Category: Industry News

  • Ag Council of California Works to Ensure Buy American Provision

    Emily Rooney, President of the Ag Council of California recently spoke at the annual Almond Alliance Convention, sharing their organization’s efforts to defend California Agriculture in Sacramento. One of their recent successes has been working with Dr. Pan on the Buy American Provision to ensure that school lunches are not coming from commodities produced outside of the country when they are locally grown in California. Watch her video interview with California Ag Network here to learn more.

  • Downy Mildew Devastates Vegetable Crops in Southern California

    At the CAPCA Spring Summit in Temecula, growers and crop consultants gathered to discuss issues with pest & disease management, and how to resolve them. This year was especially rough on southern desert vegetable growers for downy mildew, as many were not prepared for all the rain we received earlier this year. Watch this brief video with UC Plant Pathologist Alexander Putman as he explains the situation this year and how to go about managing downy mildew in the field moving forward. Read more about it in Vegetables West Magazine.

  • Managing Seedcorn Maggot in Tulelake Processing Onions

    Seedcorn maggot has been a significant problem for processing onion growers in the Tulelake area. Watch this brief video interview with Rob Wilson, UC Farm Advisor & IREC Director, as he shares the latest chemical and cultural practices to minimize this pest in the field. Read more in Vegetables West Magazine.

  • Finding a Viable Alternative to DADS for White Rot Control

    White Rot is a serious enemy to garlic & onion production in the Central Valley, and the California Garlic & Onion Research Advisory Board continues to fund research to find a viable alternative solution to DADS, a material that is no longer available to the industry. Watch this interview with UC Fresno County Farm Advisor Tom Turini as he provides an update on the search for a treatment to eradicate white rot from these vegetable fields. Read more about it in the May issue of Vegetables West Magazine.

  • When Farm Labor gets too Tight, Consider H2A Guestworker Program

    As labor grows tighter, growers are mechanizing their operations as much as possible; however, the need for a solid seasonal labor force is not going away anytime soon. Although not an easy one to utilize, the H2A Ag guestworker program is what more and more growers and farm labor contractors are using to meet their labor needs. Watch this brief interview with Bob Erickson from Foothill Packing and Jeanne Malitz from Malitz Law as they explain the program, and how to get involved in it.