Navel Orangeworm is widely known as a serious pest in tree nuts; however, it is also becoming quite the nuisance in California’s fig crop as well. Check out this brief interview with Brad Higbee, now Field Research & Development Manager for Trece, Inc. as he talks about the work they are doing to help fig growers, and read more about it in California Fresh Fruit Magazine.
Summer is coming, and temperatures are rising to levels of concern for heat illness for farm employees. “Weather forecasts are looking at highly increased temperatures in the coming weeks,” shared Manuel Cunha, Jr., President of Nisei Farmers League. “In some areas, an increase of more than 20 degrees than what we are used to at this time of the year. Please follow the important rules for being sure your employees are safe.”
Cunha emphasized the need for adequate shade and rest, water, training and an emergency plan. It’s also critical to know and comply with recent changes to regulations regarding heat illness prevention, as follows:
Ø Acclimatization:
o Plan for new hires who will be exposed to heat to which the employee’s and body hasn’t yet adjusted.
o New employees must be closely observed for their first two weeks on the job.
o Allow employees to properly acclimate to high heat temperatures.
o Supervisors must be extra vigilant with new employees and stay alert to the presence of heat related symptoms.
o New employees will be assigned a buddy to closely watch for discomfort or symptoms of heat illness.
Ø Shade:
o Must be made available to 100% of the employees on rest breaks or meal periods when temperatures equal or exceed 80 degrees (NFL recommends to have shade available at the start of the day)
o May be provided by any natural or artificial means (ex: trees or vines that allow for workers to sit under comfortably is sufficient)
o If providing shade tents, shade tents should provide enough shade so that a person can sit in a normal posture fully in shade without being in physical contact with another worker.
Ø Water:
o Must be fresh, pure, and suitably cool.
o Shall be located as close as practicable to the area where employees are working. (NFL recommends you provide a water station at shade area)
o Have a replenishment plan in writing.
Ø High Heat Procedures (triggered at 95 degrees):
o Encourage employees to take rest periods.
o Monitor employees during recovery and develop a buddy system
o Be sure crews are manageable (ex: 20 workers per crew)
o If possible, change work schedule to adjust to the temperature.
o You will be required to take a 10 minute paid break every two hours. You will need to record all breaks.
For more information, visit Cal/OSHA website: http://www.dir.ca.gov/DOSH/dosh_publications/ESPHIP.pdf
With the threat of the deadly Huanglongbing citrus greening disease coming to the state, California citrus growers are doing all they can to keep the disease vector asian citrus psyllid out of their orchards; however, these treatments are also taking out natural enemies for red scale, causing a resurgence of the pest in California orchards. Watch this brief video as researcher David Holden explains, and read more about it in California Fresh Fruit Magazine.
The USDA has declared April to be “Invasive Plant Pest and Disease Awareness Month,” during a critical time of year when damaging invasive species emerge and can be easily spread in outdoor items that people pack and move, such as grills, gardening equipment, wading pools, bicycles, and patio furniture.
Invasive species are a series problem. They attack trees, plants and agriculture, costing the United States about $40 billion each year. Household moves increase the risk for the spread of these invasive species, since people can potentially transport them to new areas.
CDFA partners with the USDA to prevent and eradicate invasive species in California. The agencies have a long history of working together on programs like Asian citrus psyllid/huanglongbing, the Mediterranean Fruit Fly, and the European Grapevine Moth.
About 35 million Americans move every year, bringing a high possibility of transporting invasive pests. For instance, federal and state inspectors often find gypsy moth egg masses on outdoor household items and recreational vehicles in non-infested areas. The USDA is offering a free checklist for household moves that includes suggestions and tips for reducing this risk.
Click here for more information about CDFA’s invasive species programs.
Click here for more information about the USDA’s Hungry Pests outreach program.
Looking to strengthen the market for California-grown olives, Musco Family Olive Company, the #1 branded olive company in America and the largest packer of ripe olives in the world, recently announced it is offering new contracts to growers impacted by the recent decision of a competitor to cancel its contracts with California farmers.
“We want every farmer impacted by this decision to know that Musco Family Olive Company is committed to the California ripe olive industry. Our gates are open to purchase this year’s crop to meet our increased supply needs from any grower who commits to our modern growing and harvesting goals,” said Felix Musco, the company’s Chief Executive Officer. He added, “Additionally, while preference will be given to those growers who commit to planting mechanically harvestable acreage, we will also offer a one-year contract to as many acres as we can to provide everyone with more time to consider this opportunity.”
The California olive industry has suffered for years from unfair trade benefitting Spanish ripe olives. Using what was later determined to be unfair trade practices, Spanish olive exporters years ago seized the U.S. foodservice market and then moved on to capture the U.S. retail market. The California industry filed a trade action against Spain in 2017, which led to final anti-dumping and countervailing duty rulings last year in favor of the California ripe olive industry. The U.S. Government’s strong enforcement of the trading rights is now providing the California ripe olive industry the care and attention it needs to grow.
As a result of that ruling, the California ripe olive industry has quickly regained substantial market share lost to unfair imports from Spain. With the California industry having regained the U.S. retail segment, Musco Family Olive Company believes the time has come for the domestic industry to turn its sights on becoming the primary provider to the U.S. foodservice market which is, in total, larger than the retail market. Unfortunately, California has lost the lion’s share of that segment in recent years.
“Regaining the lost sales in foodservice is a huge opportunity for the domestic ripe olive industry and could provide a home for 10,000 acres of new plantings in California,” said Felix Musco. He added, “California has long been the largest and most modern producer of agricultural products in the world. We are proud that olives have been a part of this strong industry for many years and we look forward to investing in our future so the California ripe olive industry will thrive and grow for generations to come.”
For many years, Musco Family Olive Company has practiced a long-term, sustainable model focused on the development of modern growing and harvesting techniques. The company was the first to demonstrate and utilize mechanical harvesting as a viable option for picking olives in California. It is committed to modern planting to ensure competitively-priced fruit and strong grower returns. The company has a long-term perspective on the California ripe olive industry and looks forward to working with like-minded growers to build a strong future for the industry. Musco Olive Company recently unveiled its incentive program for planting mechanically-harvestable acreage to its existing growers.“I firmly believe these monumental events can strengthen an industry.
Rather than surrender, I know as a grower and as a packer, now is the time to invest in our California olive industry,” said Dennis Burreson, Musco Family Olive Company’s Vice President of Field Operations and Industry Affairs. He added, “My family’s modern mechanically harvested olive orchards have generated revenue exceeding any other crop we are involved with, including almonds. Because of this, we are now planting additional olive acreage. ”
Musco Olive Company looks forward to sharing and discussing these programs with all interested growers. For growers interested in learning more about Musco Family Olive Co.’s contract offerings they can contact field personnel at (530) 865-4111.
About Musco Family Olive Co.:
Musco Family Olive Co. is a third-generation privately held family owned business and holds the #1 branded market share of ripe olives in the U. S. Musco partnes with hundreds of multi-generational family farmers throughout California’s Central Valley growing premium Manzanilla variety black olives developed and grown in the state for decades. Musco Family Olive Co. is proud of its industry-leading environmental stewardship program and has been recognized with numerous awards. The company is committed to its California growers, long-tenured employees, and countless valued vendors and business partners.
History of the Olive Industry in California:
The California ripe olive industry has a long and storied history. The black ripe olive process was developed in California over 120 years ago by Freda Ehmann of Oroville, California. Thanks to her entrepreneurial spirit and the dedication of 1000 hard-working California ripe olive grower families, consumers can continue to enjoy this traditionally American olive as they have for many generations. For more information about California olive growing family farms, please look here: http://calolive.org/meet-our-growers/
A team of researchers, including two from the University of California, Riverside, has identified the genes responsible for the hallmark sour taste of many citrus fruits. Published Tuesday, Feb. 25 in Nature Communications, the research could help plant breeders develop new, sweeter varieties.
Modern citrus varieties have been bred over thousands of years to generate a broad palette of sour and sweet-tasting fruits. Analyses of their pulp reveals that a single chemical element—hydrogen—is largely responsible for the difference between sour and sweet-tasting varieties, which usually have similar sugar content. The pulp from sour fruits contains more hydrogen ions, giving it a lower pH and a tangy taste that is recognized by acid-sensitive cells in our taste buds. Conversely, pulp from sweeter varieties contains fewer hydrogen ions and tastes less acidic.
Ronald Koes and colleagues at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands set out to untangle how some citrus varieties wind up with more acidic juice than others, a process that until now has remained a mystery. Their interest stemmed from a previous study showing that higher acidity in purple petunia flowers resulted in more petal pigmentation.
Intrigued by the Faris variety of lemon tree, which produces branches bearing both sweet and sour fruits, and white and purple-tinged flowers, Koes’ team turned to UCR plant scientists Mikeal Roose and Claire Federici. Using the university’s vast Citrus Variety Collection, which preserves over 1,000 living citrus and related fruit varieties, Roose and Federici selected the Faris lemon and 20 other citrus fruits ranging from wincingly sour to sugary sweet for Koes’ team to analyze.
By studying the expression of genes related to those controlling acidity in petunias, Koes’ team identified two citrus genes, CitPH1 and CitPH5, that are highly expressed in sour varieties and weakly expressed in sweet-tasting varieties. The CitPH1 and CitPH5 genes encode transporter proteins that pump hydrogen ions into the vacuole, a large storage compartment inside juice cells, thus increasing their overall acidity.
Next, the team turned its attention to genes that control the levels of CitPH1 and CitPH5 in juice cells. While down-regulation of CitPH1 and CitPH5 in sweeter tasting varieties arose multiple times independently in different varieties, the researchers found that mutations in genes for a handful of transcription factors (proteins that help turn specific genes on and off) were responsible for reduced expression of CitPH1 and CitPH5, and therefore a sweeter taste.
Roose, a professor of genetics in UCR’s College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, said the findings could help breeders develop better-tasting citrus fruits. However, he said breeding varieties with severe mutations in the transcription factors such as those studied in the “acidless” citrus would be “overkill,” producing sugary citrus fruits with none of their popular acidic kick. Instead, plant scientists should look to target mutations that have a less dramatic effect on the production and activity of transporter proteins.
“By understanding the mechanism acidification of fruit cells, we can now look for related genes that might reduce the expression of CitPH1 and CitPH5 just enough to engineer or select for new, sweeter varieties,” Roose said.
The title of the paper is “Hyperacidification of Citrus fruits by a vacuolar proton-pumping P-ATPase complex.” In addition to Koes, authors at the University of Amsterdam are Pamela Strazzer, Cornelis Spelt, Shuangjiang Li, Mattijs Bliek, and Francesca Quattrocchio. Roose and Federici’s work was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
About UC Riverside: The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California’s diverse culture, UCR’s enrollment is now nearly 23,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.
(Santa Barbara, CA) – The California Fresh Fruit Association (CFFA) kicked off their new fiscal year
yesterday during the Annual Membership Meeting at their 83rd Annual Meeting in Santa Barbara,
California. The event featured the election of the Board of Directors and Chairman, as well as industry and
committee updates.
The Board of Directors is made up of 44 men and women from operations located from as far south as Coachella Valley to as far north as Lake County. Randy Giumarra (Giumarra Vineyards) was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the 2019/20 fiscal year. The organization’s officers are nominated to serve for a one-year period and are selected by a committee of past Board Chairs. The full slate of officers includes:
CHAIR: Randy Giumarra (Giumarra Vineyards) – Bakersfield-based fresh grape and tree fruit shipper
FIRST VICE CHAIR: Kevin Herman (The Specialty Crop Company) – Madera-based fresh fig,
pomegranate, and persimmon shipper
SECOND VICE CHAIR: Wayde Kirschenman (Kirschenman Enterprises) – Kern County-based diversified
farming operation
SECRETARY/TREASURER: Louis Pandol (Pandol Bros., Inc.) – Delano-based fresh grape shipper
The Association honored Kent Stephens, CFO of Marko Zaninovich, Inc., with the prestigious Mentor’s
Award, which is bestowed to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional dedication to the fresh grape,
berry and tree fruit communities through their leadership in the industry. Stephens, through his work in both
the table grape industry and water advocacy, has made an immensely positive impact on California
agriculture over his forty year career. The Mentor’s Award was first awarded in 1966 to Mr. Martin
Zaninovich of Jasmine Vineyards, Inc. An awardee is selected by the Association’s Mentors’ Committee
and a recipient is selected based on the following criteria: a trusted counselor or guide; a wise, loyal advisor;
a tutor, coach, teacher; and a person who, through effort, discovery, innovation, dedication, and/or perseverance, has influenced the industry in a positive way.
Prior to the Annual Membership Meeting, the Annual Industry Workshop featured key note speakers Mr.
Ruben Navarrette and Mr. John Manzella. Both speakers delivered passionate messages about the issues
of immigration and trade wars, as well as many other issues that are impacting the future of California agriculture and what our industry must do to be prepared.
The University of California Kern County Cooperative Extension is holding a spring citrus meeting on Friday, March 8 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Kern County Cooperative Extension auditorium. Meeting topics include the latest Asian citrus psyllid treatment strategies, the 2019 Kern County ACP coordinated treatment plan and more. The meeting is open to all citrus growers and affiliates.
Continuing Education (CE) units or Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) units are not available for this meeting. A full list of speakers and topics is provided below.
8:30 a.m.
Registration
9 a.m.
Latest Treatment Strategies for Asian Citrus Psyllid
Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell, director, Lindcove Research & Extension Center
ACP-HLB Update and 2019 Kern Coordinated ACP Treatment Plan
Judy Zaninovich, Kern County ACP-HLB Grower Liaison
Are You Applying Imidacloprid Properly?
Rick Leonard, Bayer
What Should We Do About California Red Scale?
Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell, director, Lindcove Research & Extension Center
Spider Mites of Concern in the Lower San Joaquin Valley
David Haviland, Kern County Cooperative Extension entomologist and Farm Advisor
Noon
Adjourn
Meeting details:
Friday, March 8
8:30 a.m. to Noon
Kern County Cooperative Extension Auditorium
1031 S. Mount Vernon Ave.
Bakersfield, CA 93307
For questions, please contact:
Judy Zaninovich
Kern County ACP-HLB Grower Liaison
jsleslie@msn.com
To explore and discover solutions to plant diseases impacting the global citrus industry, the 21st Conference of the International Organization of Citrus Virologists (IOCV) and the 6th International Research Conference on Huanglongbing (IRCHLB)are taking place at the Riverside Convention Center in Riverside from March 10-15, 2019.
Co-organized by Citrus Research Board, the conferences will bring more than 500 attendees – from leading researchers and regulators to citrus growers – representing over 22 countries to Southern California, the birthplace of California’s iconic citrus trees. This is the first time the IOCV and IRCHLB conferences will be held in conjunction.
The IOCV conference returns to Riverside for the first time since the inaugural Citrus Virus Diseases conference in 1957, which was organized on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Citrus Experiment Station at the University of California, Riverside in 1907*.
The IOCV conference will take place from March 10-12, and features presentations on citrus leprosis, tristeza, yellow vein clearing and the de novo discovery of citrus viruses, as well as citrus viroids and diagnostics. In addition, for the first time in the history of IOCV, the conference will include sessions on non-graft-transmissible diseases of citrus.
Taking place March 12-15, the IRCHLB will feature research presentations and interactive sessions on the global status of Huanglongbing (HLB), a summary of current HLB research efforts and the vision for long-term sustainable HLB management practices. HLB has killed hundreds of thousands of citrus trees in Florida and other countries, and is one of the biggest threats facing California’s commercial citrus industry.
“California’s citrus community is honored to be hosting the Joint Conference of the IOCV and IRCHLB and hosting citrus researchers from around the world. We’re looking forward to learning about breakthroughs from our fellow scientists and collaborating with them to find sustainable solutions to the disease threats facing the citrus industry,”said UC Riverside Professor Georgios Vidalakis, chair of the Joint Conference. “On behalf of the conference, we are grateful for the support of Citrus Research Board – one of the leading citrus research organizations – and the staff that took the lead on organizing and hosting the conference.”
About the Joint 2019 IOCV-IRCHLB Conferences
The 21st Conference of the International Organization of Citrus Virologists and the 6th International Research Conference on Huanglongbing is organized by the Citrus Research Board; the University of California, Riverside; and the United States Department of Agriculture’sAgricultural Research Service in collaboration with numerous citrus industry, state and federal government, and university partners. Learn more at www.iocvirchlb.com.
About Citrus Research Board
Citrus Research Board administers the California Citrus Research Program, the grower-funded and grower-directed program established in 1968 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.