United Vegetable Growers Cooperative — Our most precious resource is in critical condition. Chances are if you have driven through the Central San Joaquin Valley over the past 20 years you have seen prominent signs and billboards scattered along the interstate highways as well as the backroads. Many can attest to driving by one of these signs countless times while checking their fall …

As planting season begins across the West, Western Plant Health is reminding farmers about the importance of following basic steps that will help ensure the ongoing stewardship of pesticide-treated seeds, which help reduce the overall use of pesticides. This major agricultural advance provides seed treatments that help protect developing seeds during their most vulnerable time – at planting and germination. …

How does it sound to grow plants without sunlight or soil, in racks going up and down instead of in rows on the ground? That’s how crops grow in indoor vertical farms, where nutrient-rich, recycled water feeds plants under red and blue LED lights. This innovative approach gives farmers the chance to alter crops as they like, whether that means …

Duda Farm Fresh Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary of DUDA and a leading grower of fresh vegetables and citrus, announces the company’s president, Samuel “Sammy” Duda, has been named CEO-elect of DUDA. This decision marks the culmination of a nearly year-long process led by DUDA’s Board of Directors with support from an international leadership advisory firm. Sammy will continue to …

Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are looking for the perfect diet. Not just any diet, but one that’s special; a diet that encourages bugs to thrive. Most people have an aversion to bugs, so what Guadalupe Rojas and Juan A. Morales-Ramos are trying to do may seem a bit odd to some. But Rojas and Morales-Ramos, research entomologists at the ARS Biological Control of …

Mold is something that most people try to avoid, but NASA may soon welcome a certain type of mold aboard its spacecraft. On long-distance space voyages of the future, astronauts will have to grow some of their own food. That could be problematic, as there is notoriously little unused space aboard ship and crops take a long time to grow. …

What is arguably the foundational ingredient in salad? Lettuce! USDA’s National Institute of Food & Agriculture (NIFA) supports research that is leading to stronger, healthier, more disease-resistant lettuce cultivars. See what NIFA is doing to keep healthy, safe salads on the menu for consumers everywhere. Current funded projects in California and Illinois include the following: The USDA Agricultural Research Service, Pacific West Area, in …

Migrant workers in the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program provide critical seasonal labor on farms across California, spending weeks away from home doing the grueling work needed to support the state’s $49 billion agricultural industry. The H-2A program allows employers who anticipate a shortage of U.S.-based workers to bring workers here from other countries to perform agricultural labor or services …

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and Mexico’s national plant protection organization (SENASICA) announce that the United States has begun exporting potatoes beyond the 26-kilometer border zone that previously marked the limit of their export.  The two countries reached an agreement late last year to expand that market access for U.S. potatoes, something that the …

Pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo) are a common vegetable crop sold at local pumpkin patches and farmers markets, in addition to commercial production. In 2019, the value of harvested pumpkin was worth $180 million. In addition to the value of harvested pumpkins for commercial use (canned pumpkin, produce departments, etc.) pumpkins are also a staple crop in agritourism operations. In Kansas alone, …