The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) recently announced that California has received $23.8 million out of approximately $72.4 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture nationwide for the 2020 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP). The SCBGP provides grants to state departments of agriculture to fund projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops, defined as fruits, vegetables, …

Entomologists have a unique toolbox of gadgets designed to trap and collect otherwise hard to nab insects.  Beating, sweeping, sucking, and carefully brushing, these scientists have no lack of creativity when it comes to collecting what most people can’t even see.  Yet these collections are critical keys to unravel the mystery of crop-threatening disease, where insects often play the role …

COVID-19 is a health crisis in the United States but major industries, like agriculture, chemical manufacturing, oil and gas exploration and production, all need to keep functioning as essential businesses in the midst of the crisis.  The response to COVID-19 has core parallels to major industrial accident response, which involves deploying the right resources for the task.  Every incident, be …

Almond growers have a lot of inputs to consider to produce their crop. They must balance the cost of labor, pest management, water, and bees for pollination.  Those costs are not fixed year-after-year, especially renting the bees. The fact is the cost of colony rentals for pollination has steadily increased, and remained, at a premium. And almond acreage is projected to outpace …

American Pistachio Growers — After thoughtful deliberations, the American Pistachio Growers (APG) Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 Annual Conference that was set to take place March 1 – 3, 2021 in Monterey, California. While we will miss seeing everyone in 2021, the health and safety of our members, attendees, speakers, staff and partners are our …

Navel orangeworm (NOW) is the key pest of almonds, causing more income loss due to reject nuts than any other pest. Pesticide sprays, alone, cannot control this pest. A combination of several specific practices has been proven to reduce NOW damage and limit loss of grower income. These practices are winter sanitation, timely harvest and pesticide sprays (where needed). Mating …

Almond Board of California — Growers have a lot to think about leading up to and during harvest – prepping the orchard floor, timing the first shake in relation to hull split and achieving optimum moisture content during drying are just a few of the many important factors growers will consider from July to October. Even as this season’s bounty is being harvested, the foundation for …

Almond Board of California — For the third year in a row, Chris Rishwain is preparing to plant cover crops in the windrows of his 150-acre almond orchard near Manteca. Although his original intent was to provide forage for honey bees during pollination, Rishwain has discovered multiple additional benefits to cover crops, one of the most impactful being the positive effect …