Find out who is receiving the distinguished industry honor this year thanks to innovation and an eye toward a sustainable future.
United Fresh Says Produce Buying Climbed During COVID-19
United Fresh Produce released its first quarter of 2020 issue of Fresh Facts on Retail report that details the rising number of fresh produce purchases in 2020. The unprecedented rise in food and beverage consumption at home was brought about by shelter-in-place orders issued to slow the spread of the coronavirus. “Those closures have led to consumers drastically restructuring their …
Potato Industry Feels Left Out of CFAP
The National Potato Council and state grower organizations wrote Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue recently to talk about potatoes that have nowhere to go for processing. The Hagstrom Report says the council noted more than “1.5 billion pounds of fresh potatoes for processing and potato products are trapped in the supply chain with no likely customers.” Mountains of potatoes were being …
Blueberry Industry Leaders Hoping for Category 1 Status
By Clint Thompson Blueberry industry leaders were disappointed its farmers were not included in category 1 of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. They hope to rectify the situation during the 30-day comment period that the USDA has allowed for feedback. “Where we landed with the direct payment program, obviously we learned (two weeks ago), it was disappointing because the one …
Pest Alert: Mummy Berry Disease in Blueberries
Posted by Elina Coneva and Ed Sikora (Alabama Extension) Current wet and cooler than normal conditions are conducive for mummy berry disease in blueberry, according to Alabama Extension. Mummy berry disease is caused by the fungus Monilinia vacciniicorymbosi and is an important fungal disease of blueberries that can cause yield losses of up to 50% when conditions are favorable for disease …
Georgia Watermelon Season Ramps Up Next Week
By Clint Thompson Georgia’s watermelon harvest will ramp up next week. According to Samantha Kilgore, executive director of the Georgia Watermelon Association, acreage is projected to decrease this year to 19,000 acres. It would mark a significant drop from previous years’ harvests. According to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, from 2016-2018, Georgia averaged a harvest of just more than 23,000 …
Managing Floral Hemp Fertility in North Carolina
Written By Jeanine Davis There are many questions coming in this spring on how to fertilize floral hemp (hemp grown for CBD, CBG, CBN, etc.). Research to develop those recommendations is still ongoing in North Carolina, but Michelle McGinnis with the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Agronomic Division, has prepared guidelines for us on leaf tissue sampling and …
UGA Extension helps Georgia Grown connect to consumers
By Maria M. Lameiras for UGA CAES News Like the moments before a race begins, dozens of staff with Georgia Grown and University of Georgia Cooperative Extension prepared to load thousands of pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables into hundreds of waiting cars and trucks stretched out in long lines at the Gwinnett Georgia Grown To Go event in Lawrenceville, …
UGA Economist: Submit Your CFAP Application Sooner Rather Than Later
By Clint Thompson University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Ag economist Adam Rabinowitz encourages farmers to submit applications for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) sooner rather than later. The application process for CFAP started this week. The program provides relief to American farmers and ranchers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. When details of CFAP were announced, the first guideline for …
New Charitable Effort Will Help South Carolina Farmers Amid COVID-19
South Carolina Department of Agriculture COLUMBIA – The nonprofit South Carolina Advocates for Agriculture will buy food from South Carolina farmers and distribute it to local food banks as part of a new charitable effort to ease COVID-19 strains on the food system. Certified South Carolina and South Carolina Advocates for Agriculture are partnering on Farmers to Food Banks, an …