The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) announced the return of its annual dairy innovation competition for the fourth year running. This year’s Real California Milk Excelerator, created in partnership with innovation consultancy VentureFuel, brings a new, expansive focus to accelerate any dairy-based product – from traditional consumer food and beverage items to textiles, haircare, and beyond. The competition will award …

The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) announced the 12 finalists for the 2022 Real California Pizza Contest (RCPC) – the fourth nationwide search for the best foodservice pizza recipes that include the most innovative uses of Real California cow’s milk cheeses. The professional chef finalists will compete in three categories during a public bake-off event in Napa, Calif. June 22, …

The U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards program recognized a class of seven exceptional farms, businesses and partnerships for their socially responsible, economically viable and environmentally sound practices and technologies that have a broad and positive impact. This year’s winners displayed excellence in areas such as methane and other greenhouse gas reduction practices as well as water use efficiencies that support the …

After a year and a half of supply chain problems, a massive trade imbalance, and challenges at ports, the Almond Alliance California has announced a collaborative private/public venture to ship nuts to foreign customers. From September 2021 to February 2022, California almonds lost $2 billion in revenue. “There is a stockpile of nuts sitting in warehouses and at docks that …

Root rot is a term referring to any disease where the pathogen damage and deteriorate the plant’s root system. Root rot can occur on most woody and herbaceous plants. Root rot is caused by many soil-borne fungi. Most fungi causing root rot to prefer wet soil conditions. Some of them produce spores (microscopic biological particles that allow fungi to be …

Friday and Saturday, June 24-25, the UC Davis Olive Center will hold its first event of the year with two days of olive oil sensory instruction including tastings, lectures and roundtable discussions. This practical educational program is designed to provide a solid foundation for understanding and evaluating olive oil. In addition to learning about the positive sensory attributes and the …

Work continues at the mechanical pruning trial site in Red Bluff. The trial, funded by the California Prune Board and led by Dr. Rich Rosecrance at Chico State, was initiated in 2019 and aims to identify lower cost pruning alternatives for growers without compromising yield or fruit quality. The study site is an orchard planted in 2011 at a spacing …

Joe Vargas has been hired as the director of business intelligence for the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) and North American Blueberry Council (NABC). In this newly created role, Vargas is responsible for developing and leading a best-in-class data and insights program for the blueberry industry. “We’re thrilled to welcome Joe to the team and can’t wait for him to lend …

The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Plant Pest Diagnostic Center (PPDC) has identified two Asian citrus psyllids (ACP) on a glassy-winged sharpshooter trap from a packinghouse in the Orange Cove area of Fresno County. This has been the first time that the ACP has been detected in Fresno County since November 2019. Following confirmation of the ACP detections, agricultural …