Effective Aug. 19, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), expanded the area quarantined for sweet orange scab (SOS) in the Burbank, Los Angeles and Long Beach areas of Los Angeles County and the Anaheim and Garden Grove areas of Orange County. SOS is a disease caused by …

This year’s UC Cooperative Extension California Agritourism Summit will be held September 23-25 in Paso Robles, CA. The summit brings together leaders, experts, and practitioners to connect, learn, and engage. This is an opportunity for you to connect colleagues from across the state to learn from each other, share your work, and discuss how to meet this exciting ear for …

UC Ag and Natural Resources is hosting a Dragon Fruit Production Workshop and Farm Tour for growers in the San Diego area. The two-day event will discuss topics ranging from variety selection and field establishment to irrigation, pest management and marketing. Growers will have an opportunity to see the latest research and witness hands-on demonstrations, gain insights from local grower …

UC Ag and Natural Resources and F3 are offering  free skills training courses to help California growers navigate the hurdles of planning, marketing, social media, capital access and buyer engagement. Small- to mid-size growers, ranchers, fishers, food producers and food business owners are invited to join the Business Launchpad, a free, cohort-based business development program designed to help them build …

The California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) recently released the 2025 California Wine Community Sustainability Report, which finds that sustainability is being implemented at broad scale across the state, with approximately 70% of California wine grape acreage certified to a sustainability program and more than 90% of California wine produced in a certified sustainable winery. Published every five years, the report …

Amid the constant hum of thousands of bees, open hive boxes and volunteers dressed in veils and protective beekeeping suits, the OC Bee Team apiary, hosted at the UC Ag and Natural Resources (UC ANR) South Coast Research and Extension Center (SCREC), celebrated 10 years of education, collaboration and community service. The anniversary celebration brought together volunteers, specialists, researchers and …

ARS researchers are helping wheat farmers deal with a devastating crop disease. ARS scientists in Lincoln, Neb. released new lines of common and durum wheat with resistance to Fusarium Head Blight (FHB). FHB, commonly known as scab, significantly affects wheat and barley, resulting in approximately $1B in yield losses annually in the U.S. and worldwide. ARS scientists used modern and …

To stop the glassy-winged sharpshooter from spreading a fatal grapevine disease into Northern California, the Pierce’s Disease and Glassy-Winged Sharpshooter (PD/GWSS) Board at the California Department of Food and Agriculture committed $820,000 to the ongoing emergency response. Preventing the glassy-winged sharpshooter from becoming established in new areas protects winegrapes and other agricultural and landscape plants. California’s wine industry generates about …

California almond growers know the challenge navel orangeworm brings every season. The pest can reduce crop quality, increase production costs and raise concerns around aflatoxin and marketability. Now, new additional funding is helping continue an industry-backed research effort to advance another tool growers may one day be able to use as part of an integrated pest management program. The Foundation …

Planting an almond orchard has never been a simple decision. But in today’s margin-tight environment, the choice of rootstock and variety combination is more than an agronomic preference — it is a 20- to 25-year business decision that can shape profitability, harvest efficiency, marketability and long-term risk. That was the focus of a grower-facing discussion moderated by Almond Board of …