Pacific Northwest
Washington state farmers’ markets are reopening, but won’t look the same
The Proctor Farmers' Market in Tacoma, Washington, was supposed to open for the season almost a month ago. When it didn’t, Scott Gruber, president of the market’s board and a longtime vendor who has depended... more »
Superfresh Growers: US apple sales volume up 22.3% in March
Americans are stocking up on apples as they contend with the COVID-19 crisis, especially Gala, Honeycrisp, Fuji and Granny Smith. Consumers are favoring packaged apples, which jumped up 34% in volume in the last four... more »
Fall Creek expands outside board of directors with appointment of Kevin Murphy
Fall Creek Farm & Nursery Inc., a global blueberry breeding and nursery company, has announced that Kevin Murphy has joined its professional board of directors. Most recently, Murphy served as chief executive officer of Driscoll’s,... more »
Ranier Fruit, with T&G Global, donate apples to local schools amid quarantine
In light of national, state and local quarantines related to the coronavirus, Selah, Washingotn-based Rainier Fruit and marketing partner T&G Global have donated more than 12,000 apples and 26,000 plastic bags to the Selah School... more »
Rainier Fruit moving toward formal EFI certification
As a leader in the apple category, Selah, Washington-based Rainier Fruit has partnered with Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) to begin training and move toward formally certifying its largest farm of over 2,300 acres. This will include a... more »
Considerations presented for study of cold hardiness in blueberries
For several years, the Washington Blueberry Commission has funded Washington State University and Oregon State University research to collect bud hardiness data and create a model. Our research team is still in the process of... more »
Washington state honeybee and pollinator facility officially opened
Washington State University (WSU) celebrated the opening of its new Honey Bee & Pollinator Research, Extension and Education Facility March 6 with a formal ribbon cutting and self-guided tours of the building. “This new facility... more »
USDA gives $1.9M to Washington state for agricultural pest protection
USDA is allocating $1.9 million to Washington state as part of its effort to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure for pest detection and surveillance, identification, and threat mitigation, and to safeguard the U.S. nursery production system.... more »