Georgia peach grower Robert Dickey III and Florida vegetable grower Charles Obern have been named 2019 Farmers of the Year by Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo.
After sourcing from California, Mexico and Florida for the past several months, distributors and wholesalers in Colorado finally can look to local growers for their fresh fruits and vegetables.
Debt-to-asset ratios are on the rise, working capital is eroding and farmers’ sentiments are on the decline. Despite the negativity surrounding prices and outlooks, Famer Mac is providing a voice of optimism.
The Canadian Produce Marketing Association expressed its approval for the federal government’s investments that benefit the fresh fruit and vegetable industry.
California growers are expected to produce 80 million cartons of navel oranges during the 2018-19 season, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s an 11% increase over last year.
Florida’s orange volume should be about 77 million 90-pound box equivalents, most of which will go to processing, said Andrew Meadows, director of communications for Lakeland-based Florida Citrus Mutual.
Volume should be up in most U.S. citrus-growing areas this season compared to last year, and despite challenges in some areas, growers say they’re shipping some good-quality fruit.
Although this season got off to a slower start than last year, Chile expects to ship a record 101,000 tons of mandarins to North America this year, a 32% increase from 2017.
AgriTalk Host Chip Flory brings in Jim Wiesemeyer to cover news from Washington, Greg Henderson and Pamela Riemenschneider cover online produce shopping, and Rhonda Brooks previews Farm Journal's Yield Tour.
This will be the second season that Reedley, Calif.-based Dayka & Hackett will feature the Minion label for its Chilean easy peelers, said Tony Liberto, import citrus manager.
