States

UGA student maps peach trees in detail with laser scanners

Near the University of Georgia Griffin campus, Jordan Knapp-Wilson walks into a peach orchard equipped with a myriad of laser-equipped scanners, targets and tripods. He’ll spend the next few hours using data collection tools with the potential to... more »

Grants seek to measure household food waste

Three universities will be targeting household food waste through $2 million in grants designed to research consumer behavior, supply chain disruptions and other factors leading to food waste. The Foundation for Food & Agricultural Research... more »

Smoke in the vineyard: Oregon State studies wildfire smoke

Oregon State University (OSU) researchers have discovered a new class of compounds that contributes to the ashy or smoky flavors in wine made with grapes exposed to wildfire smoke. The development is significant for winemakers... more »

Bernadine Strik, berry research innovator, dies

Bernadine Strik, a leading U.S. berry authority, has died. Strik, 60, died on April 14 in Corvallis, Oregon. Strik, a veteran Oregon State University professor of horticulture and Extension berry crop specialist and researcher, was... more »

Degree days determine cranberry spray protocols

Degree-day benchmarks offer cranberry growers an optimal spray window for controlling Sparganothis fruitworm. Shawn Steffan, U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist with the Agricultural Research Service and associate professor with the University of Wisconsin Department of... more »

Georgia Senate recognizes farmworkers

Georgia senators passed a resolution to recognize March 25-31 as Farmworker Awareness Week. Sen. Sam Watson, co-owner of Chill C Farms, Moultrie, spoke about the importance of the 35,000 farmworkers who worked in Georgia fields... more »

AgBiome’s Theia fungicide approved in California

AgBiome Inc.’s Theia fungicide can be used throughout the U.S. to treat numerous plant diseases in fruit, vegetable and tree nut crops, with the recent approval by California regulators. Theia fungicide is the second proprietary solution... more »

California flood damage to some strawberry fields substantial

California strawberry growers whose crops were wiped out by flooding just weeks before harvest will be able to replant once fields dry out and are repaired, but losses to the industry and damage to communities... more »

Grower has faith in Duchess Blueberries

Greg Willems first became fascinated by plant genetics as a student at California State University-Fresno in 1998, while studying under noted plant science professor Earl Bowerman. Bowerman, in turn, learned from Rutger University’s Arlen Draper,... more »

Water access essential to Michigan’s fruit industry

The letter said the irrigation well permit application was denied because water wasn’t available. I shook my head and looked at my Fitbit. Yep, it was 2023. I was in Michigan and not in western... more »