DepositPhotos image For most U.S. farm households, income from off-farm jobs, like teaching, driving a bus, or managing a bank branch, is essential to staying afloat. According to a 2023…
Dairy Industry to Remove Artificial Colors from School Lunch Products
A school tray showing a reimbursable school breakfast for grades Kindergarten through 12. Also shows MyPlate food groups applied to school breakfast. Find Team Nutrition resources for school breakfast. U.S….
Produce Safety Rule Compliance for Large Farms Begins
By Friday musa, via Wikimedia Commons The US Food and Drug Administration‘s (FDA) Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce Safety Rule compliance for large farms has begun, with small farms facing…
California’s Organic Stone Fruit Production Thriving
California is the largest producer of peaches, plums and nectarines. Most are grown in the San Joaquin Valley, just south of Fresno. By David Adam Kess, via Wikimedia Commons California’s…
California Wine Grape Growers Voting
Glassy-winged Sharpshooter The glassy-winged sharpshooter is the culprit behind the spread of Pierce’s disease among grapevines. The insect infects the plant with the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa when it feeds on…
90 Years of NRCS – Over a Century of Soil Conservation Awareness
Michael McElhiney with soil sample in Stanislaus County, CA. By Lynn Betts / Photo courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service / Wikimedia Commons Even with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation…
American Agriculture History Minute: Wasteful Early Times of Agriculture
Marion Post Wolcott, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute. American Agriculture History Minute: Wasteful Early Times of Agriculture Historian Lewis Hacker shows…
Global Cotton Forecast Hits Seven-Year High
Global cotton production is set to hit its highest level in seven years, driven by strong output in key countries despite regional declines. The USDA projects global cotton production for…
CDFA to Host a Series of Quarterly Virtual Training Workshops
Courtesy of CDFA The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) will host a series of quarterly virtual training workshops on the Produce Safety Program (PSP) portal through fall 2025….
Death Taxes Loom as Threat to Family Farms
Several key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are scheduled to expire this year, and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is urging Congress to act. The…
Peru’s Table Grape Exports Increase
Peru’s table grape exports increased by 7.4% to 562,093 tons in the 2024-2025 campaign, maintaining its position as the world’s top exporter for the second consecutive year. The rise is…
Picking Up on Pistachio Growing Trends
By Missvain, via Wikimedia Commons How did USDA’s recent Fruit and Tree Nut Outlook indicate trends associated with pistachio production for thi s growing season? Rod Bain tells us. Picking…
American Agriculture History Minute: Crop Insurance, Conservation Techniques Revive Great Plains Agriculture
Fruit growing in the central and southern Great Plains By H. P. Gould / Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions / via Wikimedia Commons image I’m Mark Oppold with an…
Voices of the Valley: The 411 on H-2A
This episode of the Voices of the Valley podcast is brought to you today by the Western Growers Association. Supporting producers that grow the best medicine in the world. Find…