A weekly look at some of the events and activities at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In this edition of USDA Week In Review: The high price of firefighting, checking…
The Western View: Crowdfunding for Agriculture
…range. There’s a lot of worthy projects looking for help. Another site is Agfunder. It’s for the big boys. The projects there are high-dollar. Most are companies that are developing…
Warmer Winters Mean Less NOW Die-Off
Warmer winters are also contributing to the high navel orangeworm pressure that experts believe almond growers will see this year. As less moisture and higher, low-temperature thresholds continue from the…
New Phase of Band Cankers
Almond growers in the northern part of the state are noticing some abnormal cankers up high in their trees and experts say it’s a new phase of band canker they…
Drought Weather Increasing NOW Pressure
The early season isn’t the only reason Navel orangeworm pressure is expected to be high this year as the lack of winter moisture is fueling fast growth. Weather Increasing NOW…
The Western View: Processed Food
…The top suspects? High fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils or trans fats and anything that sounds like it belongs in a chemistry kit. In a special report published by…
High Orangeworm Pressure Expected
An early almond season means potentially high and early navel orangeworm activity, and experts are seeing just that in northern California. Navel Orangeworm Pressure The Sacramento Valley established this year’s…
TPP Must Deliver Say Beef Producers
Beef producers from five Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) member countries are calling for a high-quality market access deal on beef to be secured at the TPP ministerial meeting in Hawaii this…
USDA, Microsoft to Launch “Innovation Challenge” to Address Food Resiliency
…these USDA data with cloud-computing resources allows even very high fidelity and complex models to be processed in a timely manner and enables results to be delivered to remote users…
Farm Bureau Convention Planned for Orlando
…will be Barbara Corcoran of Shark Tank. If anyone’s watched Shark Tank, they know her story. How she started out as a D student, probably worked 20 jobs between high…
Almond Board: Stockpile Management for Food Safety and Quality Control
…moisture levels are too high, open up the tarps in the daytime to allow moisture to escape, and close them at night when relative humidity tends to increase. While rain…
The Western View: The Mussel Slough Tragedy
Marker commemorating the tragedy at Mussel Slough, California If you’ve wondered why the locus of the protest against high-speed rail is Kings County, the answer is: There’s history there, a…
Water Saving Fall and Winter Gardening Workshop Hosted By UC Master Gardeners in Lake County
…Cost is $5 and you will receive written materials. Please call: 707-263-6838 or e-mail celake@ucanr.edu It’s the only time you can take advantage of naturally occurring mellow temperatures and rainfall,…
USDA Announces Three New Centers of Excellence with a Consortium of 1890 Colleges and Universities
…1890s schools. Each center will focus on a specific identified need: Creating an integrated center to benefit Small Farms, Ranches and Forest Landowners in high poverty areas; Establishing a virtual…