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Cecelia Chi-Ham, director of global R&D strategy for HM Clause, said she attended the Vegetable & Flower Seed Conference to support many meetings, including the plant breeding innovation meetings. Presented by the American Seed Trade Association, the conference took place in January in San Diego, California. Chi-Ham is in the business of developing new varieties of seeds for growers. In …
“We never wanted to be brought into the farm bill,” says Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association. He is speaking for the fruit and vegetable industry. “We were really focused on not wanting to become a subsidized commodity back in the day. That’s evolved,” he says. So, why the change? Guenther says …
Growers are constantly looking for ways to better the health of their crops while increasing yields. In the March 2018 issue of VSCNews magazine, growers can learn methods to improve plant production from top researchers in the Southeast. Finding alternative methods to methyl bromide has been a constant struggle for growers. Jenna C. Vance, University of Georgia (UGA) crop and …
Jeff Huckaby, Grimmway Farms chief executive officer, hosted U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black at the grand opening of Grimmway’s new Southeast region packing facility and warehouse in Sparks, Georgia, on Feb. 20. Huckaby said he is “really excited” to be making the move across the country, from California to Georgia, to open the …
By Bhabesh Dutta Annually, Georgia plants over 12,000 acres of sweet Vidalia onions (National Agricultural Statistical Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture) with farmgate value of approximately $145 million dollars. Vidalia onion ranks first in terms of farmgate value among vegetables in Georgia, making it the most important vegetable crop in the state. Among the spring-grown onions in the United States, …
Vance Whitaker toils day and night to develop the tastiest, best-looking, aromatic strawberries a consumer would want. Yummy enough for a nutritious snack or to help flavor a cake or pie just in time for National Strawberry Day on Feb. 27. Whitaker, an associate professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS), …
The Georgia Olive Growers Association is working to help improve the industry and give growers the tools they need to be successful. Vicky Hughes, executive director of the Georgia Olive Growers Association, has seen substantial growth in the industry. She said that approximately five years ago, when she began her current position, there were only about 130 acres of olives …
To protect against pests and diseases, keeping fields clean is a year-round job for growers. Scott Adkins, a research plant pathologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service, has some advice for growers on this subject. He spoke with AgNet Media at the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference in Savannah, Georgia, in January, following his presentation at …
Alarming levels of fungicide resistance have been detected among isolates of the pathogen that causes target spot on tomato in Florida. By Gary E. Vallad and Samuel Hutton Fresh-market tomatoes are a valuable crop for Florida and are vulnerable to a number of fungal diseases. However, few fungal diseases have caused as much grower concern over the last six years …
Florida growers can now breathe a sigh of relief since disaster funding is coming their way. On Feb. 9, a relief package was passed to help the United States following the array of natural disasters in 2017, which included approximately $2.4 billion dollars specifically for U.S. agriculture. However, the big question on everyone’s mind is, how and when will growers …
