Winners of the 2025 Farm Robotics Challenge Awards will be announced on May 8. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems will host a virtual awards ceremony on Thursday, May 8, at 2-3 p.m. PDT. The event will celebrate student teams who have developed cutting-edge robotic solutions to address real-world farming challenges. The …

Fusarium wilt of lettuce, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lactucae (FOL), is an economically significant disease on the Central Coast of California.  We conducted field trials to evaluate 30 iceberg and 21 romaine varieties for tolerance to Fusarium wilt.  The trials were located in commercial fields in Greenfield, CA (wet date of May 27, 2024) and Salinas, CA (wet date of June 8, …

It doesn’t require a degree in ornithology, a lab test or even an app for most growers to determine whether bird poop near their crops presents a food safety risk. They just need to ask themselves a simple question: How big is it? That’s according to a study from the University of California, Davis, published today in the Journal of …

A dwindling and aging agricultural workforce, coupled with higher labor costs, have added pressure on U.S. farms over the past decade. A recent study by University of California agricultural economists Alexandra Hill and James Sayre explores these changing trends in U.S. and Mexican farmworker demographics and the potential implications for U.S. farms. They found that the incentives to enter the …

UC Cooperative extension experts led by Michelle Leinfelder-Miles evaluated blackeye bean varieties in a commercial field in Stanislaus County in 2023. The season began with cool and wet spring conditions, which lasted through the month of June and delayed planting. Seven varieties from the University of California blackeye breeding program were planted on July 7th. The varieties were grown on …

America’s farmers rely on a host of practices such as cover cropping and crop rotation to maintain soil health, grow more productive crops and feed the U.S. and countries around the world. However, current research is too sparse to precisely demonstrate how these practices can actually affect the yields and bottom lines for farmers. Agricultural lenders and crop insurers do …

Organic food sales in the United States in 2022 broke through $60 billion for the first time, hitting another high-level mark for the resilient organic sector. Total organic sales – including organic non-food products, were a record $67.6 billion*, according to the 2023 Organic Industry Survey released Wednesday by the Organic Trade Association. The organic market grew despite challenging headwinds: …

Due to severe water shortages, rice acres planted in California plummeted by 37% from 2021 to 2022, according to numbers released recently by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. But now, thanks to University of California researchers, growers have a new tool they could potentially use to cope with droughts and other environmental and socioeconomic changes. A …

The Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) announced its newly elected leaders for the next office term, beginning January 2024. The CSSA annual election, which was held March 6 – April 6, 2023, was open to all members of the Society. Candidates, either self-nominated or nominated by others, ran for positions including President, a member of the Board of Directors, and Division …