Agriculture values sprouted for a second straight year in the annual County Crop Report, helped by 20-plus percent increases in the value of lemons, miscellaneous vegetables and tomatoes, and a continued renaissance for oranges. Overall, total agriculture values in San Diego County rose about 1.6 percent to more than $1.77 billion in the 2017 Crop Report released this week. Last year, crop values increased 2.63…
It’s World Cheese Day, don’t you know… Gold rush opportunists, hippie goat ladies, Latino newcomers: California entrepreneurs dream of cheese: The idea for Humboldt Fog goat’s milk cheese first came to Mary Keehn in a dream. She fell asleep on an airplane and awoke with a vivid picture in her mind of how the cheese looked. And then she set out to realize her vision –…
At war with the Asian citrus psyllid since it was found in North San Diego County in 2008, California citrus growers and packers have had unprecedented success in slowing the spread of the tree-killing bacteria the psyllid can carry. People in the citrus business say part of that success relates to the testing and distribution of clean citrus plant material through the University of California,…
This is one unwanted visitor from Mexico that even Donald Trump’s fabled wall could never stop. And it’s a dire threat to local, state and national fruit growers and consumers. A portion of San Diego County has been placed under quarantine for the Mexican fruit fly following the detection of seven Mexflies within the City of Encinitas. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the…
Spanning the grove to bring you the constant variety of avocado news… the thrill of guacamole .. and the agony of spoiled fruit… the human drama of creating great avocado marketing…This is The Grapevine’s Wide World of Avocados! — Escondido-based Henry Avocado expands to Charlotte, North Carolina — Avocado importers weigh in on NAFTA — Mexican avocado volume up North County San Diego and Temecula account for…
Family fun for everyone on Sunday, Nov. 5 Looking for something fun to do with the entire family? Think of it as a kind of community barn building with the museum being the barn and the community doing the building. San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum (SDCDM) is hosting a full day of the good stuff, otherwise known as the Seventh Annual Fall Family Festival. For…
Across San Diego County and California, farmers and ranchers face chronic problems in finding and hiring qualified and willing people to work in agriculture, according to a survey conducted by the California Farm Bureau Federation. The informal survey of Farm Bureau members showed that more than half of responding farmers had experienced employee shortages during the past year. The figure was higher among farmers who…
Agriculture values in San Diego County returned to their growing ways in the latest annual County Crop Report, increasing by 2.63 percent to nearly $1.75 billion after two years of decline. The report was released Monday, Oct. 2. Total production values were led, as they have been for the last decade, by ornamental trees and shrubs like crepe myrtles and bottle brushes, indoor plants like…
Not all bananas are created equal. When it comes to organic bananas, Mayra Velazquez de Leon knows that for everyone to understand this, consumers are going to have to strengthen their awareness and education about organic agricultural sustainability, the identifiers of true organic foods and environmental preservation. “Organic really is the whole picture,” she told The Produce News earlier this month. “It is about protecting…
It’s all about supply and demand in the wonderful world of avocados. Despite a large amount of foreign imports, demand has exceeded supply this year. That means higher prices at the grocery check-out for North County consumers raising the price of guacamole, and such, to record levels this season. As more people are drawn to avocados for their flavor and health benefits, consumption of the…