Western Farm Press News Archive

California Crop Weather update

May 12, 2009

At the start of the week (May 4), high pressure aloft was beginning to rebuild over California in the wake of a frontal system which brought precipitation to the northern portions of the state, according to the Sacramento, Calif. field office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)....

Blueberry, blackberry field days May 19-20

May 12, 2009

Farmers interested in learning more about growing blueberries or blackberries can learn from the experiences of other growers and University of California researchers at two days of berry-themed events this May....

Safe trucking for agriculture

May 12, 2009

The American Trucking Associations’ Agricultural and Food Transporters Conference (AFTC) recently released the “Manager’s Guide to Safe Trucking During Agricultural Planting and Harvest Season.”...

Biocontrol for a wide-ranging thrips

May 11, 2009

A pest with a voracious appetite may have met its match in a predatory mite being evaluated as a biocontrol agent by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in Fort Pierce, Fla., in collaboration with University of Florida researchers....

Initial almond forecast – 1.45 billion pounds

May 11, 2009

The subjective (initial) forecast for 2009 California almond production is 1.45 billion pounds (shelled), 9.7 percent below the 2008 revised production of 1.6 billion pounds....

Organic Initiative available to Arizona producers

May 8, 2009

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting applications from May 11 to 29 for a new initiative under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). ...

Inspire fungicide gains almond approval

May 8, 2009

California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation has granted Section 18 emergency exemption approval of Inspire fungicide from Syngenta for use on Alternaria in almond orchards Butte, Glenn, Kern and Tehama counties....

India wants us out of cotton?

May 8, 2009,

By Elton Robinson
Farm Press Editorial Staff

There is a big difference between perception and reality when it comes to crop subsidies around the world....

Fulbright scholar to study wheat in Mexico

May 8, 2009

Maribel Alvarez, an assistant research social scientist in the University of Arizona Southwest Center, has received a Fulbright/Garcia Robles grant to conduct research in wheat in Sonora, Mexico....

Funding for black farmers suit

May 8, 2009

The Obama administration’s fiscal year 2010 budget proposal will include funds to provide a final settlement for the lawsuit that alleged discrimination against minority farmers in USDA’s farm programs....

CCA exam registration deadline June 26

May 6, 2009

The next Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) exam in California is scheduled for Aug. 7. Deadline to register is June 26. The exam will be given in Sacramento and Fresno. Training and review sessions will be held in both cities prior to the exam....

UCCE almond field day May 15

May 6, 2009

What: 32nd Annual Nickels Field Day...

Verticillium wilt in lettuce and spinach

May 6, 2009,

By Dan Bryant
Contributing Writer

Closer scrutiny during 2008 of the populations of Verticillium wilt show it mixed in lettuce and spinach, shedding light on the outbreak of the disease in lettuce in the Salinas Valley....

Funds available to reduce air quality emissions

May 6, 2009

Funds are now available to farmers and ranchers interested in reducing air quality emissions from off-road mobile or stationary agricultural sources....