California Fruit and Vegetable

Category: Pest/Disease Management

  • National Weather Service Issues Excessive Heat and Elevated Wildfire Danger Warnings

    California Avocado Commission — The National Weather Service has issued excessive heat and elevated wildfire risk warnings in California this week beginning Tuesday, July 6 through Sunday, July 11. The conditions will pose a high risk for heat-related illnesses with possible record temperatures for the Antelope Valley area of Southern CA and brief critical fire weather conditions for the interior region. There also is a slight change of monsoonal thunderstorms and dry lightning from Wednesday through Sunday in the interior regions of Southern CA, most notably the mountain and desert areas.

    From Tuesday, July 6 through Thursday, July 8, the NWS notes there will be widespread highs of 95˚F – 105˚F in the inland valleys, mountains and deserts with warm overnight lows (about 70˚F) in the foothills and deserts. These conditions will pose a high risk of heat-related illnesses for those who work outdoors. During this same timeframe, humidities will lower to 5% – 15% and winds may gust from 25 – 45 mph during the afternoon and evening. The strongest gusts are predicted for the Antelope Valley and Santa Ynez Range. These high winds, low humidities and abnormally dry fuels will lead to elevated critical fire weather conditions over the mountains and interior valleys.

    From Friday, July 9 through Sunday, July 11, NSW predicts very hot conditions with temperatures ranging between 105˚F – 112˚F in the interior areas and Antelope Valley. Overnight lows will be in the mid to upper 70s in the deserts. Low humidities (5% – 15%) and gusty winds will continue the brief critical fire conditions in the mountains, deserts and inland valleys of this region.

    Employers should take special precautions to prevent heat-related illnesses from occurring. It’s important to provide ample water, provide shade and frequent rest breaks, and ensure supervisors and employees are aware of heat illness symptoms and those that require immediate medical attention. For more information, read “Reduce heat illness risk for employees” on the California avocado growers website.

    To ensure California avocados maintain their superior quality it is imperative growers manage their trees and harvest their fruit according to best management practices as outlined below.

    IRRIGATION
    Growers should be irrigating their trees now, in advance of the heat, to ensure their trees are fully hydrated. It is recommended that an additional 50% of the budgeted amount of water be applied the day before a heat wave. For extended heat waves, daily pulses of irrigation are recommended to maintain the trees’ water status. A well-watered tree will tolerate the stress of a heat wave much better than a tree that is suffering from water stress. Signs of heat damage to trees include fruit drop, shoot damage, leaf burn and in severe cases leaf drop.

    HARVESTING

    Every attempt should be made to harvest fruit when temperatures are below 90 °F, and no harvesting should take place when temperatures exceed 95 °F. Temperature in the shade should be monitored during harvesting and, when possible, harvesting crews should be moved to the coolest, least exposed areas of the grove.

    Field bins should be placed under the trees while being filled to protect the harvested fruit from sunburn. Once filled, bins should be moved to a shade structure (open-sided roofed building), or covered with bin covers or light-colored tarps if they cannot be immediately transported to the packinghouse. Never leave filled bins exposed to the direct sun. The surface layer of fruit can easily heat up to more than 15 °F above ambient temperature when exposed to direct sun. Acute sunburn will only show on fruit after it is packed and is a major quality detractor.

    To avoid water loss and decreased fruit quality do not hold fruit too long after harvest. Transport fruit to the packinghouse at least once per day, if not twice daily. Bins should not be left in the grove for more than 8 hours after harvest. Cover bins during transport to avoid sunburn and to reduce water loss.

    For more information about managing heat in avocado groves, growers can view the following articles on the California avocado growers’ website:

  • Citrus Research Board Awarded $3.4 Million to Fund HLB Research

    The Citrus Research Board (CRB) has been awarded $3,438,059 in funding from the Huanglongbing Multi-Agency Coordination Group (HLB MAC) to support its California Focused Citrus Research and Field Trials (CRaFT).

    The overarching goal of the CRaFT project is to demonstrate additional mitigations to improve psyllid control within commercial citrus groves across the various citrus growing regions in California. This information will inform areawide control efforts and demonstrate the benefits of control mitigation measures currently available to growers for regional, state, and national benefit. This project aims to demonstrate reduced psyllid levels (through trap, tap, and visual monitoring) within treated groves as a year-by-year measurement and relative to the regional psyllid levels.

    “We are excited to develop the first CRaFT project for citrus in California, as this project will bring new energy to the fight against HLB and benefit growers across the state while investing in vital research,” said CRB President Marcy L. Martin.

    A group of 10 industry members will steer the project through the CRaFT Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) in conjunction with the CRB. This combined group will work with industry personnel to recruit growers in various regions to implement innovative psyllid management strategies. Growers who apply and are selected will receive reimbursement for costs associated with participation in the program.

    The project will be administered over two years by the CRB, with the intent to renew. Efforts in year one will include creating a foundation for the program while conducting trap-based monitoring. Data from these measures will be collected and summarized to demonstrate changes in psyllid populations from resulting mitigation measures. Semiannual grower meetings and quarterly CRaFT TAC meetings will be initiated to review project progress and identify any potential project issues.

    Year two will expand on previous efforts to provide data demonstrating changes in psyllid populations from applied mitigation measures. Findings will be summarized and shared with industry members to promote effective treatments.

    The HLB MAC group was established as an emergency response framework to better position the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to coordinate the citrus industry’s immediate and long-term needs in dealing with HLB. HLB MAC funds projects to drive innovative solution-oriented research while delivering effective and practical tools to growers.

    In addition to funding for the California Focused CRaFT project, other programs awarded funding for FY2021 include:

    • $4,061,941 to Texas (CRaFT project)
    • $676,665 to USDA Agricultural Research Service (expand data management tools to support these projects)

    For more information about the California Focused CRaFT Project and HLB MAC, visit www.citrusresearch.org.

    The CRB administers the California Citrus Research Program, the grower-funded and grower directed program established in 1968 under the California Marketing Act as the mechanism enabling the State’s citrus producers to sponsor and support needed research. More information about the Citrus Research Board may be found at www.citrusresearch.org.

  • Ravens & Crows Wreak Havoc in Orchards, Vineyards & Dairies

    Do you suspect some big black birds are damaging your irrigation lines, pecking at your newborn calves or eating your developing crop? You may have a problem with crows or ravens. But how do you tell the two apart, and how can you legally control them? Watch this brief interview with Brian Popper from USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services to learn more (special thanks to Hardshell Labs for providing some of the video b-roll footage).

    Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra for their industry support.

  • Protect Citrus from Sweet Orange Scab and Lime Swallowtail Butterfly

    Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program — While limiting the spread of the Asian citrus psyllid and Huanglongbing are the highest priority for the California citrus industry and the Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program, the program continually monitors for a number of threats to the industry and has recently detected sweet orange scab (SOS) in new areas of the state. Additionally, an unofficial Lime Swallowtail Butterfly (LSB) sample was identified from Los Angeles County and several LSB sightings have been uploaded onto the iNaturalist application, including sightings in Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo counties.

    Sweet Orange Scab
    Sweet Orange Scab

    SOS is a cosmetic fungal disease that impacts the marketability of the fruit and effects all citrus, not just oranges. SOS is caused by the fungus Elsinöe australis, which is dispersed by water. You can recognize SOS by the scab-like lesions on fruit, and less frequently on leaves and twigs. SOS can cause premature fruit drop and stunt young nursery trees and new field plantings but has little impact on fruit quality.

    A positive detection of SOS was found during a commodity survey on the west side of Riverside County, the fourth detection in California within the last year and a half. To help protect citrus from SOS, growers and packinghouses within five miles from an SOS detection, and packinghouses throughout the state receiving fruit from groves within five miles from an SOS detection, are currently required to follow the below measures:

    • Sign an SOS compliance agreement with California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
    • Disinfect all fruit and field bins.
    • Collect and appropriately dispose of green waste.

    Per the Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Committee’s direction, CDFA is also reviewing SOS impacts and analyzing the need to establish SOS interior quarantine regulations. Currently the program regulates areas within a five-mile radius from each SOS detection, following the United States Department of Agriculture’s quarantine protocols.

    Working hand in hand with growers, CDFA is exploring the rulemaking process to create state interior quarantines, which will avoid a broader statewide quarantine that would be more burdensome to the industry.

    Lime Swallowtail Butterfly

    There was one unofficial detection of LSB in Los Angeles and several reported sightings in Los Angeles and in San Luis Obispo counties.

    LSB in the larval stage eat citrus leaves and have been very damaging to nursery stock in other parts of the world. The larva looks similar to bird guano before maturing into green caterpillars. As butterflies, they are largely black with irregular yellow spots on the outer wings.

  • FDA Releases Findings Following 2020 Outbreak Linked to Central Valley Peaches

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a report on its investigation of the Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak in Peaches. The FDA and multiple state and federal partners investigated an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections that were linked to the consumption of peaches during the summer of 2020. In total, the outbreak caused 101 reported illnesses across 17 states, including 28 hospitalizations. This appears to be the first time a Salmonella outbreak has been linked to peaches.

    The FDA conducted this investigation in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state partners, and Canadian public health officials between August and October 2020. The epidemiological and traceback investigation determined that peaches packed or supplied by a large grower/producer were the likely source of the outbreak. The traceback evidence informed and helped to prioritize two subsequent investigations of peach packing/holding operations and peach orchards in Cutler, Kerman, and Sanger, California.  The large grower/producer cooperated with FDA throughout the investigation and is continuing to engage with FDA on the agency’s findings and recommendations.

    Investigators conducted over 700 tests on environmental, peach, and peach tree leaf samples.  While no test results matched the 2020 outbreak strain, four tests conducted on peach and peach tree leaf samples collected from an orchard adjacent to a poultry operation yielded positives for Salmonella Alachua which were further linked via whole genome sequencing (WGS) to 2019 and 2020 chicken isolates. This finding prompted a follow-up investigation more closely focused on growing areas and a voluntary recall by the firm, preventing the tested, contaminated product from reaching the market. During the follow-up investigation, two tests of peach tree leaf samples collected from orchards adjacent to a cattle feedlot yielded positives for Salmonella Montevideo that were genetically similar via WGS to 2018-2020 beef and cattle isolates.

    While investigators did not find the outbreak strain, and the strains of Salmonella found during this outbreak were not linked to any clinical illnesses, the investigational findings reinforce the FDA’s concern about the potential impact that adjacent land uses can have on the safety of produce.

    The FDA views the implementation of appropriate science- and risk-based measures to reduce the potential for contamination of peaches and other produce as the most effective and practicable means to improve the safety of fresh produce, especially when measures are tailored to the specific practices and conditions on individual farms. The FDA encourages all growers to be cognizant of and assess risks that may be posed by adjacent and nearby land uses, including for the potential impact of dust exposure. The FDA also recognizes the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment when it comes to public health outcomes, and we encourage collaboration among various groups in the broader agricultural community (e.g., produce growers, those managing animal operations, state and federal government agencies, and academia) to address this issue.

    For additional information

  • Farming Tips for Enduring Historic Drought in Northern CA

    It has been heart breaking to seeing wheat and alfalfa fields dry up the last few weeks.  The recent hot temperatures caused many fields to wither, while placing greater irrigation needs on the few crops being irrigated with well water.   It’s the driest year I have experienced in my 10 years in the Klamath Basin!

    Several people asked me about strategies moving forward this summer and what yields they can expect from crops with limited irrigation.  I do not know all the answers, but I tried to highlight some of my past experiences from research and farming below.  Please keep in mind every field situation is unique and one strategy rarely works in all situations.  I want to commend the farming community for being resilient in a terrible situation.  I also want to thank all those that have spent countless hours trying to improve the water situation today and in the future.

    Irrigation tips

    Almost all fields started this year with very little residual soil moisture.  At IREC, not a drop of water flowed through our tile drains this winter and spring.  Darrin and I noticed the first irrigation on many fields did not even refill the soil profile especially when irrigating during strong winds.  This made 2021 even more difficult as winter precipitation did not refill the soil profile naturally.  As a result, many alfalfa and grain fields are starting to show unusual patterns from drought such as wind strips and tall growth under sprinkler drains.  If you can water fields with well water, it is very important to check the sprinkler heads to make sure they are the proper size, check water pressure on the ends of irrigation lines, and make sure your irrigation is providing good coverage.  Offset your wheel-lines one roll the next irrigation in fields with wind strips.    As many of us are irrigating out of drains, it is important to make sure you have adequate sprinkler pressure.  If you do not have adequate pressure, you need to reduce the size of your sprinkler heads and extend the duration of the irrigation set (16 hrs vs 12 hrs) or run less lines.

    Many alfalfa producers are in the position to harvest 1st cutting and cannot water for the next couple weeks until the hay is picked up.  In this situation, producers should consolidate limited water on their most productive fields.  Once an alfalfa field wilts from drought it will typically go dormant.  This is good as the alfalfa will likely survive until next year, but it also means the alfalfa is resistant to green-up and grow again in mid-summer.  As such, I’d recommend using limited water to irrigate healthy fields instead of trying to stretch it across all fields especially those fields that are already wilted with poor growth going into first cutting.

    Potato producers will need to apply long sets to refill the soil profile when the potatoes emerge.  Most field have very little residual soil moisture, and it is important to avoid drought stress during vegetation growth and tuber initiation to maximize tuber set and tuber quality.  I advise potato growers to check soil moisture frequently throughout the potato rooting zone to make sure water reached the bottom of the hill and is uniform throughout the field.

    Most farmers should be done irrigating winter grain, and I see a few producers irrigating spring grain.   If you decide to irrigate spring grain, I recommend irrigating the crop fully until you run out of your water allocation instead of trying to space irrigation throughout the summer.  Irrigating spring grain fully to meet the crop water demand during tillering and elongation will maximize forage yields, and once wheat and barley fields show signs of drought stress, they will start to head producing low forage and grain yields.

    Fertilization tips

    Producers that decide to irrigate grain and grass fields should make sure to apply adequate nitrogen.  The cost of the fertilizer will easily pay for itself with high forage prices and nitrogen can double grass forage yields compared to leaving fields unfertilized.  Granular nitrogen fertilizer applied as a topdress (over the top of the crop) should be watered into the soil with at least an inch of water within a few days of application to prevent volatility losses.  Don’t fertilize fields if you do not have adequate water to irrigate crop!

    Pest Management tips

    2021 is shaping up to be a very bad pest year.  We have already witnessed problems with blue aphid and weevils in alfalfa, and I am starting to see armyworms in grain and alfalfa.  We had a very high population of seedcorn maggot in onions as all the maggot flies seemed to congregate in the few irrigated fields throughout the basin.  Thrip populations are also very high.  Onion producers should start scouting for thrips earlier than normal and be ready to start insecticide applications if thrip numbers build on young plants.  Potato producers should expect higher than normal pest populations.  Aphid populations are high, and many insects will be moving into potato fields after alfalfa and grain harvest.  Mites may be more problematic than normal as fields are receiving less overhead irrigation and we have a lot of dust in the air.  I hope the dry weather will help reduce foliar crop diseases, but the hot temperatures and stagnant water sources may make my prediction incorrect.   Potato and onion farmers need to apply frequent irrigation to keep up with crop water use, so make sure to scout for foliar diseases and try to avoid keeping leaf surfaces wet for extended periods. — By Rob Wilson, UCCE Farm Advisor, ANR Intermountain Research & Extension Center

  • Conventional Melon Weed Management in the Sacramento Valley

    Sutter County grows between 300 and 800 acres of fresh-market honeydew, mixed melon and cantaloupe each year. The fields vary between furrow and drip irrigation, with many fields in the Sutter Basin only receiving a pre-irrigation.

    Because of the rapid growth of melons, they are competitive with weeds and one cultivation may be sufficient to control weed issues. The growing habits of melons reduce the need for herbicides, which is fortunate since the availability of registered and effective herbicides is limited.

    Generally, in Sutter County, the field is tilled, pre-irrigated, worked again, and melons are planted into moisture. When weed pressure is high, a hand-hoeing crew comes in and cultivates. Since many of the conventional fields in the northern region receive little water, herbicides may not be as effective since they do not work well without water. If water is available, herbicides like Prefar and Curbit may be used.

    Bensulide (Prefar) can be applied before planting and incorporated shallowly or as a preemergent herbicide under sprinkler irrigation. It is used to control small-seeded annual grasses, pigweed and purslane. Remember to always check the label and consider plantback restrictions, especially if following with corn or sorghum. A layby application of ethalfuralin (Curbit) may also be used after thinning when melon plants are young (4-5 leaf stage) to control late germinating weeds.

    In 2017, I received a farm call about a grassy weed in a honeydew field that the pest control adviser had never seen in a melon field during his long career. He applied sethoxydim (Poast) twice and the grass (johnsongrass) kept coming back. When grasses are moisture stressed, sethoxydim can be less effective, which makes sense in a melon field receiving little irrigation. — By Amber Vinchesi-Vahl, Area Vegetable Crops Advisor, UCCE Colusa County

    References

    UC IPM, Pest Management Guidelines-Cucurbits, Integrated Weed Management.  http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r116700111.html

  • An Organic Alternative to Combatting Spotted Wing Drosophila

    Scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are working to understand how something can be equally effective as both a government-approved food additive and as a pesticide.

    Methyl benzoate is a naturally occurring compound produced by plants. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration long ago approved methyl benzoate for human use; its fruity and floral aroma makes it a staple in perfumes and cosmetics and as a food additive. Nature employs it to attract pollinators.

    While many insects find methyl benzoate appealing, Aijun Zhang, research chemist at the ARS Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory in Beltsville, MD, is investigating why some insects and non-insect pests find it revolting.

    From left, research chemist Aijun Zhang, postdoctoral Nick Larson, and intern Lauryn Brooks demonstrated research into methyl benzoate uses as a pesticide in an ARS poster day demonstration.

    Zhang’s research has focused on methyl benzoate’s utility as a pesticide for human protection and crop protection. So far, Zhang has documented that the compound will kill or repel many insects in various stages of development, including mosquitoes, bed bugs, fire ants, ticks, flies, moths, and the brown marmorated stink bug. Perhaps most important, however, is its ability to repel and kill the spotted wing drosophila fly (SWD). “SWD is the most significant invasive insect pest of soft-skinned fruit crops in the USA,” Zhang said.

    Since SWD was first detected in California a little over a decade ago, the fly has become a key pest in blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and cherries. These crops have a combined annual value of over $5.8 billion, and farmers lose about $718 million annually to SWD damage.

    Farmers fight SWD with synthetic insecticides, but at prices up to $1,200 per acre, that method is expensive. It is costly in other ways, too, Zhang said; the synthetic insecticide is harmful to the environment, contributes to pesticide resistance, and may be harmful to humans.

    Because methyl benzoate is an environmentally friendly, bio-based compound, Zhang thinks it has great potential to be used by people for human protection as an alternative to synthetic pesticides. It also costs much less than synthetic pesticide treatments.

    According to Zhang, methyl benzoate shares the same “chemical skeleton” as DEET, the gold standard in arthropod repellency, a detail that is leading future research efforts.

    “Understanding the structure-activity relationship will allow researchers to modify the chemical structure of the methyl benzoate molecule to develop pesticides that are more efficient at controlling arthropod pests,” he said. — By Scott Elliott, USDA-ARS Office of Communications.

  • An Organic Alternative to Combatting Spotted Wing Drosophila

    Scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are working to understand how something can be equally effective as both a government-approved food additive and as a pesticide.

    Methyl benzoate is a naturally occurring compound produced by plants. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration long ago approved methyl benzoate for human use; its fruity and floral aroma makes it a staple in perfumes and cosmetics and as a food additive. Nature employs it to attract pollinators.

    While many insects find methyl benzoate appealing, Aijun Zhang, research chemist at the ARS Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory in Beltsville, MD, is investigating why some insects and non-insect pests find it revolting.

    From left, research chemist Aijun Zhang, postdoctoral Nick Larson, and intern Lauryn Brooks demonstrated research into methyl benzoate uses as a pesticide in an ARS poster day demonstration.

    Zhang’s research has focused on methyl benzoate’s utility as a pesticide for human protection and crop protection. So far, Zhang has documented that the compound will kill or repel many insects in various stages of development, including mosquitoes, bed bugs, fire ants, ticks, flies, moths, and the brown marmorated stink bug. Perhaps most important, however, is its ability to repel and kill the spotted wing drosophila fly (SWD). “SWD is the most significant invasive insect pest of soft-skinned fruit crops in the USA,” Zhang said.

    Since SWD was first detected in California a little over a decade ago, the fly has become a key pest in blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and cherries. These crops have a combined annual value of over $5.8 billion, and farmers lose about $718 million annually to SWD damage.

    Farmers fight SWD with synthetic insecticides, but at prices up to $1,200 per acre, that method is expensive. It is costly in other ways, too, Zhang said; the synthetic insecticide is harmful to the environment, contributes to pesticide resistance, and may be harmful to humans.

    Because methyl benzoate is an environmentally friendly, bio-based compound, Zhang thinks it has great potential to be used by people for human protection as an alternative to synthetic pesticides. It also costs much less than synthetic pesticide treatments.

    According to Zhang, methyl benzoate shares the same “chemical skeleton” as DEET, the gold standard in arthropod repellency, a detail that is leading future research efforts.

    “Understanding the structure-activity relationship will allow researchers to modify the chemical structure of the methyl benzoate molecule to develop pesticides that are more efficient at controlling arthropod pests,” he said. — By Scott Elliott, USDA-ARS Office of Communications.

  • FDA Issues Report Highlighting Salmonella Outbreak in Red Onions

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a report on its investigation of the Salmonella Newport outbreak that caused more than 1,600 reported illnesses in the U.S. and Canada between June and October 2020. The FDA worked with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state partners, and Canadian officials (Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency) to investigate the outbreak, which was linked through epidemiology and traceback to whole red onions supplied by Thomson International Inc., headquartered in Bakersfield (Southern San Joaquin Valley) with additional operations in Holtville (Imperial Valley), California. The outbreak is the largest Salmonella foodborne illness outbreak in over a decade. The report released today includes an overview of the traceback investigation, subsequent on-site interviews, visual observations of the growing fields, and environmental sampling, and various factors that potentially contributed to the contamination of red onions with Salmonella.

    Although a conclusive root cause could not be identified, several potential contributing factors to the 2020 Salmonella outbreak linked to red onions were identified. These include:

    • potentially contaminated sources of irrigation water;
    • sheep grazing on adjacent land;
    • signs of animal intrusion, including scat (fecal droppings), and large flocks of birds that may spread contamination; and
    • food contact surfaces that had not been inspected, maintained, or cleaned as frequently as necessary to protect against the contamination of produce.

    In sampling conducted in Holtville, CA, the FDA found Salmonella Newport in 10 water (irrigation, seepage, and drainage) and one sediment subsamples. However, the whole genome sequencing of these samples did not match the outbreak strain.

    Although a conclusive root cause could not be identified, several potential contributing factors to the 2020 red onion outbreak were identified, including a leading hypothesis that contaminated irrigation water used in a growing field in Holtville, CA may have led to contamination of the onions.

    In light of this report, the FDA encourages all farms to:

    • assess growing operations to ensure implementation of appropriate science and risk-based preventive measures, including applicable provisions of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule and good agricultural practices;
    • implement industry-led root-cause analyses to determine how the contamination likely occurred when pathogens are identified through pre-harvest or post-harvest testing of produce, or microbiological surveys;
    • be aware of and consider the risks that may be posed by adjacent and nearby land uses, especially as it relates to the presence of livestock and the interface between farmland, rangeland, irrigation water, and other agricultural areas;
    • consider additional tools such as pre-harvest and/or post-harvest sampling and testing of products to help inform the risk assessment and clarify the need for specific prevention measures; and
    • improve traceability by increasing digitization, interoperability and standardization of traceability records; and
    • follow good agricultural practices to maintain and protect the quality of water sources.

    Thomson International Inc. cooperated with the FDA throughout the investigation and is continuing to engage with the FDA on the agency’s findings and recommendations.

    Food safety is a shared responsibility that involves food producers, distributors, manufacturers, retailers, and regulators. Recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment when it comes to public health outcomes, we encourage collaboration among various groups in the broader agricultural community (i.e. livestock owners and produce growers, state government and academia) to address this issue. The FDA is committed to working with these stakeholders to advance critical work.

    For More Information: