Fruits
USDA proposes allowing fresh apples from China
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on July 18 to allow the importation of fresh apples from China into the continental United States.Phytosanitary measures will... more »
Fighting Washington fires ‘top priority’
Wildfires in Washington state have become the nation's highest firefighting priorities, according to The Wenatchee World.One of the fires threatened Gebbers Farms, an apple farm in Brewster, Washington, but Robert Grandy wrote to KPQ-AM, a... more »
Cooperative approach could overcome H-2A challenges
To combat recent labor shortages, agriculture groups in Michigan are developing what might be a singular solution: a cooperative H-2A program.“I’m not aware of similar programs,” said Sarah Pion, Michigan Farm Bureau’s (MFB) regional representative... more »
Water proposal could burden farms
Farmers have until Oct. 20 to tell EPA how they feel about its proposal to expand the “Waters of the United States” regulation under the Clean Water Act. EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of... more »
Northwest pear estimate down from 2013 record
This year’s Northwest pear crop won’t be a record-breaker like last year’s, but growers were expecting quality fruit. That was the assessment in early June, when Pear Bureau Northwest (PBN) projected a fresh-market crop of... more »
Researcher aims to preserve apple aroma in storage
With a bumper crop of apples in 2013 – coming off one of the worst growing seasons in more than 50 years in 2012 – Michigan producers were concerned about storing the crop in a... more »
Guesstimate confirms fruit crops survived winter’s hit
The brutal polar vortex that struck much of the country this past winter, including the Midwest, caused enough damage to curb hopes for a second consecutive bumper crop in most areas, but overall predictions were... more »
Northwest pear estimate down from last year’s record
This year’s Northwest pear crop won’t be a record-breaker like last year’s, but growers were expecting quality fruit.That was the assessment in early June, when Pear Bureau Northwest (PBN) projected a fresh-market crop of 18.7... more »
