We cut our blackeye bean (cowpea) research plots at UC Davis almost 3 weeks ago and they’re still too green to harvest. If we tried now, the vines would get wrapped around the threshing cylinder. Several growers in the Sacramento Valley have mentioned that their corn has sat at the same moisture level for weeks and is not drying down either, …
President Donald J. Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced up to an additional $14 billion for agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of COVID-19. Signup for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2) will begin September 21 and run through December 11, 2020. “America’s agriculture communities are resilient, but still …
In what may be a first for science, researchers with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have found an example of plant and insect viruses working together to increase their spread. Michelle Heck, an ARS research molecular biologist, was leading research into poleroviruses, a type of plant virus spread by aphids, when she and Cornell University graduate students Jenny Wilson and …
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the availability of assistance for residents and agricultural producers affected by recent wildfires. As of today, wildfires have burned nearly 6.9 million acres across 11 states. More than 31,000 personnel from the local, state and federal levels are working to contain 61 large fires. The USDA Forest Service has more than 7,800 …
With support from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Multistate Research Fund, researchers at 17 land-grant universities are working together to develop automated systems that work well for labor-intensive specialty crops like fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and nursery plants. A multi-state collaborative approach lifts the burden of research and development from a single specialty crop sector and spurs major …
Poor weather conditions during harvest in Sinaloa, the top tomato producing state in Mexico, plus demand and supply chain challenges as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic have resulted in slightly lower forecasted production and trade in fresh tomatoes. However, spring/summer supplies from central Mexico are expected to meet all demand to the United States for the remainder of the …
Scientific research provides us with the foundation of knowledge we rely on in order to understand honey bee health threats and address them. Project Apis m. and the National Honey Board are requesting research proposals to support and enhance honey bee health. Proposals will be accepted between September 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020. Please visit www.ProjectApism.org/rfps to view the …
The first of its kind, the Watermelon Virtual Master Classes were arguably one of the largest pivots of the Spring-Summer season for the communications program of the National Watermelon Promotion Board (NWPB). The challenge was to move an NYC-based freelance summertime media event to online: a virtual version for the at-home world of media and influencers to educate, inform and …
In late June, I was contacted by a watermelon grower and visited his field near the border of Stanislaus and Merced County. In the field, 50% of the plants showed leaf and vine wilt and about 20% died (see the field image). When I made a closer examination, the color of leaf lesions were chocolate brown and stem appeared to …
