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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rick Scott sent a letter to Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo last week reiterating his request for the immediate termination of a 2019 suspension agreement. Mexico’s tomato imports continue to flood the domestic market. The practice, also known as dumping, hurts local farmers and has forced some to close the farming operations, according to Scott. …
One Virginia Christmas tree farmer urges fellow producers to get into the Christmas tree business. Jim Gehlsen says it requires minimum financial investment with long-term success. Gary Crawford with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has more. Source: USDA
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced last week it has a cooperative agreement with South Carolina under the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI). The USDA and South Carolina are working together to offer more than $4 million in competitive grant funding for projects designed to build resilience across the middle of the …
The Auburn University College of Agriculture and Alabama Cooperative Extension System Farm and Agribusiness Management Team recently hosted the Alabama Agricultural Outlook Conference in Montgomery on Dec. 13. It featured speakers from across the Southeast. Agricultural enterprises and systems in the Southeast were highlighted. Will Jordan, with AgNet Media, visited with Wendiam Sawadgo from Auburn University to discuss fruit and …
By Clint Thompson Florida strawberry growers are still feeling the impact of inclement weather last weekend. Dustin Grooms with Fancy Farms in Plant City, Florida, confirmed on Wednesday that he is processing strawberries this week that were damaged by rainfall. The damage was restricted to one variety, but that still involves a lot of acreage. “Going back and checking the …
By Clint Thompson An exciting but anxious season awaits watermelon farmers in the Suwanee Valley region of North Florida. That is the mindset shared by one industry expert who is concerned about what a potential increase in acres will mean for the market in the spring. Bob Hochmuth, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Regional Specialized …
By Clint Thompson Specialty crop producers are free to use chlorpyrifos again. The concern now is its lack of availability. The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to revoke tolerances of chlorpyrifos (lorsban) on food crops. However, many of the main manufacturers stopped making chlorpyrifos, according to Stormy Sparks, University of Georgia (UGA) …
By Clint Thompson The idea that an adversarial country owning land in Georgia is unacceptable to Tyler Harper, Georgia’s Agriculture Commissioner. He hopes to take steps next year in ensuring countries like China and Russia are unable to purchase land in the state. “It’s important that we protect agricultural land in Georgia for producers in Georgia and those that are …
By Clint Thompson The rain-starved region of the Southeast is quickly accumulating moisture during December. Every week this month has provided much-needed rain for a region that was impacted by drought much of the fall. Pam Knox, University of Georgia (UGA) Extension agricultural climatologist, believes this is consistent with what is typically expected from an El Niño weather pattern. “It …
If you have eaten at various Caribbean, Central or South American restaurants, you might be familiar with a specialty pumpkin called the calabaza. It is the center of the plate for a team of University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) researchers hoping the gourd is ripe for a new industry in the Southeast. With two years …
