fruit

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is currently accepting proposals for the USDA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program.  Roughly $1.5 million is expected to be available to Ag industry associations, producer groups, processors, commodity commissions, non-profits, for profits, and local government agencies in Oregon.  Funding ...

Senate Bill 5693 was legislation that surprised many in the Washington Ag community this session.  The legislation introduced in Olympia has been referred to as the Slavery Bill, for its requirements that Washington farmers prove they are not using slave labor in their operations.  ...

The Western Growers Association says the Farmers Aid package proposed by the USDA this week falls short meeting the needs of fruit, vegetable and tree nut farmers.  According to a UC Davis study, the direct trade losses for U.S. fruit, vegetable and tree nuts growers conservatively top $2.6 billion...

The Global Food Price Index has increased 2% in the past year.  The most recent monthly record of global food prices by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations averaged 173.5 points, up 2.7% from April 2017.  While the prices of most cereal grains and dairy products continued to increase in April, sugar prices fell further.  Vegetable oil and...

Fruit growers in the Midwest and Northeast are worried as warmer weather is causing their trees to flower early.  It means several weeks of worry for farmers as the potential is there for a hard freeze to move in and kill the flowers on their trees.  Sp...

Washington fruit growers are looking at the long term when it comes to how Hanjin’s bankruptcy might impact the industry in the state.   B.J. Thurlby with the Washington State Fruit Comission said with cherries already shipped and the lack of apples and pears going to South Korea, there’s nothing to worry about in the immediate future.   “When s...

Demand for fruit in China continues to rapidly grow and U.S. exporters are fighting for market share. A USDA report shows exports rose threefold to 3.8 million metric tons in 2015, representing nearly 7% of total market share by value.  Politico said that while the U.S. contin...

Oregon celebrated their sixth annual Berry Festival July 15th and 16th noting that the state is one of the best when it comes to berry production.   Director of Market Access and Certification for the Oregon Department of Agriculture Lindsay Eng says Oregon residents who buy their fruit from local growers know of the high quality, but…   “They may not realize how lucky they are and how competitive