Month: July 2015

“The 2015 peach harvest has just gotten underway and we are looking forward to a great year for Virginia peaches,” said Sandy Adams, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS). On July 23,  the National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) said the peaches look good and the crop was about 38 percent harvested. …

Downy mildew is usually a lettuce grower’s worst nightmare; it’s the biggest problem in lettuce production. But ARS microbiologist Maria Brandl at the Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unit in Albany, California, is more interested in another pathogen that sometimes can be traced to lettuce fields: Escherichia coli O157:H7. How this pathogenic bacterium gets ensconced on lettuce plants has been a persistent mystery. Brandl and her team considered that E. coli O157:H7 may team up with the downy mildew pathogen, which invades leaf cells when plants are wet, breaking down the leaf tissue and eventually creating chlorotic (yellowing) and necrotic, dead spots. What they found was eye-opening. …

Braga Fresh Family Farms announced today that its Josie’s Organics line of fresh vegetables has earned a Best rating under Whole Foods Market’s Responsibly Grown rating system for fresh produce and flowers, thanks to the line’s top performance in pest management and environmental protection, water and energy conservation, protection of air, soil, water and human health, and more. …

Statement by Western Growers President and CEO Tom Nassif praising Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for introducing the California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2015: …

After a successful launch last year, Produce for Kids is encouraging families nationwide to kick off the school year right by pledging to pack a healthier lunchbox August 3 through September 18 at PowerYourLunchbox.com. …