varieties that do not mature elsewhere in the state.
Organic soils and river bottoms provide ideal conditions for vegetable production.
The Hudson Valley's proximity to the New York City metropolitan area provides growers with the opportunity to market horticultural products to millions of local consumers.
Hudson Valley growers must maintain competitiveness in domestic and world markets while producing crops in an increasingly urban landscape. The warm, humid climate favors the development of diseases and insect pests not usually found in cooler regions of the state.
Hudson Valley growers need effective pest management strategies for mites, insects, plant diseases, and wildlife pests (e.g., deer), but the management strategies must be designed and applied in ways that are compatible with the sensitivities of non-farm neighbors from urban backgrounds.