California Avocado Commission: The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued an alert concerning high wind gusts and well-above normal heat for the Los Angeles and Oxnard regions. NWS notes that moderate to strong Northwest to North winds (15 – 30 mph with gusts of 30 – 50 mph) may occur through Friday, with the strongest winds (gusts as high as …

In celebrating the tradition and innovation of the State’s number one industry, agriculture, the California State Fair Board of Directors, upon the recommendation of the Agricultural Advisory Council, selects Bill and Carol Chandler as the Agriculturalists of the Year. The Agriculturalist of the Year award is presented to an individual or individuals who have contributed extensively, in a professional capacity, …

Roughly 150 olive oil industry members were present at third annual California Olive Oil Day held in early March.  The day started at 9 a.m. with a session focused on maximizing grower profits through grove management. Leandro Ravetti, Technical Director at Modern Olives spoke about irrigation management in olive orchards for oil production. His presentation included important information on the …

A diet including daily avocado consumption improves the ability to focus attention in adults whose measurements of height and weight are categorized as overweight or obese, a new randomized control trial found. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign conducted the 12-week study, published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology. “Previous work has shown that individuals with overweight and …

The completion of apple harvest brings the opportunity to begin planning new orchards with exciting new cultivars and rootstocks. Penn State Extension now offers two online courses on best practices for planning and establishing orchards. The self-paced courses provide the latest recommendations on site planning and preparation, cultivars, rootstocks and training systems. Although designed for new producers, orchard managers and …

The world comes to California for prunes, and so does energy bar innovator, Fourpoints®. Denver-based Fourpoints is the first-and-only energy bar to feature California Prunes as the star ingredient. “The energy bar category is crowded and full of the same old date based and syrup-based bars,” said Kevin Webber, co-founder of Fourpoints. “You have to have a one-of-a-kind product to …

A new research project which will investigate the occurrence and distribution of olive anthracnose in California has been added to the list of approved projects for the Olive Oil Council of California’s 2019/2020 fiscal year. This project will be led by Florent Trouillas, Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist, Department of Plant Pathology, UC Davis, Kearney Agriculture Research and Extension Center. The …

The 9th annual Madera Pomegranate, Fruit and Nut Festival takes place Saturday, November 2, from 10:00a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the Madera District Fairgrounds.  Admission and parking are free.  The unique, vibrant and fun event brings in visitors from all over the world to experience the best of the Central Valley’s local pomegranate and nut products.  The event is organized …

Gerawan Farming Inc. (“Gerawan”) and Wawona Packing Co., LLC (“Wawona”), today announced that they have completed a merger. Paine Schwartz, an existing investor in Wawona and a global leader in sustainable food chain investing, is partnering with both companies to facilitate the transaction. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Both Gerawan and Wawona are third-generation family businesses. …