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The Produce Marketing Association (PMA) has a busy year ahead. Cathy Burns, PMA CEO, says, “In short, we’re going to grow a healthier world.” Food safety will be a big focus for PMA in 2019 and beyond. “A real barrier to growing a healthier world is if people are getting sick eating our product,” she says. During the PMA Fresh …
The farm bill has passed through the House and the Senate and received President Trump’s signature on Dec. 20. While some agricultural industries were let down, other industries may have an opportunity to thrive. According to Jerry Fankhauser, assistant director of the University of Florida’s Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, the farm bill includes language that will take industrial hemp off …
Biotechnology may change the agricultural world as we know it today. In fact, it has already changed the industry in many ways. The January issue of VSCNews magazine will explore biotechnology and the opportunities it holds. Kevin Folta, University of Florida (UF) professor, discusses what gene editing really means and the need for public support. He gives an overview of …
The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, known as the 2018 farm bill, has now been made official after being signed by President Donald Trump today. It was a long and strenuous process drafting a version that both congressional houses could agree to. The farm bill will ultimately cost $867 billion over the next 10 years through a series of programs intended …
Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam announced that more than 168,000 Giant African Land Snails (GALS) have been eliminated in Florida since the invasive snail was discovered in Miami-Dade County in 2011. In addition, due to the success of the program, the department has decommissioned two additional core areas, two of the largest is the …
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As 2018 gives way to 2019, the senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources at the University of Florida (UF) looks back with pride at the progress made by the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) and predicts continued momentum for the coming year. “We have labs, fields and greenhouses in every corner of …
By Taylor Hillman More produce is coming off the shelf after the farm linked to the romaine E. coli outbreak was identified last week. The Federal Drug Administration pinpointed a Santa Maria, California, farming operation, Adam Bros. Farming, as one of the sources of romaine lettuce that contained a strain of E. coli bacteria that sickened people in October. The company is now …
By Breanna Kendrick Most people don’t know that some of the best mangos in the world come from Florida. Jeremy Smollar with Florida’s Finest Farm in Miami is trying to get the word out on what Florida mangos are all about. “I call it the soccer of fruit. Most people don’t know it’s the most loved fruit around the world, …
The second round of trade mitigation payments will be coming to aid farmers and ranchers affected by the trade retaliation from other countries. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue made the announcement today after being authorized by President Donald Trump. It will be the final round of trade mitigation payments that were originally announced back in July in response to …
By Abbey Taylor and Breanna Kendrick The University of Florida’s (UF) Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC) has become well known throughout the state, partly due to its work with hops. Jack Rechcigl, GCREC director, says the research began about three years ago. “We started working on hops as an alternative crop for our growers. It actually started when …
