Tomato Variety Trends: How Breeding Influences Your Seed Selection

About Our Presenters

Pete Zuck has been a Product Manager with Johnny's for over 9 years. He manages many of the fruiting crops, as well as alliums, corn, and potatoes. He is responsible for the product assortment for these crops and for directing the product development goals of our tomato, squash, and onion breeding programs.

Daniel Yoder is a Vegetable Product Technician on Johnny's Research Team. Daniel coordinates the annual tomato trials, along with those of numerous other crops at Johnny's Research Farm in Maine, collecting data and analyzing and reporting on results. Daniel is also instrumental in product development and education for numerous crops.

Dana Hilfinger has over a decade of experience on diversified fruit and vegetable farms and a Master's degree from Ohio State in Horticulture and Crop Science, studying high tunnel winter lettuce growing methods. She has worked with Extension programs at Ohio State and Central State University, where she ran training programs for beginning farmers in Ohio and provided technical support for market gardeners. In 2019, Dana established her own 3-acre no-till farm outside of Columbus, where she grows vegetables year-round and raspberries during the summer.

Welcome to the Learning Resources page for our webinar on Tomato Variety Trends: How Breeding Influences Your Seed Selection. The webinar has taken place, but here is where you can find a video of the full webinar and access additional materials to catch up on what's happening in the world of tomato breeding.

OVERVIEW: Want an inside look at trends in the tomato world? Discover where your tomato seed comes from and what's on the horizon!

Tomato Product Manager Pete Zuck and Tomato Trial Technician Daniel Yoder review recent trends in tomato variety improvement, including disease resistance, market type, flavor, and adaptation.

Pete also breaks down some of the esoteric inner workings of the international tomato breeding business, which ranges in scale from independent backyard breeders to multinational conglomerates.

A Q&A session, moderated by Farmer and Midwest Sales Representative Dana Hilfinger, follows the presentation.