Sacramento, Calif., (February 1, 2017) – The stopping of the Pineapple Express coupled with a retreat of the persistent upper-level trough that has been present over the western region for the last couple of months produced a week of warmer and drier conditions. Temperature highs were in the 10s to 40s in the mountains, 40s to 50s in the valley, …

Sacramento, Calif., (January 25, 2017) – The USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has announced four grants totaling more than $13.6 million to combat a scourge on the nation’s citrus industry, citrus greening disease, also known as Huanglongbing (HLB). UC Riverside will receive $5,112,000 of that funding for a program to design and identify bactericides that can cure or suppress …

  Albany, Calif., (January 23, 2017) – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have developed a highly sensitive test that for the first time is able to detect all known Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, STEC bacteria are responsible for more than 265,000 cases of illness and 3,600 hospitalizations each year …

Washington, D. C., (January 20, 2017) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has announced the availability of $27 million in grants to fund innovative projects designed to strengthen market opportunities for local and regional food producers and businesses. “These grants will continue USDA’s support for the local food sector as an important strategy for keeping …

Sacramento, Calif., (January 17, 2017) – A continued abundance of moisture across the State for the entire week tapered off over the weekend as the upper-level trough pulled away to the east with surface high pressure building over the western United States. Temperatures were fairly consistent, but cooled slightly late last week as a drier airmass settled over the State. …

The USDA has released the 2015 Expenditures on Children by Families report, also known as “The Cost of Raising a Child.” The report, developed by economists at USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), estimates that for a child born in 2015, a middle-income* married-couple family will spend between $12,350 and $13,900 annually (in 2015 dollars) – or $233,610 …