Referendum Passed to Continue Marketing, Research of Pennsylvania Apples HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania apple growers have voted to renew a producer-funded program thats designed to grow the states apple industry through a combination of marketing, education and research efforts. Referendum Passed to Continue Marketing, Research of Pennsylvania Apples HARRISBURG -- Pennsylvania apple growers have voted to renew a producer-funded program thats designed to grow the states apple industry through...

Blueberry production on the rise Popular and profitable, blueberries catch on with growers in Florida Kelly Griffith . Sentinel Staff Writer Posted April 30, 2007 BARTOW -- If pancakes and muffins are all there is to your blueberry experience, the best of Florida's current harvest could be passing you by. Blueberry production on the rise Popular and profitable, blueberries catch on with growers in Florida Kelly Griffith . Sentinel Staff Writer Posted April 30, 2007 BARTOW -- If pancakes...

No longer were apples sought for specialties -- like one apple for making cider, and another apple for making apple pie. For instance, if there is only one kind of apple available worldwide, and a disease that targets that specific apple tree kills all the trees, apples will cease to exist. The park, which is the site of the Pendley family homestead, has a number of historic buildings and apple orchards. About 200 cloned trees being grown at NAU's greenhouse will eventually be given back...

Agriculture Department purchases in part to prop up the prices paid to farmers. Bonus purchases are made at the request of grower groups with the intention of boosting commodity prices. Not long ago, soup kitchens like the six sites run by Central Iowa Shelter and Services in the Des Moines area could count on the federal government for a wide variety of foods: milk, cheese, meat, fruit juice and canned vegetables. They're expected to jump by larger amounts in 2008 and later years as sharp...

As warm weather returns to California's strawberry fields lining California's coastal regions, strawberry growers are buzzing with excitement about the spring crop. But an unusual event was happening - the strawberry plants began to focus their energy below ground, building the foundation for a stronger plant and juicier fruit. And wait until you taste it!" According to growers, strawberry lovers will be impressed by the abundance of great tasting berries coming in now. For a period of...

Harcourt's 23 apple growers contribute around $20 million annually to the local economy but the arrival of the musk lorikeets six weeks ago has decimated the crop. Hungry musk lorikeets, driven out of the bush by drought, have become a nightmare for apple growers in central Victoria and the Yarra Valley. Farmers have tried everything from scare guns and electronic bird scarers, imitation hawks and scarecrows to stereos blaring music from vehicles parked in the orchard in their attempts to...

The Easter weekend freeze damaged numerous crops, including an estimated 75 percent of this year's grape crop in the fifth-largest wine-producing state. April 23, 2007 - 5:06PM Farmers still recovering from the devastating drought conditions of 2006 are now sizing up their losses from the latest weather calamity to hit Texas: freezing temperatures. Texas' wine industry creates an economic impact of $1 billion from it 139 commercial wineries and 3,700 acres of vineyards, she said. Elrod...

Roughly 2,000 hectares are now included in the fruit-fly infected area, including four of the valleys 12 packing houses, and unless the situation is remedied quickly, export fruit from those areas and packing houses are at risk. The dilemma for growers in the Copiap Valley centers on health and sanitation rules that require three full, pest-free growing cycles for the fruit fly before any fruit export ban on an infected area can be lifted. SAGs team and resources were augmented by local...

The program requires that growers with more than 500 apple trees, equal to approximately five acres, contribute 15 cents per each bushel of fresh apples and eight cents per hundredweight for processing fruit. The funds support the Apple Marketing Board, which develops promotions for retail stores, tailoring efforts to each retailer's needs through product sampling and merchandising. The statewide contest allows processors to create displays that promote processed apple products in retail...