Soil Function & Nutrient Movement
Exploring how timing, rate, and delivery of water and nutrients influence crop performance, soil structure, and downstream water quality.
Fruit Ridge Research is a Michigan nonprofit dedicated to applied research and education for fruit and specialty-crop systems. We work with growers, conservation partners, and educators to evaluate practices that support soil health, water stewardship, and long-term crop resilience.
Fruit Ridge Research is being built as a bridge between research-grade experimentation and everyday farm decision-making. Our work emphasizes real-world trial design, clear communication of results, and tools that are genuinely usable by growers.
Our mission is to support fruit and specialty-crop growers across Michigan as they navigate changing weather patterns, shifting markets, and evolving expectations around environmental stewardship. Rooted in the Fruit Ridge and the broader Great Lakes region, we develop, test, and share research, tools, and practices openly so they can be adapted by growers statewide and beyond
We conduct applied research that helps growers make informed decisions about irrigation, fertility, and ecological practices—balancing yield, quality, and long-term land health.
Projects are co-designed with growers and partners, monitored with clear metrics, and communicated through concise summaries, field days, and visual reports—not just academic papers.
We emphasize ecological resilience, straightforward communication, and governance that reflects the interests of the landscapes and communities we serve.
Fruit Ridge Research is in its founding phase. These program areas describe the initial direction for our work as we develop partnerships and pursue support for multi-year projects.
Carefully structured trials hosted on commercial farms and orchards in the Fruit Ridge and surrounding regions.
Helping research results travel the last mile—from a data table or field notebook into real decisions on real operations.
As capacity grows, Fruit Ridge Research will refine and expand these priorities. Each area is intended to be grounded in measurable outcomes and well-documented methods that others can replicate or build on.
Exploring how timing, rate, and delivery of water and nutrients influence crop performance, soil structure, and downstream water quality.
Assessing practices that help growers respond to frost events, heat waves, intense rainfall, and drought conditions without sacrificing fruit quality or long-term plant health.
Studying how measured in-field environmental and biological conditions within production blocks influence crop health, system stability, and management outcomes using ground-based sensor pods and edge-processed data.
Want to learn more about our work or explore collaboration opportunities? We'd love to hear from you.