Produce Research

National Mango Board Launches Campaign and Shares Research

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:24:19 GMT

The Orlando, Fla.-based National Mango Board introduced its Cinco de Mango campaign in late March, “a popular time for mangoes,” says Lavanya Setia, marketing director, and has posted results of some recent board-sponsored research on its website, mango.org/research .

For retailers, the Cinco de Mango campaign means special bins and other point-of-sale materials, Setia says. For consumers, the board is focusing on recipes.

Early this year, the board posted results of a number of studies, including a look at the impact of mangoes on prediabetic adults and overweight adults.

A randomized controlled study from Florida State University that included 23 adults with prediabetes showed that daily mango intake improves glycemic and body composition outcomes in adults with prediabetes. One group ate 300 grams of fresh mango daily for 24 weeks, while the other group ate a calorie-matched granola bar and avoided eating mangoes for 24 weeks.

At the end of the 24-week period, mango eaters had:

Significantly lower fasting blood glucose.
Significantly improved insulin sensitivity.
Stable average blood glucose, while the control group showed a significant increase in average blood glucose.

A study from the Illinois Institute of Technology included 46 overweight or obese adults and showed that mango consumption is associated with increased insulin sensitivity in participants with overweight or obesity and chronic low-grade inflammation.

One group ate 2 cups of mangoes daily for four weeks and another avoided mango consumption and other high-polyphenol foods. All participants completed an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test at the beginning and end of the four-week study.

Compared to the baseline, the group eating mangoes for four weeks had significantly lower insulin concentrations following the test and significantly lower fasting insulin concentrations than the other group, the study showed.

Micropep Appoints Chief Program Officer to Support Global Commercial Expansion

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 21:36:38 GMT

Micropep Technologies has appointed Kim White as chief program officer and member of the company’s executive committee.

Micropep Technologies is a French American ag tech company developing a new generation of targeted, sustainable crop protection products using micropeptides. Through its proprietary discovery platform Krisalix, Micropep says it designs short protein molecules that precisely regulate plant gene expression and is currently developing its first product, a biofungicide with a novel mode of action targeting major fungal diseases.

White’s track record spans global operations, R&D, analytics and cross-functional program leadership. Prior to joining Micropep, she held senior leadership roles at Invaio Sciences and Syngenta, where she focused on operational strategy, data-driven enablement and the delivery of complex, multistakeholder programs.

In her new role, White will oversee Micropep’s global program portfolio, driving strategic alignment and operational excellence as the company advances from research to commercialization. She will lead the planning and coordination of internal initiatives and strengthen the company’s integrated research-to-commercial operating model.

In addition, as scientific key account lead, she will serve as the primary interface with external partners, overseeing the execution of revenue-generating joint research partnerships enabled by Micropep’s Krisalix discovery platform and embedding partner needs directly into program delivery, the company says.

“Kim’s appointment marks a pivotal milestone as Micropep transitions from pure research into a commercialization phase,” says Georg Goeres, CEO of Micropep Technologies. “Driving a project-based and customer-focused mindset across the organization is essential to scaling our innovations and delivering value to growers and partners. Kim’s leadership will ensure every program is aligned, prioritized and executed with the rigor required to bring our micropeptide solutions to market.”

Fresh Trends 2026: Defining the Fresh Produce Value Proposition

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 10:38:11 GMT

What is fresh produce’s unique value proposition? It’s a question many industry leaders say has remained largely unanswered for the consumer, and the time is ripe to change that. With multiple generations of consumers now shopping for fruits and vegetables, however, the value proposition can differ based on the demographic.

The Packer’s Fresh Trends 2026 survey, conducted with research partner Prime46, asked more than 1,000 consumers across the country about their fresh produce buying habits in 50 commodities. What follows is a look at key shopper differences and trends, with the aim of identifying opportunities for growth and informing the industry’s core value propositions.

Respondents represented all five generations, were 49% men and 51% women, and included households with dependent children and without as well as a range of annual incomes. A strong majority, or 75% of respondents, indicated they handle all or most of their household’s grocery shopping.

Meeting the Male Shopper

While Fresh Trends 2025 shined a light on just how different younger shoppers’ priorities are when purchasing fresh produce and how retailers and suppliers can best engage the critically important Gen Z and millennial generations, Fresh Trends 2026 reveals another consumer segment with opportunity for growth: men.

From organics to super-premium strawberries to purple sweetpotatoes and more, men reported higher purchase rates of differentiated produce items in the past 12 months than women. And, in general, they are willing to pay more than their female counterparts to get what they want.

When asked how their desire for healthy options weighs against their food budget, the majority of all respondents (59%) said they prefer to buy healthy options when the price feels right. But 18% of men indicated they buy healthy foods regardless of price, compared to 12% of women. Additionally, more men said they haven’t noticed an increase in food prices.

How much more are consumers willing to pay for organic fresh fruits and vegetables over what they’d pay for conventionally grown? While 34% of all organic produce buyers indicated they are willing to pay up to 10% more and another 31% said they are comfortable paying 10% to 24% more, a small but notable 8% of men indicated a willingness to pay 50% more for organic fruits and vegetables, twice that of women at 4%.

Men’s motivation for buying organic produce is also different. The majority of men, or 55%, said they bought organic produce for its nutrient content and health, versus 48% of women for whom food safety and avoiding chemicals were the leading drivers.

Given these gender-based differences, is produce missing out with men?

(Photo: pressmaster, Adobe Stock)

“Too often in this industry we think about mom [who] does all the grocery shopping,” says Jonna Parker, Circana’s vice president, Fresh Foods Group. “We’ve got to remember that the average American household does not have children present full-time anymore. And there are a lot of male-led households with and without kids.”

Circana, which recently conducted an internal global study on the power of male-focused marketing and the male decision-maker, finds several socioeconomic trends, including delayed family start and the shifting role of marriage and division of labor throughout someone’s adulthood, that have given rise to today’s male shopper.

While Parker says produce is a little late to the party when it comes to understanding the male decision- maker, there’s an opportunity to take a page from other category’s playbooks like body care or vitamins and supplements.

“Men in 2025 are also more health-inclined than we might often give them credit for,” she says. “Think about something like the protein trend, which 41% of American consumers are trying to eat more protein. A big driver behind that is men looking to build muscle, looking to be healthier and leaner. When we talk about health trends, the male voice is very strong in that market.

“And look at innovation over the last two years in body care,” Parker continues. “Think about how many brands now are fully into every segment of the male life experience in body care and fragrance.”

Parker says more effectively reaching men through produce marketing is easier than one might think, a tweak versus an overhaul, even just including a male spokesperson can be highly effective.

“We’re studying across our industries and produce that the little tweak has a ripple effect,” she says. “For those who say they still want to target that woman, 25 to 44 with two kids at home, we have proven in the last 10 years, that even if you put a male-as-caregiver imagery [in your marketing], it has a halo effect on women. In produce, we could easily just change out to show dad and his kids eating carrot sticks, and it wouldn’t negatively affect women.

“But I also think what we’ve learned, especially on the health and wellness front, is men and women at different stages of their lives need different nutrients and different benefits, and so that’s really the place where I think a little more work could be done,” Parker adds.

She says this can be achieved with different images and slightly different wording in the marketing.

In general, Parker says, men are a little deeper in their researching and linear in their decision- making, while women historically are a little more emotional and occasion-based in their shopping.

“Think about the rise of the meal prep trend,” she says. “Many, especially younger people, who are more health-minded, but primarily more male than female, are doing things like buying all their groceries in bulk and then spending half a day in meal prep. Women do that too, but more men do it.

“There’s an example of something we could take into a retail format that could have a halo effect, a value effect on women, and especially men who are health minded,” she continues.

E-commerce is another channel where younger men might be more actively engaged than women, according to Parker.

“Too often in produce, we think that the world is still the baby boomer way of shopping,” she says. “And the reality is, anything that has continued growth in the last decade or two is much more likely to be male and younger than 20 years ago.”

(Photo: markobe, Adobe Stock)

Boosting Bananas

Fresh Trends 2026 finds that bananas (along with potatoes) are the most purchased produce item, with 92% of respondents indicating they bought the fruit in the past 12 months.

“Bananas have had a bit of a renaissance,” Parker says. “There was a moment where consumption and volume dipped earlier in the decade, and now you see an uptick in people saying bananas are one of their most popular purchased foods.”

Affordable and nutrient dense, bananas fit the healthy lifestyle trend and have become a routine purchase for many, Parker says. But with the right value proposition, there’s opportunity for continued growth.

“Bananas are a great example of where, yes, women buy them and children love them, but looking at our data as well, they do skew male because of that routine, consistency, habit-forming behavior,” she says. “Putting them in the same conversation as nutrition bars, protein shakes and supplements is a great way to grow their consumption.”

“You’re not alienating people who are already banana loyalists,” she adds. “You’re just adding this new situation and consumer need that adds to the volume growth. Bananas are one of my favorite examples of taking something routine and adding some oomph or acceleration to it by thinking about it differently.”

Younger Shoppers Still Driving Different

Once again, Fresh Trends 2026 finds that Gen Z and millennials lead purchases of the new, different, organic and local.

From sweet snacking peppers and specialty mushrooms to jumbo blueberries and super- premium strawberries, Gen Z and millennials indicate they’re putting more purchase power behind specialty items than other generations.

The survey data shows 17% of Gen Z and 16% of millennials said they bought sweet snacking peppers in the past 12 months, compared with just 9% of Gen X and 4% of baby boomers. Similarly, 15% of Gen Z, 11% of millennials and 10% of Gen X purchased specialty mushrooms (enoki, morel, oyster, lion’s mane, etc.), compared with just 4% of baby boomers.

On the specialty-fruit front, 25% of Gen Z and 22% of millennials said they purchased Oishii-brand Koyo or Omakase strawberries in the past 12 months, versus 13% of Gen X and 4% of baby boomers. And a majority of Gen Z, or 55%, indicated a purchase of extra-large blueberries in that time frame, compared with 47% of millennials and Gen X, 37% of baby boomers and 29% of traditionalists.

Gen Z and millennials also reported the highest numbers of buying Cotton Candy grapes, the most purchased branded grape among respondents, at 41% and 39%, respectively, compared to 32% of Gen X, 19% of baby boomers and just 5% of traditionalists.

Just over a third of all respondents (36%) say buying locally grown produce is extremely or very important to them, with the strongest interest among Gen Z, millennials and Gen X as well as households with kids.

While millennials led overall organic purchase in some categories, such as avocados, more than twice the number of Gen Z respondents (30%) indicated organic purchases than Gen X (14%). Just 5% of baby boomers and 4% of traditionalists indicated organic avocado purchase.

Much of this growth is driven by innovation and reinvention, Parker says.

“Avocados have been a huge success story, and I don’t see that slowing down,” says Parker, noting that the avocado industry had been struggling because crop conditions were producing smaller fruit until it started marketing bags of individual-size avocados.

“The consumer was like, ‘I love smaller avocados, and I don’t have as much waste.’ Now you see multiple sizes of avocados 52 weeks a year on the shelf.”

“Berries also have had 25 years of incredible volume growth, and I love to see that blackberries and jumbo blueberries are also tracking,” she continues. “It’s about reinvention of the same commodity.”

Younger Shoppers Drive Organics Where They Buy

While the majority of consumers still predominantly purchase conventionally grown produce, among organic buyers, nearly one-third (30%) of respondents said 26% to 50% of their fruit and vegetable purchases are organic, a trend led by millennials.

Interestingly, where organic produce buyers shop differs by generation. Chain superstores such as Walmart and Target are the top sources indicated overall by respondents who purchase organic produce, with 48% of organic buyers shopping those stores. But among younger shoppers, that percentage is even higher.

Fifty-nine percent of Gen Z organic produce shoppers and 55% of millennials indicate they shop chain superstores for organic produce, compared with 48% of Gen X and 30% of baby boomers. No traditionalists surveyed indicated purchasing organics at a superstore.

“There’s a reason that big chains went big on organics, and it’s because of that nexus of next-gen consumer demanding that attribute,” Parker says. “Organic has also been a signal for many, many decades, and still to this day, to the average American consumer that you do care about produce when you carry more organic.”

(Photo: luismolinero, Adobe Stock)

Pound-for-Pound Value

Fresh Trends 2026 finds that while an overwhelming 82% of respondents think they’re paying more for fresh fruits and vegetables than they were a year ago — a sentiment that is especially strong among households with annual income over $50,000, families with kids, Gen X and baby boomers — nearly two-thirds, or 63%, of respondents say their fresh produce consumption has stayed the same in the past 12 months or even slightly increased, despite rising prices.

“Produce has always been and remains the most cost-effective way to fuel your body, any which way you slice it,” Parker says. “The produce industry’s inflation rate has gone up less than 20% on the average price per pound paid — double-digit lower than any other department’s inflation rate.”

Fresh Trends reveals consumers are employing numerous tactics to manage their produce budget, from purchasing items on sale to buying in bulk and freezing to cutting back on specialty and value- added items.

On the flip side, one in five consumer respondents (20%) report buying more pre-cut produce, a trend led by Gen Z, millennials and families with children. The top reason (41%) that respondents say they’re buying more pre-cut produce is convenience and time savings.

In the wake of rising food costs, nearly half of respondents (49%) say they are eating at home more often, a shift especially common among women, finds Fresh Trends 2026.

“We see the majority of consumers’ meals, something like 78% to 80% of the calories the average American consumes, are sourced from home,” Parker says. “That remains the opportunity for produce. We sell commodities in large batches. We don’t sell meal solutions.”

The produce industry needs to market to people wanting to eat healthier, more protein and nutrients, who are also consuming most of their food at home, she explains.

“How do we lean into that and show them how many meals you can get out of two pounds of potatoes?” Parker says. “How do we show them the versatility of a clamshell of cocktail-size tomatoes that can go on salads, be a snack or an ingredient in your pasta that night?

“I haven’t seen us lean into our story on price per ounce, price per eating occasion or price per use, which is very common now in how we market other foods,” she adds. “If we brought that kind of concept to produce, the dollars would follow.”

Produce also needs to get more strategic about whom they’re talking with and how they’re talking about these value propositions, Parker says.

“We see brands now investing in influencers and digital media,” she says. “We see retailers with recipes and searchable AI on their apps, and we’re talking about agentic commerce now. If I want my kids to eat more vegetables, I’m going to get served with all these ideas; how are we playing into that?”

Listed are the most purchased produce in the past 12 months, as reported by consumers surveyed for Fresh Trends 2026.

(The Packer)

Fueling America: A Value Proposition

When it comes to communicating the value of produce, it’s about way more than price, Parker says.

“We have to talk about our value in terms of fueling America, our value in terms of snacking, our value in terms of meal making; all three of those things are what consumers consider relevant today as they eat smaller and more frequent meals,” she says.

While consumers are trained for deal hunting and looking for sales in the highly perishable and weather-dependent produce arena, you can’t put everything on sale all the time.

Instead of thinking sales, the produce industry needs to be thinking occasions, situations and consumer cohorts for whom fresh produce resonates most, Parker says. “If we do that, sale or not, we’ll drive volume.”

“I’m ending this year looking at the numbers,” she continues. “We did good. High-five produce. We got pound growth,
and our pound growth is outpacing that of the total food and beverage. But when you look at your survey and how much momentum and interest there is in our industry from the younger generations, our growth rates should be so much higher, because we’ve got a generation of people where produce is incredibly relevant, whether it’s organic or not.”

In honing the fresh produce value proposition, Parker sees opportunity for the brands, varieties and package types that uniquely appeal to each segment of produce shopper.

“We have to get away from our own bias that produce doesn’t need to be marketed,” she says. “Because I think you can take a mushroom or a tomato and end up continuing to see growth from your loyal [Gen] Xers and [baby] boomers while you’re simultaneously growing volume with the next generation that has to be reached through a different kind of marketing than what we’re doing today.”

Download the full report here .

How Florida Citrus is Fighting Back Against Greening Disease

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 20:43:11 GMT

It’s hard not to associate Florida citrus with the devastating citrus greening disease, also known as huanglongbing (HLB). In the 20-plus years the pathogen has been in the state, Florida’s orange production has dropped from 244 million 90-pound boxes in 1998 to 12 million boxes for the 2024-25 season.

While that nearly 95% reduction in orange production has had significant consequences, a team of researchers at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are learning more about HLB and its vector, the Asian citrus psyllid, to help growers combat the threat.

Citrus greening is a global issue, with Brazil now at the epicenter, having almost half of the country’s production impacted. The disease also runs rampant in Asia and Africa. As Tripti Vashisth, associate professor of horticultural sciences and citrus extension specialist with UF/IFAS, notes: The weather is similar to India, but growers in Florida have experienced much more significant loses.

“In my opinion, a lot has to do with the soil,” she says. “The soil in Florida, unfortunately, is sand, which has lower water-holding capacity, lower nutrient-holding capacity. But if you look in India, they have a heavy clay soil; so does China, Nepal and then even Brazil has a very-high-in-iron soil.”

Vashisth says along with soils that don’t hold moisture and nutrients, Florida growers have also faced significant damages from major hurricanes. Hurricane Wilma, which hit October 2005, shortly after greening was first detected, caused $180 million in damage; Hurricane Irma in 2017 caused nearly $760 million in damage; Hurricane Ian in September 2022 hit nearly 375,000 acres of citrus groves and caused about $675 million in damage; Hurricane Milton impacted 166,000 acres and caused about $55 million in damage.

“Once a hurricane hits, it’s just not that year, it’s [the] next couple of years that the trees are just getting back to the normal,” she says. “Milton is not isolated; we were still recovering from Ian, and it has been three hurricanes in six or seven years.”

Short-Term Solutions

As a horticulturalist, Vashisth focuses on what growers can do to help strengthen and create more resilient trees. She says growers have to manage irrigation, nutrition, plant-growth regulators, psyllid control and antibiotic injections; it’s a lot to balance.

“For the growers, it becomes really challenging that they have to be on top of each of these things, because once the tree has an infection, it is not as forgiving as a healthy tree,” she says. “If you miss fertilization on a healthy tree, it’s way more forgiving, because it has the reserves to run on ... but when it is sick, it needs everything all the time. It has become cumbersome for the growers, and that’s their biggest challenge — that there is no silver bullet and there are many different things that they can do.”

Vashisth says that when she started in 2014, it was believed that nothing could help the fruit drop associated with citrus greening, adding that growers can lose between 40% to 50% of their crop yearly due to fruit drop. However, she says she discovered growers applied plant growth regulators at the wrong time.

“After almost three years of research, we found that the signal that tells a fruit that it needs to drop arises almost three months before the actual drop happens,” she says. “So, you have to be applying those plant growth regulators three months before the physical fruit drop begins, which changes the complete scenario because most of the time people see the drop and then they want to apply, but that’s too late to apply.

“After that research, now we have better tools for controlling fruit drop, and it is quite successful,” she continues. “There are two plant growth regulators that we can use to control fruit drop, and it works. The timing is the critical part of it.”

Vashisth says she also looked into the application of gibberellic acid to help encourage leaf development in declining trees. A concern, though, is that encouraging a tree to develop leaves might take resources away from flower development and thus cause a reduction in fruit.

“We applied it, and we did see a reduction in flowering, but interestingly that doesn’t affect the yield of the tree,” she says. “In the end, we get the same amount of fruit. Basically, we reduce the number of flowers, we create more leaves. These leaves can now feed the fruit, and they have a better return.”

She says about 60% of the state’s citrus growers now use gibberellic acid.

“It’s not a silver bullet,” she says. “It’s just one more tool that can help the tree.”

Vashisth says Florida’s sandy soils make it difficult for trees to maintain the right nutrient balance. She says soil moisture levels are also critical for trees with citrus greening. She noticed the state’s dry season overlaps when valencia growers experience fruit drop, and it runs through flowering and fruit set for the next season. She says she found productivity improved by more than double when growers irrigate in small doses daily.

“Even though we are not applying more water, it’s more frequent,” Vashisth says. “The challenge here, from the grower point of view, is that I’m asking them to irrigate at least every day, even if they cannot do three times a day. I’m saying every day, and it takes human labor to turn on those pumps, get the irrigation going, and that’s a challenge.”

This is where she sees the potential for automatic systems and chemigation to help growers deploy gibberellic acid during months when growers aren’t using sprayers in November and December.

Vashisth says another challenge to research is that each citrus variety responds differently to HLB. Of the sweet orange varieties, hamlin is more susceptible than valencia. Murcott mandarins can drop up to 60% of its fruit if not managed properly. She says rootstock, too, has different responses to greening.

“Every variety has a different response, and it just depends on where they are grown,” she says. “Soil has a lot to do with how the trees respond. The same treatment at one place may result different have different results at different places.”

Vashisth decsribes her work with growers on improving tree health as a partnership, noting she’s trying to help growers manage groves with the best tools available. She says a major focus of her research going forward will be looking at abiotic stress and its impact on fruit quality.

“We are doing things that can be short-to-mid-term goals so we have something that can be adopted right away,” she says.

Manjul Dutt, assistant professor of horticultural sciences with a focus on citrus and subtropical fruit breeding and genetics at UF/IFAS, has modified grapefruit citrus embryonic callus cells, which he says are similar to human stem cells, through conventional methods or using biotechnology to develop into new citrus plants with what he hopes is resistance to huanglongbing.

(Photo: Christina Herrick)

Whole System Disease

Megan Dewdney, associate professor of plant pathology and Extension specialist with UF/IFAS, says growers in Florida had been lucky up until the onset of citrus greening, as there weren’t many significant diseases or insects to manage. Going from changes in production and income to a different management technique was an adjustment, she says.

“They also had to sort of get their heads around going from that very gentle method of plant management to a much more aggressive, and that’s a very much a mindset change,” she says. “We’re talking about at the same time as a biological problem; we’re also talking about almost a sociological issue.”

Dewdney, who joined UF/IFAS in 2008, says while HLB looked like a rapid onset, she thinks it was a slower progression.

“It looked like it was explosive, but I suspect it was more of a gradual creep, but it was silent,” she says.

Dewdney says she works a lot with her entomological colleagues, as the Asian citrus psyllid is a vector of the disease. She says it’s important to understand as much about the insect and the pathogen.

“One of the huge challenges with this disease is the fact that it is within the vascular system, but the fact that it can kind of hide there for a long time in an older, healthy tree,” she says. “So, a tree can look relatively healthy for three, four, five years before it starts to really succumb. And that whole time, if you’ve got psyllids around, they’re able to feed on it and potentially pick up the pathogen and move it along. And so, it’s sort of sitting there silently.”

Dewdney says trees might not exhibit any symptoms or might just look off, so a grower might think it’s a fertilizer issue or something else other than greening. While a tree infected with HLB looks more stressed, other pathogens might cause additional issues. She says she sees more prevalence in twig dieback and stem end rot in trees infected with greening. While thought of as a postharvest disease, stem end rot now shows up in the field.

“When a weakened fruit starts to detach, it doesn’t fully detach,” she says. “Now you see these organisms going in, and you see the stem end rot on the tree instead of where you’d normally see it in the packinghouse, but that fruit is not heavy enough to drop, because it’s deficient.”

Dewdney says HLB has also complicated growers’ management of phytophthora. She says HLB-infected roots attract phytophthora zoospores. Also, systemic products for phytophthora management don’t work as well, she suspects, in part due to the tree’s weakened vascular system. Greening also affects flowering patterns, Dewdney says, noting that a branch or branches might flower early, which can allow a pathogen that causes post-bloom to build up inoculum.

“If you’re unlucky enough to have the right weather conditions at bloom, which is wet and wet and warm, you see explosive bloom, explosive disease in the field, because it’s been building up over spring on all these weakened trees,” she says. “This has the secondary effect that this disease [has], called post-bloom fruit drops. It makes the little fruitlets fall off, and then you don’t have any fruit this just before you even get to worrying about anything.”

She notes that growers often start young trees, which are very susceptible to HLB, under individual protective covers, or IPCs, which are mesh bags that protect the young citrus trees from pests. However, growers still need to be proactive with insect and disease control. An unprotected tree will die within a year, while an established citrus tree that gets infected at year eight or longer will have a slower decline.

Dewdney says that before the prevalence of citrus greening, it would take growers about seven years to get to a profitable production level.

“Now, I don’t know if it’s even if it’s that short anymore to get to profit, but the trees don’t necessarily last longer than three, four, five years,” she says. “It is a tree canopy disease because it absolutely decimates systems.”

Dewdney says she and a research team will look at trunk injections of oxytetracycline and its alternatives, as well as the optimal timing of applications for young trees.

“I don’t think we’ve seen too much that looks much better than the oxytetracycline so far,” she says. “There’s always hope that something a little less difficult to work with and less controversial.”

All the while, growers face tough decisions on whether to stay in the citrus business.

“We’re talking about family farms, businesses that have been in the families for multiple generations,” Dewdney says. “It’s just heartbreaking to watch this. I’ve had growers that are practically in tears on the phone with me, saying, ‘I don’t know how much longer I can go.’ That’s really hard to listen to. We’re not going to hang up on that poor person, because you know that they’re going through an absolute crisis.”

Manjul Dutt, assistant professor of horticultural sciences UF/IFAS, says as a citrus breeder, he and his team deploy a combination of breeding techniques developed more than 200 years ago, with modern breeding strategies such as CRISPR and AI. Here, with some genetically modified citrus rootstocks with potential HLB resistance. "“It’s an exciting time to be a plant breeder, I think so, because there’s a huge potential in actually making a significant contribution to the field, given what you’ve seen with HLB,” he says.

(Photo: Christina Herrick)

A Look Ahead

While seedless membranes and flavor are obviously important, the ultimate goal is to have HLB-resistant cultivars and rootstock, says Manjul Dutt, assistant professor of horticultural sciences with a focus on citrus and subtropical fruit breeding and genetics at UF/IFAS.

“Genetic resistance or genetic tolerance to HLB and other diseases remains the only long-term solution,” he says. “We need all those strategies to ensure that the grower is able to have a profitable crop in the short term, but the bottom line is you need to have tolerance and, if you get very lucky, resistance.”

Traditional breeding used to be a nearly 20-year process, but thanks to modern technology, Dutt says it’s closer to 10 years. A challenge to developing new cultivars is that sweet oranges and grapefruits have limited genetic diversity, which also limits genetic resistance.

In grapefruits, Dutt says he modifies citrus embryonic callus cells, which he says are similar to human stem cells, through conventional methods or using biotechnology. These then get placed in growing mediums with plant hormones to develop into new citrus plants.

“Using plant biotechnology, plant genetics, you can actually accelerate the process of hopefully trying to find that one needle in the haystack,” he says.

Wild strains could be a source of new genetic diversity, but they often have unpleasant tastes, so Dutt sees wild strains as a good source of resistant and tolerant rootstock. He says having both resistance and tolerance in the scion and the rootstock will be the best defense against citrus greening.

“We are screening large populations of seedlings to identify natural variation, because natural variation happens,” he says. “We are also using many tools to actually induce other kinds of variation, such as genome editing and the development of GMO plants.”

And he says an HLB-tolerant rootstock developed through using CRISPR could support a tolerant non-GMO sweet orange variety.

“Citrus breeding is a very slow and long-term process,” he says. “You have to use multiple strategies. We have all these different strategies, conventional breeding, GMO, CRISPR, you name it. We’re all doing that at the same time. Now it’s more work for my folks, more work for me, but there is an urgent need to get that done.”

He says his team focuses primarily on sweet oranges and grapefruits but also does a little research in mandarins.

“The first objective is for us to stabilize the industry,” he says. “Even if I have a breakthrough in a mandarin that’s not going to stabilize our industry, we need to have breakthroughs with sweet oranges with grapefruits, because that’s the bulk of our industry.”

But a happy accident did happen along the way in Dutt’s research. As his team incorporated finger limes into the research program due to its high tolerance to citrus greening, Dutt developed two red-pigmented finger lime varieties. He says, along with its promising potential for growers, he sees finger limes as a potential source for HLB-tolerant rootstocks.

Dutt says his team is also looking into the potential of finger limes in a breeding program.

“We know it has good genetic potential, but what can we do with it?” he says. “We did an experiment to see how it works as a rootstock. It worked well. Will it work well as a parent? We don’t know, and that’s too early, but we do have hybrid populations with UF SunLime as one of the parents. So, you know, science never stops.”

He says he and his research team have hundreds of trees being evaluated for tolerance and resistance to HLB, and there’s a team comparing the resistance and susceptibility of related cultivars to learn what triggers the tolerance and resistance.

“And if you can identify those differences, can we utilize those to build better citrus?” he says.

Dutt says, as a citrus breeder, he and his team deploy a combination of breeding techniques developed more than 200 years ago and modern breeding strategies such as CRISPR and artificial intelligence.

“It’s an exciting time to be a plant breeder, I think, because there’s a huge potential in actually making a significant contribution to the field, given what you’ve seen with HLB,” he says.

Micropep’s AI-Driven Platform Unlocks Novel Crop Protection Peptides

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 15:17:38 GMT

Micropep is spotlighting Krisalix, its proprietary artificial intelligence-driven discovery engine that identifies bioactive micropeptides designed to protect crops naturally.

With Krisalix, Micropep says it is accelerating the development of next-generation crop protection solutions that are inspired by nature and offering new modes of action, meeting both the needs of farmers and the demands of regulators.

“Micropep’s peptide technology opens new possibilities for the produce industry by providing precision, residue-free biosolutions that protect fruits and vegetables from disease and pests without compromising safety or quality,” says Mikael Courbot, chief technology officer for Micropep. “Through our AI-powered Krisalix platform, we can now design these bioactive molecules in months rather than years, making environmentally-friendly, tailored solutions with expanded application windows for specialty crop production not only feasible but scalable.”

Krisalix leverages generative AI, predictive models, high-quality experimental data in biology, chemistry, bioproduction, as well as critical agronomic expertise to accelerate the identification and optimization of micropeptides as active ingredients, the company says. This new iterative platform accelerates the research and development process, reducing discovery timelines and costs, bringing products to market faster, according to a news release.

By leveraging generative AI and machine-learning models trained on extensive biological datasets, Krisalix enables the in-silico generation and screening of millions of peptide sequences. This approach allows Micropep to identify effective, stable, safe and bioproducible peptides in a significantly accelerated time frame, materially reducing the need for traditional in-vitro screening and thereby shortening development timelines and lowering costs, the company says.

Micropep says its first AI-designed biofungicide product, MPD-01 — based on an antimicrobial peptide — validated this approach in 2021. Today, Micropep’s AI capabilities extend to the discovery of new modes of action across indications, including bioherbicide, biofungicide and bioinsecticide, through Micropep’s PPI (protein-peptide interaction) technology. This includes protein structure prediction, peptide binder generation and AI- driven narrowing from millions of candidates to a few dozen for in-planta screening.

MPD-01: A Benchmark for Krisalix’s Capabilities

MPD-01 serves as a compelling benchmark for the power and potential of the Krisalix platform, the company says. It is a micropeptide-based solution designed to control major fungal diseases such as Asian soybean rust, mildews and late blight.

Currently, MPD-01 is undergoing field trials in Europe, the U.S. and Latin America, and is being prepared for regulatory submission. MPD-01 exemplifies how Krisalix can generate real-world, field-ready innovations that meet both agronomic and environmental expectations, the company says.

Today, Micropep says more than 10 peptide-based candidates are progressing through the Krisalix research pipeline, addressing both broad-acre and high-value crops, and further validating the platform’s versatility and impact.

In addition to its internal pipeline, Micropep offers access to Krisalix through a hybrid business model that includes collaborative research and development programs and out-licensing of candidate molecules.

Krisalix’s transition to commercialization is highlighted by a recently signed joint research agreement with Corteva Agriscience.

“This commercial agreement underscore’s Micropep’s commitment to collaborative research and our ambition to position Krisalix as a reference platform in agricultural research and development,” says Micropep CEO Georg Goeres. “It enables our partners to co-design proprietary bioactive ingredients with clear objectives, speed and data-driven precision.”

Get To Know a New Yellow Potato Variety

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 10:48:41 GMT

It’s been a little over 10 years since Susie Thompson, associate professor in potato breeding at North Dakota State University, first crossed and selected a new yellow potato selection. Her efforts finally are nearing fruition.

The new line, ND1241-1Y, may be available commercially as soon as late November or perhaps by next season. The ND1241 has the characteristics of a good fresh-market potato, like intense yellow color and great flavor, she says.

“The tuber size profile is very, very uniform,” Thompson says.

They’re very round, not oblong like Yukon Gold or some other varieties, and they are higher set than Yukon Gold and produce a lot of 4- to 8-ounce tubers, Thompsons says. It’s also a good variety to use for potato chips.

“It will chip directly out of the field but also following 10 months storage at 42°F,” she says. “The chips are a beautiful yellow color.”

Yellow potatoes have been gaining popularity over the past several years.

“Between 2008 and 2023, the amount of yellow potatoes produced in the Red River Valley dramatically increased at the expense of red table stock potatoes,” Thompson says.

Although some Yukon Gold potatoes still are grown, the main varieties produced in the Red River Valley — such as columba, Musica and Soraya — were developed in Europe and are not always ideal for growing in Minnesota and North Dakota, home of the Red River Valley.

Regional growers may need a more locally adapted variety, she says.

The ND1241 was cross bred and selected in the Red River Valley. It comes on early and is compatible with the region’s short growing season.

Variety trials began in 2018, some seed acreage has been planted in North Dakota and Minnesota, and marketing evaluations are underway, Thompson says.

Growers also are evaluating the ND1241 to see how it packs compared to other yellow potatoes. So far, no storage issues have been reported.

The variety could be considered for release as soon as November, or Thompson may decide to wait until next season.

“I want feedback from growers who have it this year,” she says. “I want to see what sort of experiences they had.”

MSU Potato Partnership Shows the Power of Ag Research

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 05:24:59 GMT

“Research is not a luxury that we have,” says Dr. Kelly Turner, executive director of the Michigan Potato Industry Commission. Instead, it is a necessity to keep Michigan agricultural operations profitable, she says.

Research done at Michigan State University’s AgBioResearch program plays a big role in that effort for all growers, including potato growers. Unfortunately, recent federal actions and changes in grant funding have hit the program just as it has research efforts and USDA-funded programs around the country.

“As federal funding gets cut or truncated, or even delayed, it has a real impact on potato research,” Turner says, explaining that potato breeding efforts are often time-consuming. And research, once halted, can’t just be picked back up again due to the short storage lifespan of potatoes compared to other crops’ seeds.

“So, when we have gaps in research, it pushes us back decades from where we could be and should be,” she says.

Lost, Delayed Funding Hurts Potatoes

“It’s a tremendous time of uncertainty for our faculty engaged in research and agriculture,” says Dr. George Smith, director of MSU’s AgBioResearch program.

One of the biggest recent blows to MSU researchers was the administration’s closure of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This meant the cancellation of $20 million in research funding at MSU through USAID. This funding loss ended several agricultural research programs, including the Feed the Future Global Biotech Potato Partnership .

While the program aimed to benefit farmers in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya and Nigeria by developing potato varieties through biotechnology resistant to late blight — the disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine and is still an issue today — the research would have also benefited U.S. growers. Turner says the loss of the program is “definitely felt here in Michigan as well as across the nation.”

Smith adds that the funding freeze that happened earlier this year also had a negative impact, though grant money for some projects eventually came through.

“For some of our faculty, especially those working in plant based agriculture — growing food crops that are relevant in Michigan and beyond — they lost a whole growing season through lack of funding,” he says.

Smith anticipates that the new review rules for federal grantmaking will slow the research funding process down going forward. But he also voiced optimism for what they are doing at MSU, seeing it as in line with the administration’s goals to help farmers be more productive, to help them deal with the challenges they face and to help strengthen rural communities.

“The work we do is focused on that,” he says.

Industry Partnership Through Project GREEEN

AgBioResearch’s Project GREEEN is one such example. Smith describes the 27-year-old program as a unique effort that takes a holistic, integrated approach to public-private partnerships in ag research.

“All of our plant based agricultural community partners in Project GREEEN have the opportunity, every year, to list their top priorities,” he explains. These priorities address short-term challenges facing agricultural sectors and are included in requests for proposals. Industry partners help researchers write grants to address those priorities so that that the on-the-ground impact is kept front and center.

For potatoes, for example, these short-term priorities include the following:

Monitoring and managing insecticide resistance in Colorado Potato Beetle.
Developing management methods for Potato Virus Y, Mop Top Virus, and Tobacco Rattle.
Developing new varieties genetically resistant to pressing challenges such as Colorado Potato Beetle and Late Blight.
Improving tools and growing methods to increase water use efficiency, improve aquifer recharge, and reduce nutrient runoff.

Smith says that in the first 20 years of the program, the economic benefit to the state overall was over $2.5 billion.

“The annual funding for project green is a little over $5 million,” he adds. “So that’s a pretty good return on investment. That’s a direct reflection of the work we do.”

The Michigan Potato Industry Commission partners with AgBioResearch on Project GREEEN, directly funding research and partially funding a position-and-a-half at MSU’s potato outreach program, Turner says. She describes the partnership as helping to build the entire research pipeline to focus on the needs of Michigan’s potato industry on the ground.

“We have events where the seed growers, the researchers, the potato growers, the processors and the end users come together and they talk about what they like about different varieties, where their pinch points are and what needs they have in the future,” she explains “We take a look at those varieties, and if they don’t work for everybody in that pipeline and through that entire supply chain, then they don’t work.”

Turner says that, while hundreds of potato varieties are considered, few make it to commercialization. Though it can be time-consuming, the process produces valuable results for everyone involved, she says.

“The growers can be profitable and produce a highly nutritious product that works well for the processors,” she says. “Then they can turn around a good quality product that ends up in consumers’ homes where they have the best potato that’s available through modern science.”

The Importance of Research for Future Potatoes

The benefits of AgBioResearch’s work on potatoes has already had a big impact on the industry. Smith points to the variety breeding work done by David Douches, who has released dozens of varieties during his tenure at MSU, including varieties with a longer shelf life.

“Breeding potatoes that have a better storage capacity results in being able to process Michigan potatoes for a longer period of time without having to rely on importing potatoes from other states,” Smith explains. The impacts on the industry have been huge, he adds, benefiting growers and processors, and positively impacting jobs and revenues.

“That was all possible through an investment in research and funding through a whole host of sources, including the USDA, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and USAID,” he says.

Turner says the future needs of the Michigan potato industry include keeping up with storage diseases and looking to a future where inputs like water and fertilizer are in shorter supply. These are things research can and is working on.

Both Smith and Turner stress the importance of keeping produce production in the U.S. and profitable, calling it a national security concern. Potatoes, in particular, are important since they are stable crops both in the U.S. and abroad.

“If we are not growing potatoes here in the United States, they are going to come from other countries,” Turner says.

In a similar vein, Smith notes that over half of the fresh fruit consumed in the U.S. is imported already, with expectations of it increasing significantly in the next few years.

“We’re committed to doing the research to solve the problems to help our produce specialty crop growers in Michigan be able to be profitable in the face of extreme weather and new emerging pests and pathogens,” he says. “Research is the solution to those problems.”

He also opines that the U.S. is falling behind in agricultural research, whereas major competitors like China, the European Union and South American countries are growing their investments in research.

“We have always led the world in terms of agricultural innovation, and it’s more important than ever to do that,” he adds. “But that requires a federal investment.”

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USDA Plan to Close Flagship Research Site Threatens Critical Research, Critics Warn

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 16:13:43 GMT

USDA’s plan to close its flagship laboratory near Washington, D.C., could undermine research on pests, blight and crop genetics crucial to American farms, according to lawmakers, a farm group and staff of the facility.

The USDA has already lost thousands of research staff to President Donald Trump’s effort to shrink the federal government, even as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has said farm research is a pillar of national security.

Rollins said in July the USDA will close the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, which occupies nearly 7,000 acres in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington, as part of an agency reorganization effort that will also move roughly half its Washington-area staff to hubs in North Carolina, Utah and elsewhere.

The agency says it is closing BARC and several other USDA buildings because of costly necessary renovations and underutilized space. Workers at BARC in 2023 filed whistleblower complaints about unsafe working conditions there.

But critics of the plan to close BARC say it could backfire by interrupting the facility’s ongoing research, and by pushing the scientists conducting it to resign.

“It is unlikely that senior scientists of this caliber with mature research partnerships and rich professional lives will simply move somewhere else,” says Donnell Brown, president of the National Grape Research Alliance, which depends on BARC research into vine stress and water usage.

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, also slams the plan.

“You have a lot of people who have invested their time and effort in research for farmers across the country, and this plan would destroy that ongoing research,” he says.

Three staff at the facility, who requested anonymity out of fear of retribution, say the co-location of many labs at BARC allows for economies of scale and cost savings, and that the proximity to Washington enables researchers to easily brief lawmakers or other parts of USDA.

A USDA spokesperson says the $500 million required to modernize the BARC facility, plus another $40 million in annual maintenance, was not a wise use of taxpayer funds and that the agency’s other laboratories could house BARC research.

Rollins said in a July memo outlining the relocation effort that the BARC facility would be closed over several years to avoid disruptions to critical research.

USDA on July 25 told the House of Representatives and Senate agriculture and appropriations committees that it did not have data or analysis underpinning its reorganization plan to share with members of Congress or their staff, according to a letter sent from Democrats on the House Agriculture Committee to Rollins on Aug.14.

“Ostensibly they’re saying it would save money, but I haven’t seen any study that suggests that’s the case,” says U.S. Representative Glenn Ivey, whose Maryland district contains the BARC site.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Leslie Adler)

Recent Funding, Staffing Changes at USDA Could Risk Ag Research

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 21:05:08 GMT

Concerned. Uncertain. Worried. Unsure.

These were the most common words members of the Science Societies — including American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America — participating in an Aug. 13 webinar used to describe the current agricultural research funding world they live in today.

“There has been a lot of disruption in the normal funding process, especially at USDA,” said Julie McClure, agricultural policy expert with Torrey Advisory Group and the Societies, who MCed the webinar. “There have been a lot of actions taken by this administration that have implications for the research enterprise.”

Those actions included the deferred resignation program offered to federal employees in late January and the late February requirement that all federal agencies plan for and implement reorganizations and reductions in force . On July 8, USDA issued a guidance that, among other things, restricts who federal researchers can co-author research articles with. By the July 24 announcement of USDA’s planned reorganization , it had already shed over 15% of its total workforce.

According to panelists, the on-the-ground results have been the chilling effect of uncertainty, lost research, lost opportunities for students, and a potential future where public-private partnerships in ag research are in doubt and research is driven by politics rather than science.

Uncertainty abounds

The sharp reductions in staffing at USDA agencies have left university researchers awash in uncertainty according to panelists. For example, Michael Thompson, a soil science professor at Iowa State University and past SSSA president, described his experience at Iowa State University where soil scientists collaborate closely with colleagues in USDA agencies and programs.

“The USDA reductions in force have affected personnel and programs in the National Cooperative Soil Survey Program,” he explained, describing it as a collaborative initiative of local, state, federal agencies and experiment stations that improves soil maps around the country.

“Because of the reductions in personnel and the potential reorganization, there’s really a lot of concern that USDA’s larger plans for reorganization could reduce or eliminate the National Cooperative Soil Survey Program,” he added. “The future of that kind of federal-state collaboration is certainly in serious doubt.”

The funding disruptions have also cast doubt beyond just academia, according to panelist Colin Campbell, vice president of research, development, engineering and software at Meter Group, an agricultural and environmental research and technology company.

“USDA funding is a big part of how we fund our research to make more instrumentation,” he said. Campbell described worry over if already granted funding or personnel will be pulled as resulting in inaction. “For example, the Climate Smart Agriculture grant that we worked really heavily on and all got funded, but now the work’s not getting done.”

Lost opportunities

Panelists talked about lost opportunities. In some cases, finished government-funded research cannot cross the proverbial finish line because of recent changes, according to Thompson, pointing to the recent guidance that bars USDA employees from “authoring or co-authoring a scholarly publication” without some logistically taxing requirements.

“Completed research projects cannot now be published,” he said of the situation.

Panelists cited the obvious loss of research opportunities as well; canceled grants and pulled funding. Thompson said there had been 14 projects canceled or stopped permanently, including two in his soil science department. One project that dealt with renewable natural gas production from anaerobic digestion of biomass and manure mixture, while the other focused on training technical service providers about soil sampling for carbon content.

“The loss of funding led to the layoff of a professional soil scientist in our department and to shifting support for grad students to other projects.”

The impact on students was a point of concern for panelists. Diane Rowland, director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station at the University of Maine, described the impact on workforce development as huge.

“We’re training the next generation that will feed into the workforce,” she said.

Questions about the future

On Aug. 7, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that changed oversight processes for federal grants. Very generally, it requires federal agencies to appoint one or more senior appointees to review federal grant applications to ensure they “demonstrably advance the president’s policy priorities.” This was an area of uncertainty for the future.

“There are a lot of questions about exactly how this executive order will be enacted, what that means for particularly universities that receive a lot of federal funding through different grants,” McClure noted. “I do think this will add significant time to the process of grant review and funding distribution. And obviously a lot more scrutiny, and scrutiny that won’t be scientific in nature, it will be more of a political scrutiny.”

She said her understanding is that, for the USDA specifically, very few of the necessary appointees that have either been made or cleared through Congress where applicable.

“There are just so many hours in the day that a single person can be reviewing what are often very technical proposals,” she said, adding that reports of delays on grant funding or responses on grants are unsurprising in that situation.

Thompson also raised concerns about the future of independent science with the closing of EPA’s Office of Research and Development , which began in July.

“That office was EPA’s independent science arm that conducted research on detecting pollutant mobility and toxicity in soils and water,” he said, adding the office informed policy decisions and funded many soil- and water-related grants at universities like ISU.

“While it’s possible that a new EPA office on applied science and environmental solutions may be created, its science is not going to be politically independent like the office of research and development was,” he said. “A lot of soil scientists like me have had funding from EPA. The future of that funding is in serious doubt.”

Retail Research: Inside the Mind of the Produce Shopper

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 20:18:29 GMT

Why do shoppers reach for one apple over another, or skip the produce altogether for a salty snack?

PRS In Vivo , a global research consultancy rooted in behavioral science, is helping brands and grocers understand the subconscious forces that influence buying decisions. The company says its Retail Lab, a scaled-down but fully functional replica of a supermarket, paired with mobile eye-tracking glasses and observational tools, gives brands a rare look at what catches a shopper’s eye — and what actually ends up in the cart.

The Packer sat down with Patrick Young, managing director of PRS In Vivo, to learn more about the potential discoveries behind behavior and why people buy what they do.

Simulating the Supermarket

The Retail Lab was born from a problem, Young says, as traditional focus groups and surveys often failed to predict real-world success.

“When you test things in isolation away from the actual shopping experience, you don’t always get the true behavior,” he says. So, the team built a mini-market to simulate the real thing.

Designed to resemble a city-center grocery store, the lab is fitted with cameras, flexible shelving and eye-tracking equipment. Participants wear glasses that record what products and packaging they notice, what they ignore and what they ultimately buy.

“It’s essentially A/B testing in a live shopping scenario,” Young says. “We recreate a shelf, test a price point, layout or package design, and track how people respond — first behaviorally, then through follow-up questions.”

The Packer sat down with Patrick Young, managing director of PRS In Vivo to learn more about the potential discoveries behind behavior and why people buy what they do.

(PRS In Vivo)

What They See Versus What They Buy

The behavioral findings often contradict what consumers say they’ll do.

“You might look at one product, but buy another based on price or familiarity,” Young says.

This divergence between attention and action is where the lab excels. Follow-up interviews clarify whether shoppers were drawn in by color, brand recognition, placement or promotional language, he explains.

In produce-adjacent tests, PRS In Vivo has studied everything from bundling cross-category products like avocados, onions and chips, to package sustainability and layout strategies.

“Retailers are looking at bundling more online than in-store, but how to execute that in physical aisles, especially when items require different temperature zones, is something we help tackle,” Young says.

Fresh Insights for Fresh Produce

Though most of PRS In Vivo’s work focuses on branded CPG items, they’ve conducted limited research in produce, especially branded fruits like kiwifruit. One key takeaway: Packaging must allow shoppers to assess quality easily.

“If they can’t see the product, they may not trust it’s fresh,” Young says.

Clear windows, cardboard designs that reduce bruising and resealable options have proven effective, especially as the category moves away from plastic.

Young thinks grocers can apply broader insights from the lab to produce merchandising.

“You can move it from an art to a science,” he says. “What’s the right price point? What’s the clearest signage? Are you using too many claims or colors? We help identify the ‘sweet spot’ — what actually gets noticed and drives purchase.”

Produce Shopper Psychology

From a behavioral science standpoint, the biggest drivers of fresh produce purchases often happen below the surface.

“Familiarity is powerful,” Young says. “If you’ve bought it before, you’ll likely buy it again.

“Emotional factors also play a big role: If it looks juicy, fresh or seasonal, it taps into desire,” he continues. ”Even ease — like how simple it is to pick up, understand or consume — makes a difference.”

Loss aversion also influences behavior.

“Limited-time offers or seasonal cues like ‘only available this month’ can drive urgency,” he adds.

Even sustainability plays a subtle part. While shoppers say they prefer recyclable or compostable packaging, they’re less likely to follow through if it costs more or requires extra effort.

“People want to do the right thing — if it’s easy,” Young says.

New ToBRFV-Resistant Tomato Varieties Available Soon

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 13:57:09 GMT

Bayer says it has developed and will release new varieties of hybrid tomatoes with multiple resistant genes against tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV).

The new hybrid varieties with “multi-stacked resistance” include large truss, medium truss, cocktail truss and cherry plum truss, as well as pink beef and new versions of its earlier multi-stacked resistant beef tomato varieties, according to the company. Bayer says the first wave of the new varieties will be available for sale starting later this summer or early fall.

Javier Quintero, global lead for tomato R&D at Bayer’s Crop Science division, told The Packer varieties with multiple resistance genes are necessary to give greenhouse tomato growers a durable strategy against ToBRFV.

“The virus produces considerable damage in the plant and the fruit and ultimately the impact is a reduction of marketable yield,” he says. “The yield loss can be very significant, up to 50%, so it is devastating.”

To add to the difficulty, the virus spreads easily by contact, a big issue in greenhouses where plants are frequently touched during pruning and management. As an RNA virus, mutation can happen very rapidly, meaning each infected plant is an opportunity for the virus to change.

“In RNA viruses, because of the replication mechanism they have, there is a higher frequency of mutation when they replicate,” he says. “This is biologically true for any RNA virus. You just need to have enough viral load and time to have mutations.

“We knew that when [ToBRFV] eventually spread, it would mutate faster and we knew that we would need to provide a solution that was durable,” he adds.

Building a Better Tomato to Combat ToBRFV

ToBRFV was first identified in Israel in 2014 and has spread rapidly since then. The virus is seed-borne , easily transferable by touch and can be spread by pollinators and irrigation water. Related viruses can remain virulent in infected soil and on surfaces for years.

Quintero says ToBRFV became devastating for tomato cultivation in 2020, so the need for a genetic solution has been known for a while. He describes the process of developing Bayer’s new multi-stacked resistant varieties as starting with identifying and obtaining multiple ToBRFV-resistant genes, primarily from wild relatives of tomatoes. These genes were then introgressed into the lines Bayer used to produce the new commercial varieties.

“For this process we used conventional breeding, but we applied advanced breeding technologies,” he explains. “We used, for example, molecular markers and other technologies to be able to ensure that we are keeping that very high quality in the fruit and agronomic traits, but at the same time bringing that resistance.

“We needed to ensure that, not only do we have plant that is resistant, we have a plant that has excellent quality,” he adds. “That is the most important thing.”

According to the company, it ran two trials testing the resistance of the new hybrid varieties. One group was tested with the standard ToBRFV, while the other was tested against a resistance-breaking version.

“At both 14 and 21 days after inoculation, the non-resistant plants exhibited severe ToBRFV symptoms, but those with multiple resistance stacks held up against both the standard virus as well as the newly characterized mutation of ToBRFV,” the company said in a news release.

Quintero says that they wanted to develop resistant varieties that produced excellent fruit quality and agronomic traits but showed low or no symptoms and a low viral load when infected.

“The lower viral load is very important, because that will reduce the mutation rate as well,” Quintero says, adding that these new varieties demonstrate all of those goals.

“We tested several new ToBRFV-resistant hybrids, and we confirmed that they hold up against the resistance-breaking virus,” he says. “We expect growers to see similar results under similar growing conditions, which is very exciting.”

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New Research Looks to Put a Stop to Strawberry Pathogen

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 18:45:42 GMT

Neopestalotiopsis, or Neo-P, has been a devastating pathogen for field-grown strawberries, but it also threatens strawberries grown in controlled environment agriculture (CEA) structures.

And while the majority of Neo-P cases in Ohio have been in field-grown strawberries, Melanie Lewis Ivey, associate professor of fruit pathology in the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), is part of a research team looking into how Neo-P could affect CEA-grown strawberries.

Lewis Ivey says it’s been hard to estimate the true losses in the state, because not all growers report losses and some growers struggled to get clean transplants, which is a major challenge.

“For growers that lost 100% in some cases, it was because they couldn’t plant a crop because they could not get clean transplants,” she says. “In other instances, the disease spread so quickly they could not do anything about it.”

Symptoms

Lewis Ivey says the research team has discovered different variability in the aggressiveness of the fungus as well as cultivar susceptibilities. Some growers plant in the spring, while others plant in the fall, which she says can also impact disease severity and incidence.

“The first symptoms that growers will notice are brown lesions on the leaves that begin at the edge of the leaflets,” Lewis Ivey says. “The lesions are often V-shaped but not always. As the lesions get larger, black spots (the spores) can be seen in the lesion if a hand lens is used. They may also notice that their plants are stunted or wilting. Stunting and wilting are due to an infection in the crown of the plant.”

Lewis Ivey says that Neo-P symptoms on the fruit appear as brown sunken spots; sometimes growers may confuse the pathogen with that of anthracnose fruit rot, and proper pathogen identification is crucial for treatment. But strawberry growers have yet to see symptoms appear in fruit because strawberry plants die from the Neo-P pathogen before fruiting.

Growers also face the challenge of limited options of nurseries that offer transplants, she says, and many plants can be asymptomatic, which makes it harder for nurseries to detect infections.

Lewis Ivey says it’s critical that growers take a defensive approach and quarantine all plug transplants for about a week. She says she also recommends growers cut open the crown of a small percentage of plugs — about 5% — and scout for discoloration. Growers can also use fungicide dips for bare-root transplants or drenches for plugs, but the efficacy of such treatments is still unknown, she says. Once growers plant the transplants, she recommends scouting often.

“Since this disease develops and spreads rapidly, it is important to catch it early,” she says.

Lessons Learned

In Lewis Ivey’s preliminary studies, she says her team discovered Neo-P can survive in silt loam soil for about four months.

“We infected strawberry plants and buried them about 5 centimeters in the soil within a high tunnel in December and sampled once a month,” she says. “We were able to recover the fungus from the plant debris in January, February and March, and April.”

Lewis Ivey says her team plans a more comprehensive study this fall, with a look at high tunnels and open fields to learn more about the pathogen’s survival. She says the team also plans to research what part of a strawberry plant offers the highest probability for fungal detection.

Her team also seeks to determine variety susceptibility to Neo-P in CEA structures as well as the efficacy of fungicides and fungicide alternatives to prevent the pathogen’s spread, she says.

“There are limited fungicides that are registered for strawberries grown in CEA, so finding alternatives, such as biological control or nanoparticles, is extremely important,” she says. “We are also in the early stages of developing an early detection assay for transplants. If we can detect the fungus in asymptomatic transplants, then we can develop best practices for handling infected transplants.”

Lewis Ivey says resistance management is also a big challenge for growers.

“Because there are so few fungicides registered for CEA growers, it is very challenging to develop a spray program that doesn’t overuse one specific mode of action,” she says. “Fungi can become resistant to a fungicide if the same mode of action is used repeatedly, so it is critical that different modes of action are used throughout the season.”

And growers often face more pathogens than just Neo-P, which can also complicate resistance management practices. Lewis Ivey says she sees an opportunity for control strategies that involve biological controls for CEA strawberry growers.

”Developing spray programs that integrate biologicals, focusing on application timing and disease risk level, is the future of strawberry disease management in CEA,” she says.

Lewis Ivey says her research team also wanted to look at how the pathogen moves through the greenhouse — through water and plants — but unfortunately, her research project faced funding cuts, so that portion of the research is on hold.

“As we learn more about the epidemiology of Neo-P in CEA, we will be able to make recommendations on system design, water management and best sanitation practices,” she says. “When considering system design and disease management, we must also consider plant growth and fruit quality, which makes the situation even more complex.”

What You Eat Matters — But What About When?

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 21:25:32 GMT

“Healthy eating is not only what you eat, but also how much you eat and when,” says Kaylyn Koons.

Koons, a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida, is the lead author on a recently-released informational resource on chrononutrition from the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Chrononutrition is an emerging field of study that looks at how diet and the body’s 24-hour internal clock interact.

“The field of nutrition overall is a relatively new field,” Koons tells The Packer, giving the example of the discovery of vitamins, which occurred roughly from the mid-19^th century through the mid-20^th century.

“As we are starting to learn more about nutrition,” Koons says, “we are beginning to understand how other aspects of biology (i.e. circadian rhythm) interact with dietary patterns.”

Chrononutrition basics in brief

According to the University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences resource, the field of chrononutrition kicked off in 1967 with Franz Halberg, a Romanian-born physician. The idea of the field is based on the idea that the sleep and wake cycle — one’s circadian rhythm — regulates functions such as metabolism and digestion. This means how someone schedules meals throughout the day can impact their weight, body mass index and likelihood of developing various health issues.

“Chrononutrition is an approach to diet that focuses on the timing of food intake in alignment with the body’s natural circadian rhythms,” the UF/IFAS guide summarizes. “Chrononutrition examines three primary aspects of eating behaviors: timing, frequency and consistency. These aspects play essential roles in maintaining metabolic health, weight management and overall well-being.”

Despite beginning almost 60 years ago, chrononutrition is still considered an emerging field.

“One challenge the field has faced in advancing knowledge and research on chrononutrition is the difference in circadian rhythms between animals and humans,” Koons explains. In most research settings, using animal models — such as testing on mice or rats — comes before studies on people. But research animals often have different circadian rhythms than humans do.

“For example, mice are nocturnal, so feeding schedules and other interventions must be timed accordingly to ensure relevance in translating findings to humans,” Koons says.

What is known versus what we need to learn

Though it is an emerging field with some obstacles to research, there have been plenty of findings, and the UF/IFAS guide gave several examples of chrononutrition in action.

For example, regularly skipping breakfast — something the resource called a “chrononutrition behavior” — has been “associated with lower diet quality, increased risk of obesity and many chronic diseases throughout the lifespan.”

Eating late in the day (after 8 p.m.) has similarly been “linked with poorer food choices, overeating, snacking at night and experiencing metabolic disorders,” according to the guide.

Koons explains that findings of “lower diet quality” and “poorer food choices” generally reference the Healthy Eating Index from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service . The HEI score is a tool to quantify diet quality in the U.S. The HEI score is out of a maximum of 100. Twenty points of that total maximum come from four produce-related categories: total fruits, whole fruits, total vegetables, and greens and beans.

The paper does not identify strong evidence linking chrononutrional behaviors to increased consumption of fresh produce, Koons says.

“Therefore, it’s unclear whether favorable chrononutrition behaviors would promote greater consumption of fresh produce,” she says. “This would be an interesting area for future research, especially with the consideration of chrononutrition.”

The impact of culture on chrononutrition

Culture can have a big impact on details around food and meals that impact types of food and when they are eaten — or not eaten, as the case may be.

“The Western diet, low in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and high in saturated fat and processed foods, has been well established to increase risks of chronic diseases,” Koons says. She also points to what she calls the “grind mentality” of Western culture, with its long hours, as potentially contributing to negative chrononutritional behaviors.

“Extended work hours can present time-related barriers that impact the amount of time one can spend engaging in healthful dietary practices such as grocery shopping, cooking and regular meal timing,” she says. “Arguably, the most significant obstacle in Western culture is the attitude towards food and meals, changing the narrative from being a task to complete to an opportunity for nourishment.”

Koons contrasts the Western diet and meal culture to the Mediterranean region, both its diet and lifestyle patterns.

“This dietary pattern includes a high intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and healthy fats (particularly olive oil), along with consumption of lean meat such as fish and poultry,” she says. “In addition to food choices, the Mediterranean diet encourages regular, balanced meals, community engagement through shared meals and routine physical activity.”

The UF/IFAS guide was published as an educational resource aimed at summarizing current research findings on chrononutrition for nutrition educators, Koons says. But it could also be a tool for consumers interested in identifying potentially negative chrononutrional behaviors they may be engaging in.

“Most eating patterns are often deeply ingrained in habits which can be difficult to change,” Koons says. “For those who seek guidance in improving their chrononutrition or food choices, I recommend working with a registered dietitian who can provide personalized guidance and strategies tailored to each individual’s needs.”

Senate Ag Committee Pens Windfall Funding to Specialty Crops

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 13:33:25 GMT

On June 11, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry released its legislative text for the budget reconciliation bill . The expansive text covers numerous topics, including funding changes to crop insurance, livestock programs and several ag-focused grants, as well as extensive changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“This legislation delivers the risk management tools and updated farm bill safety net they need to keep producing the safest, most abundant and affordable food, fuel and fiber in the world,” says Committee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., in a news release. “It’s an investment in rural America and the future of agriculture

For the fresh produce industry, there were some considerable investments in the draft text.

“The specialty crop research initiative funding was up from its current $80 million a year to $175 million a year,” Kam Quarles, National Potato Council CEO, tells The Packer. “That is very significant for the fruit and vegetable industry widely.”

Quarles also cites the increases in the Pest and Disease Program funding — $90 million annually starting in 2026, up from $75 million currently — and to the Specialty Block Grant program — $100 million annually in 2026, up from $85 million currently — as being essential to the specialty crop industry. Additionally, the limitation on adjusted gross income was eliminated if 75% or more income is derived from farming

“We are grateful to Chairman Boozman and his staff for advancing these vital investments in specialty crops,” the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance said in a news release.

“Our message today is simple: Any Congressional investment in American agriculture must include specialty crops,” the release continues. “America’s specialty crop growers confront a host of unprecedented challenges. Rising input costs, limited access to labor, unfair trade practices, disruptions to foreign markets and natural disasters ranging from flood to drought all impede the competitiveness of these family farms. Nothing short of the survival of our domestic industry is at stake.”

Reconciliation vs Farm Bill

While the U.S. is waiting on a new farm bill, many elements that might have gone into a farm bill are making their way into the reconciliation bill.

“Chairman Thompson was playing the hand that he was dealt in terms of reconciliation versus the traditional farm bill process,” says Quarles about Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture. “Chairman Bozeman is doing the exact same thing, and we are very happy that both sides of Congress have included these important investments for specialty crops.”

There is still work to be done, however, according to the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance.

“Senate rules prohibit the inclusion of some innovative policy initiatives we proposed, such as investments in mechanization and automation, and reforms to crop insurance to provide many of our growers with an affordable and effective safety net for the first time,” according to the alliance.

Quarles explains that the reconciliation bill process only allows for funding changes, not the creation of new funding programs; that requires a full farm bill. But both the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance and the National Potato Council, which is a member of the alliance, thanked both ag committee chairmen for their efforts.

“No subsection of agriculture has gone through more change and volatility since the last farm bill was signed than specialty crops,” Quarles says. “Waiting around for a new farm bill has been very challenging for producers, and we are very happy to see both chairmen taking that seriously and investing in this part of the U.S. ag industry.”

Research is American produce’s path forward

Investing in research is extremely important to the future of the produce industry, Quarles stresses.

“The innovation that goes on through public private partnerships in research in the United States is what is going to keep us competitive into the future,” he says. “In terms of our global competitiveness, it’s going to be those type of research investments that keep us in the game and hopefully winning that game.”

He acknowledges research is often time-consuming, complicated, expensive and often so technical as to be out of mind for a lot of people, but the benefits are key. He cites novel potato varieties that are more durable, heartier and consume fewer resources developed with public-private partnerships as an example of the value of research.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that we are going to be one of the highest-cost production areas on the globe for a very long time,” Quarles says. “But we are going to remain competitive through these types of high-risk, high-reward research innovations that are able to prepare our producers forward even when others have the tailwind of low-cost labor or lower environmental regulations.”

“It’s our innovation that’s going to keep us front and center,” he adds.

Land of opportunity: Carolina growers thrive with diverse crops and conditions

Mon, 19 May 2025 21:06:52 GMT

The Carolinas are unique states for growing fresh produce. The region represents a lot of climate and topographical diversity in a small space. Whether north or south, this diversity forces growers to be creative, adaptable and future-focused to meet evolving consumer demands in the face of sometimes unforgiving settings.

North Carolina boasts several high ranks across different types of fresh produce. It is the nation’s top producer of sweetpotatoes, its official state vegetable, for example. According to 2023 cash receipts (most recent complete USDA data), the state ranked fifth in the nation for blueberries, fresh and processing cucumbers and peanuts; sixth in the nation for other cucumbers, bell peppers and pumpkins; and seventh in the nation for squash and watermelons.

The state’s success with many different produce owes a lot to its physical variety.

“North Carolina is so fortunate and blessed that we have so many different topographies and soil types, as well as climate zones, in our singular state,” said Michelle Grainger, executive director of the North Carolina Sweetpotato Commission.

Producers use this variety to their benefit. The folks at Happy Dirt, a produce distribution company with 16 farmer owners across the state, gave the example of their lettuce farms distributed across the state for strategic purposes.

“We’ve been utilizing the topography of having some mountain farms to extend our season,” said Alex Borst, purchasing manager for Happy Dirt. “We’ve got a good, solid, late-April-to-mid-June lettuce program now.”

South Carolina peaches benefit from having adequate chill hours, the conditions for which emerge with the state’s hot, humid summers and cool winters with a lot of moisture in the air, says Blakely Atkinson, executive director of the South Carolina Peach Council.

(Photo courtesy of the South Carolina Department of Agriculture)

Not to be outdone, South Carolinian growers take pride in the variety their state brings to the southeast.

“We are a small state, but we do so much,” said Eva Moore, communications director for the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, adding that the state has a broad produce portfolio. “And, of course, we’re the ‘Tastier Peach State.’”

In 2023, South Carolina was second in the nation for peaches, sixth for peanuts and eighth for watermelons. That said, the state also grows crops rarely tracked by USDA, such as turnip greens and collards.

The South Carolinian claim of being the tastier peach state stems from its unique climate. Blakely Atkinson, executive director of the South Carolina Peach Council, explained that peach trees need a certain number of chill hours to set fruit and heat to make that fruit sweet. South Carolina gets that, she said, with hot, humid summers and cool winters with a lot of moisture in the air.

Weather woes add up

Produce growers in the Carolinas have been hard-hit lately from a series of extreme weather events. For example, those cold winters needed for peach setting went a bit overboard in 2023 when a late-season cold snap resulted in 70% crop loss.

“That was the state estimation loss,” Atkinson said. “Some people were able to squeak by, but some were hit worse. One of my growers had a 99% crop loss.”

Last year also saw some extreme weather events that greatly affected Carolina producers. Grainger called it a brutal year.

“North Carolina was just battered from the mountains to the sea and everywhere in between,” she said, explaining that right after the sweetpotato crop was transplanted, the state got hit with drought.

“Then we had three storms: Hurricane Debbie, Tropical Cyclone Eight and the tail end of Hurricane Helene,” Grainger said. “We had all the conditions that you could possibly have between the months of June and November, and it netted us a loss of anywhere between 40% to 45% of yield.”

Sim McIver, assistant director of domestic marketing at the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, estimated 2024’s extreme weather cost North Carolina agriculture $5 billion. The disasters wiped out fields and destroyed infrastructure throughout the state.

Some operations were relatively lucky, however. Tendwell Farm co-owner Steven Beltram said that its packing shed was spared. While the company had a lot of equipment damage, it was repairable. The roads and bridges are back in place in the area, and tractor trailers can get in and out of the packing house again.

“We were very fortunate in that none of our fields were permanently damaged,” Beltram said.

North Carolina’s diversity in topography, soil and climate benefit growing areas throughout the state. “We’ve been utilizing the topography of having some mountain farms to extend our season,” said Alex Borst, purchasing manager for Happy Dirt. “We’ve got a good, solid, late-April to mid-June lettuce program now.”

(Photo courtesy of Happy Dirt)

Diverse varieties, growing methods

The increased demand for more variety, be that new crops, new growing styles or new varieties of familiar crops, and growers rising to meet that demand was a constant thread across the Carolinas.

“We are seeing producers investing in produce, putting their energy there and diversifying,” Moore said.

She highlighted that vegetable acreage in South Carolina expanded dramatically since the last Census of Agriculture. Taylor Holenbeck, grower services coordinator for Happy Dirt, said there has been a movement in growing organic vegetables in the South, in general.

But the trend for more diversity isn’t just relegated to vegetables. Both McIver and Moore noted growth in berry interest, strawberries specifically in North Carolina and berries overall in South Carolina.

“Berry sales by South Carolina producers more than tripled between 2017 and 2022, from $13 million to $44.3 million,” Moore explained, adding that a group of growers recently founded the South Carolina Small Fruit Growers Association. “Some of our large farms have been adding small fruit to diversify.”

Several of the groups The Packer spoke to highlighted plans for expanding into new crops or expanding existing variety due to increased demand. The farms that Happy Dirt works with planted more acres of organic strawberries this year, for example. Holenbeck said the company is working with smaller farms to grow specialty eggplant, cherry tomatoes and specialty peppers.

“We’re just trying to really up our specialty game with our smaller farms so our larger farms can crank out the volume items we need,” Holenbeck said. “We’re increasing acreage in micro ways on these smaller, hyperspecialty products. That’s been really exciting.”

Consumer interest in new varieties of familiar crops has been strong lately in the Carolinas as well. Interest in sweetpotato varieties is growing, for example, especially for the purple-skinned, white-fleshed murasaki varietal.

Grainger said this push for different varieties started in the culinary world, then got picked up by social media influencers. She also cited the impact of the Netflix’s series “The Blue Zone,” which focused on areas of the world where populations live exceptionally long lives.

“The very first episode of this series was in Japan and within the first few minutes of that episode they were talking about the purple sweetpotato,” she said. “The individuals being interviewed expressed how important that sweetpotato is to their daily diet and they were attributing their longevity to it.”

Sweetpotatoes aren’t the only crop with growing varietal interest from consumers. Atkinson noted that consumers are also inquiring more about different peach varieties.

“We live in a society that is constantly wanting to learn, and consumers are really concerned about where their food is coming from,” she said. “So, they are asking questions and want to be educated on their food, and that’s great.”

A focus on sustainable produce

Expanding into new crops and new varieties aren’t the only ways Carolina growers are trying to serve their consumers better. New, different and more sustainable packaging that caters to customer needs was a frequently cited trend.

“Simplicity and affordability are huge with today’s consumers,” said McIver. “Simple recipes and affordable price options; pre-cut, ready-to -eat produce is gaining popularity. Any kind of value-added time-savers.”

The Nashville, N.C.-based fresh produce packer, shipper and marketer Nash Produce aims to meet those convenience needs.

“That’s where some of these new packaging strategies come in handy,” said Robin Narron, marketing director and sales support for Nash Produce. “For example, if you have a family of two, it’s easy to just grab two sweetpotatoes. But if you have a family of four, you can grab our 4-pack. You don’t have to sort through the bulk bin and worry about different cook times because ours are electronically sized to be as consistent as possible.”

Narron said the company strives to cater to the needs of its customers, be they the end consumer or retail customers.

“We have to do what’s popular in different areas. In some regions, for example, the larger sweetpotatoes are more popular, while in other areas, the smaller size are more popular,” she said. “So, we try to deliver whatever our customer base needs. If it’s something that we don’t have, we try to innovate something that would work for them.”

For Happy Dirt, changes in the way it packages its sweetpotatoes have not only served its customers but also its growers.

“Over the past couple of years, we’ve really worked on our packaged sweetpotato program. Our 3-pound bags have been really successful,” Holenbeck said. “It’s
really helped our farmers, because they can put their smaller potatoes in those bags. Before, they would often just leave them in the field and not even pick them up because they couldn’t sell them. So, we’ve created, not necessarily a new market, but a new market for our farmers.”

Making better use of a harvest through packaging strategies is one way to improve sustainability. Some groups reported addressing sustainability issues directly with packaging, however.

“At Nash Produce, we are constantly working on sustainability projects,” said Narron. Part of this is innovation with packaging materials. “We’re trying to branch out into more eco-friendly packaging materials. Trying to get away from Styrofoam trays and trying to bring in more disposable or biodegradable packaging materials.”

Beltram observed another interesting sustainability-minded trend in his area among his neighbors.

“I don’t know if it’s on account of what we’re doing, but over the past 15 years, a lot of the conventional growers starting to incorporate sustainable practices,” he said.

Beltram said he’s started seeing a lot of conventional growers in his area starting to incorporate cover crops, something the all-organic Tendwell is proud of.

He also spoke about a different sustainability issue: the continuation of agriculture in the area. With Tendwell being a first-generation farm, this is a near-and-dear issue.

“Here in the mountains you see a lot of older folks who have been doing what they’re doing for a long time. As they’re starting to age out and they’re doing less farming, there’s not much of a new generation coming on,” he said. “So, we have a lot of really supportive neighbors. They are really happy about what we’re doing.”

Tendwell Farm has found that increased diversity of crops helps them meet consumer’s evolving demands.

(Photo courtesy of Tendwell Farm)

A look to the future

Tendwell is installing an optical sorter to speed up tomato sorting this summer.

“So, that should give our grape tomato pack a little more uniformity as far as sizing and color goes,” Beltram said. “We’re pretty excited about putting that machine in place this summer.”

Happy Dirt is also looking forward to infrastructure changes at its farms.

Borst said the company has been conducting trials on high and low tunnels. The trials have suggested ways tunnels can be used to mitigate the threats of disease and weather, extending their seasons on various specialty crops and increasing the consistency of the crops, said Holenbeck, adding that increasing infrastructure at the farms is a goal this summer.

For South Carolina peaches, the near future will mean spreading the goodness.

“New this year is the expansion of exports,” Atkinson said. “One of our larger farms has already been exporting to Mexico, but there has been expansion this year, and I think that is something that is pretty exciting.”

She added that expansion of export into Canada was also something the South Carolina peach industry is working on. “We’re already up there, but to say that we’re still growing is really something.”

South Carolina at large has also been working on recent and new efforts to connect local growers with consumers. Moore noted the recently launched Certified South Carolina Showcase, which just held its third annual event in late March.

“It grew out of a smaller effort to get growers and buyers in the same room, but we expanded it, and now it’s held at the big convention center here in Columbia,” she said. “It’s producers who are part of our big Certified South Carolina branding program, and they exhibit trade-show style.”

She also said the state is working on a portal for school food authorities to find and connect with local producers.

“Farms and producers that are looking to scale up and be able to serve markets in their communities often are interested in working with schools, so we are going to have an interface where that can happen,” Moore said. “It will be a portal where producers and distributors can list what they have available and their contact information, and on the other side school food authorities can make those connections.”

In both Carolinas, the emphasis on growing research is strong.

“Historically, the South has been largely ignored when it comes to developing varieties for our climate specifically,” Holenbeck explained. That has changed recently with the growing demand for growing produce, especially organic produce, in the southeast.”

“One of the reasons why North Carolina is as strong as we are in sweetpotato production is because of our growers and their close relationship with the research institutions,” Grainger said. She pointed to work at institutions such as North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T, the University of Mount Olive and across the Cooperative Extension System.

“North Carolina has an incredible Cooperative Extension Program that spans our entire state; all 100 counties have an office,” she said. “Our growers work side by side with individuals from each of these institutions, and they adopt research, they provide facilities and work with those who are trying to promote and progress the industry.”

Research efforts, both public and in private companies, are strong in South Carolina as well to find varieties that work for the state’s climate, Moore said, pointing to examples of heat-tolerant butter beans and peach varieties that can withstand the warmer weather of summers in the South.

“The climate here is, for lack of a better word, very volatile,” Holenbeck said. “To be adaptable within that is very important for our farmers and the longevity and sustainability of growing in the southeast.”

Harmoniz Seeds expands with new Ontario facility

Wed, 07 May 2025 14:40:40 GMT

Harmoniz Seeds, a global agtech company engaged in the development of greenhouse seeds, said it will open a high-tech facility in Ontario that will deliver early access to exclusive tomato, pepper and cucumber varieties to its North American customers and bring its breeding expertise closer to the region’s top producers.

Set to officially open May 14, the new facility will expand Harmoniz Seeds’ footprint in North America and will complement its global innovation hub operations, which include sites in the Netherlands, Mexico and Italy.

“The North American climate creates unique growing challenges — from extreme winters to hot, humid summers,” Stephan Vonk, Harmoniz Seeds’ area sales manager for Canada and U.S., said in a news release. “By establishing a dedicated facility in Ontario, we’re positioned to develop varieties specifically adapted to these growing conditions.”

The location will serve as a validation center for new material developed at Harmoniz Seeds’ R&D center in the Netherlands, and it will serve as a demo site to run concurrent trials with its European operations and introduce pre-commercial or semi-commercial varieties to the market at an early stage, according to the company.

Harmoniz Seeds said it operates a specialized Plant Virus Inoculation System testing program at a separate Canadian location to evaluate tomato brown rugose fruit virus-resistant varieties developed and tested against local strains of the virus throughout complete growing cycles. This testing program also connects to the company’s global PVIS network in Israel, Spain and Sicily. The company said this Canadian-based PVIS helps it ensure varieties targeting the North American market are truly suitable for the region’s growing conditions.

“When growers see the ToBRFV-resistant designation on a Harmoniz variety, they can be confident it’s, besides being lab tested, backed by thorough testing under local conditions and that will get the best combination of plant performance, high resistance, and fruit quality,” Vonk said.

Florida Foundation Seed Producers licenses citrus greening-tolerant varieties

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 21:59:12 GMT

Florida Foundation Seed Producers Inc. says it has signed a licensing agreement with New Varieties Development and Management Corp. to introduce a range of new, promising citrus varieties.

Florida Foundation Seed Producers said the varieties have shown improved tolerance to huanglongbing, also known as HLB, a devastating citrus greening disease.

The varieties covered by the agreement include, according to a news release:

N14-10 Hamlin — a selection noted to be tolerant to HLB with improved Brix and soluble solids.
OLL-DC-3-40 Sweet Orange — a selection noted to be tolerant to HLB with improved Brix, color and juice scores.
OLL-DC-3-36 Sweet Orange — a selection noted to be tolerant to HLB with improved Brix, color and juice scores.
C4-10-42 Mandarin Hybrid — a selection noted to be tolerant to HLB and useful for processing and blending into NFC orange juice to increase Brix and color.
RBA 13-18 Mandarin Hybrid — a selection noted to be tolerant to HLB and useful for processing and blending into NFC orange juice to increase Brix and color.
Orange 14 Rootstock — a rootstock selection noted to have performed well under HLB pressure, including an area with heavy Diaprepes/Phytophthora pressure.

Florida Foundation Seed Producers said the collaboration, which includes the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and the Florida Department of Citrus aims to accelerate access to these HLB-tolerant varieties for the state’s citrus nurseries and growers.

Florida Foundation Seed Producers said it and New Varieties Development and Management Corp. have filed for patents for the six varieties, which were developed by Frederick Gmitter Jr. and Jude Grosser at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred, Fla.

“Our observations, based on decades of experience with citrus trees and HLB, indicate that these selections are very promising and worthy of trialing in commercial groves,” Gmitter, a UF professor of citrus breeding and genetics, said in the release. “We’d like more supporting data on their performance, but we weigh that desire against the urgency felt by growers for options now. At this time, these are among our best hopes to meet industry needs.”

Wege Prize winner innovates produce cooling without refrigeration

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 17:27:42 GMT

A competition for students that rewards innovative sustainability solutions, the Wege Prize recently honored Claudine Kamanzi and her FruiFresh colleagues with the first-place honor in 2024 for a charcoal cooling system designed to preserve fresh produce without the need for refrigeration.

The Rwanda-based team developed an innovative, affordable charcoal cooling system that uses evaporative and energy-efficient charcoal cooling facilities crafted from locally available materials to keep tomatoes fresh without refrigeration or electricity, reducing spoilage and helping relieve food insecurity, according to a news release.

The produce-saving system earned FruiFresh the winning spot in the 2024 Wege Prize, securing the team $30,000 and the ability to refine the prototype design and successfully build the charcoal cooling facility. Currently, Kamanzi and her FruiFresh colleagues are working with small rural farmers and produce-sellers in Rwanda, helping them keep their tomatoes fresh and reduce spoilage without refrigeration or electricity with FruiFresh’s charcoal cooling system, the release said.

Ferris State University’s Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Mich., organizes the Wege Prize , an annual competition to work with higher education student teams from across the nation and around the world to advance their agricultural, environmental, waste, hunger and other compelling solutions to vexing challenges in sustainability. Participants vie for $65,000 in total cash prizes while helping show the world what the future of problem-solving looks like.

Gayle DeBruyn, sustainability officer for KCAD, said the Wege Prize started as a collaboration between the college and the Wege Foundation to form a design competition.

“Together, they decided to pursue a competition that would require students to be interdisciplinary and work across colleges, because that is the whole premise around collaboration — a complicated systems approach to solve bigger problems,” DeBruyn said. "… [and] this design competition [is] based on really challenging, complex systems, issues that students define as the problem they want to pursue.”

Students build their own teams and then follow the design thinking process and methodology set out in the design brief, DeBruyn said.

Judges are just as diverse as the teams, DeBruyn said, adding that from soil scientists to material scientists, business folks, experts in manufacturing, “this diverse group of judges coaches the participants through the process, making recommendations for advanced research and exploration.”

Claudine Kamanzi, lead of FruiFresh, said one of the team’s most memorable Wege Prize experiences was conducting surveys in different markets to validate their idea.

“Wege Prize opened us to think far,” she said, adding after making it through the first phase, the team was encouraged to keep going. “We keep saying, ‘This is our beginning. We have to keep pushing.’”

FruiFresh won first prize for creating a charcoal cooling system designed to preserve fresh produce without the need for refrigeration.

(Photo courtesy of the Kendall College of Art and Design/Wege Prize)

In a livestream of the awards ceremony, Colin Webster, a learning content manager with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation , summarized what led the judges to choose the FruiFresh team for first prize.

“Something that really impressed us as judges was we loved that they discovered this real need,” he said. “They’ve built a working prototype and their solution benefits so many people and farmers and the people, of course, who will eat this produce. Plus, they’ve researched the cost with local farmers to work out exactly how much people would be able to pay for storage.”

At the awards ceremony, Kamanzi, a student at Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture, represented her team.

“According to Food and Agriculture Organization], agriculture employs 70% of the Rwanda population and contributes 27% of the GDP of the country,” Kamanzi said. “Unfortunately, 27.5% of annual postharvest losses are being lost due to lack of proper storage facilities.”

Kamanzi introduced the audience to Jane, a Rwandan farmer, saying that as a tomato farmer and vendor, 40% of her tomatoes are lost weekly to tomato deterioration due to lack of proper storage.

“I’m not just talking about Jane, however,” Kamanzi said in the livestream. “There are 240,000 tomato farmers in Rwanda. Research has shown that 50[% to] 60% of their production is being lost at every chain. This is a very big issue contributing to malnutrition as well as greenhouse gases.”

The FruiFresh team’s solution is called The Charcoal Cooler.

“The Charcoal Cooler is a natural evaporative zero-energy cooling chain and is able to keep tomatoes without deterioration for up to two weeks,” Kamanzi said. “It has the ability to reduce the temperature up to 9-10 degrees Celsius using materials available locally.”

After Kamanzi’s presentation, the judges asked questions about FruiFresh.

“One of the questions from the judges,” DeBruyn said, “was asking why the tomato was the focus of this system. It’s Rwanda’s highest-value crop, Kamanzi replied. The judge then asked what would be next and she said collards and cabbage, meaning they are already thinking ahead to what other crops they could use this technology for in Rwanda.”

Although the cooling system was designed for sustainability in Kamanzi’s community, it has worldwide implications as well.

“I imagine this is an approach that might work for rural communities,” DeBruyn said. “Those in subsistence farming who are working hard and suffer food loss could benefit. Certainly, communities in an off-grid environment could benefit.”

DeBruyn says Kamanzi and her team can inspire people with their grit and tenacity.

“And there’s a deep need for those qualities in their community,” DeBruyn said.

New strawberry consortium to focus on breeding

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 23:17:24 GMT

A new collaboration with strawberry industry leaders hopes to improve strawberry breeding, according to a news release from Ohalo, a plant breeding genetics company.

The Ohalo Strawberry Consortium seeks to create better-tasting strawberry varieties offered as true seed, which will broaden the availability of the varieties and expand the strawberry market, the company said.

“We are thrilled to partner with these leading strawberry growers, packers and marketers to bring more flavorful, sustainable, and economically valuable strawberry varieties to market as true seed in the years ahead,” Ohalo CEO Dave Friedberg said in the release. “With these partners, we can more quickly realize our vision of transforming the strawberry industry, benefiting farmers, retailers, consumers and the planet.”

While nurseries propagate traditional strawberry plants in nurseries for growers to plant runner shoots, this process can take several years to complete, but Ohalo said its proprietary breeding system eliminates the need for vegetative propagation by producing uniform strawberry seed.

Phil Stewart, known as “Dr. Strawberry,” will lead the breeding for the consortium, joining Ohalo after more than 17 years at Driscoll’s, most recently leading strawberry breeding, the release said.

Ohalo said its proprietary non-GMO hybrid breeding process reliably improves varieties with each generation.

“For years, consumers have been begging for strawberries with more flavor all year long; retailers have been seeking more consistent fruit quality and better shelf life; and farmers have been struggling to maintain higher yields while dealing with disease pressure, mounting production costs, and labor shortages,” Stewart said. “These competing priorities have forced trade-offs, reducing flavor, shelf life or yield to benefit other stakeholders. With our hybrid breeding system, we will quickly deliver radically improved strawberry varieties that offer better outcomes for the entire value chain.”

Ohalo said the consortium expects its first varieties to undergo field trials next year, with commercial availability after that. The strawberry consortium will make its varieties broadly available, the release said.

The company said industry leaders joining as consortium partners include BlazerWilkinsonGee, California Giant Berry Farms, Central West Produce, Crown Nursery, Naturipe Berry Growers, Wish Farms and others, which have committed substantial resources to support this effort.

“Partnering with Ohalo made perfect sense,” said Wish Farms owern Gary Wishnatzki. “As an innovation leader, we were thrilled to join forces with Ohalo and like-minded strawberry businesses to help accelerate change in the industry.”

How reshaping soil beds helped cut a farm's water use by 25%

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 16:32:52 GMT

When Lipman Family Farms wanted to mitigate flood risk associated with heavy rain on their 2,000-acre farm in Naples, Fla., General Manager Lucas Conran sought help from his longtime friend, Sanjay Shukla, a University of Florida hydrologist who had just developed his compact-bed geometry , with state and federal funding.

“My working relationship with Dr. Shukla began about 10 years ago, when he first had the idea to narrow and raise beds in our tomato production,” Conran said in an interview with the university. “By raising the beds, the initial idea was to get the root system higher than the water table. That way, if it rained heavily, we could protect the crop from possible flooding.”

Conran said Shukla’s help has resulted in what Lipman conservatively estimates is a 25% annual savings on water use since it started conducting trials with Shukla’s input.

The idea for compact-bed geometry goes back to about 2005, when Shukla saw hurricanes causing significant wind and flood damage to Florida crops. With compact beds, Shukla reasoned he might be able to help growers prevent severe flooding, the university reported.

Instead of planting crops on beds that were normally 6-8 inches high and about 3 feet across, he designed soil beds that are 10 inches to a foot high and 1.5-2 feet across. Therefore, crops sit higher from the ground and the soil bed takes less ground space.

This photo shows compact soil beds, developed by professor Sanjay Shukla of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. This geometric soil-bed design, which also uses plastic mulch, is taller and more narrow than conventional soil beds. The design helps Lipman Family Farms save 25% on water, plus nutrients and fumigants.

(Photo courtesy of Tyler Jones/University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences photography)

As a result, compact soil beds reduce the amount of water, fumigants and fertilizer needed to treat the crops, while maintaining or increasing yields, the university reported, adding that the design also results in less bending and stretching for field workers; if laborers are less tired, they can harvest more.

Before he worked with Lipman in Florida, Shukla tested his compact-bed design on the company’s farms in Virginia. Once he and the company saw success there, he wanted to test the system in the Sunshine State.

“I brought this compact-bed geometry as a proposed solution for water and overall sustainability — both economic and environmental,” said Shukla, a professor of agricultural and biological engineering at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ Southwest Florida Research and Education Center. “It’s more of a holistic design. You make a better crop. You reduce your input and your cost, and you reduce your production risk, whether it’s from some of the pests and diseases, hurricane wind damage or flooding.”

Crops that use compact-bed geometry grow on raised soil beds covered with plastic. The plastic mulch protects crops from pests and weeds, provides a warmer soil environment and protects the fertilizer from being washed away, Shukla said.

Conran said he couldn’t be happier with the results of the raised soil beds.

“Good stewardship of our water, much like other resources, is critical because they’re finite,” he said. “We don’t have infinite phosphorus or nitrogen in the world. So, reducing that need is huge.”

Lipman’s efforts to save water can be a message for everyone in Southwest Florida, he said. Everyone shares the same water the farming company uses.

“It’s a resource for the residents that live all around us,” Conran said.

Working with Shukla has been extremely collaborative, he said.

“There’s a high level of trust between our company and Sanjay and his team,” Conran said. “We know that information we use on our farm will be science-based and invaluable.”

Shukla said it gives him great satisfaction to help farms, large and small.

“The reason I enjoy my job the most is my ability to influence change, positive change, for the producers, and there is no bigger reward, personally, than seeing any of your ideas help our producers, this is our mission as a land grant university” he said.

How to drive fresh produce sales in year ahead

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 13:48:12 GMT

As inflation continues to shape the food retail landscape, understanding consumer behavior and adapting to changing trends remains critical. In Circana’s latest quarterly webinar series, the market research company delved into the state of produce and floral sales, reflecting on 2024’s key trends and offering insights for the year ahead.

The discussion revealed that 90% of U.S. consumers remain concerned about food cost inflation, with younger shoppers feeling the pinch most acutely — 91% of those under age 35 reported shifting their shopping habits.

While the food and beverage industry experienced modest growth, fresh foods stood out, with fruits and vegetables leading the charge. Popular staples like apples, bananas and berries saw significant growth, as did floral sales, driven by roses and bouquets.

At the same time, the webinar underscored challenges, including a need for innovation in vegetable appeal and sluggish overall growth projections for produce in 2025. With 86% of meals now prepared at home, the conversation spotlighted strategic pricing, craveable solutions and the rise of heat-and-eat options as keys to sustaining demand in the year ahead.

Consumers voted with their dollars for fresh produce

To look at 2024 performance, Jonna Parker, team lead of fresh foods group for Circana, said it is necessary to be grounded in the consumer’s perception.

“The majority of Americans, 9 out of 10 Americans, in fact, throughout 2024 were concerned about food cost inflation,” Parker said. “One of the most interesting things, though, is that inflation eased.

“So even though 85% of consumers’ perception was that prices were higher, it was not actually retracted,” she continued. “Of course, because of this consideration set that inflation is still very top of mind, more than half of consumers at the end of the year were looking for sales and deals more often. Another near majority were cutting back on non-essentials. Only 17% were not making changes.”

Speaking of unit growth, Parker said common fruits were No. 2 in unit growth.

“When someone’s buying more units of something, it means they’re doing so regardless of price ... " she said, adding that the strong demand is a huge opportunity for the industry.

“So, if you’re wondering, do consumers really want more fresh produce? They are voting with their dollars that they do,” Parker said.

Drive sales

Parker highlighted the $92 billion of produce sales as of the last 52 weeks this year.

“Since 2019, we’re not just driving more dollar sales in produce,” she said. “We sell, on average at retail, 13% more pounds of fresh fruits and veggies than we ever did before

“Ultimately, what produce did best in 2024 is continue to give reasons to get in the basket on consumers more frequent trips, and really astoundingly, in this era of more trips, but smaller baskets, [produce] are getting in the basket more often,” Parker added.

Consumer habits are key

How consumers eat fruit and vegetables is the key to future growth as an industry, Parker said.

Darren Seifer, Circana’s industry adviser for consumer goods, switched the conversation from how consumers are purchasing fresh foods to how they are using and eating these products.

“If we could understand what consumers are doing with a product once purchased … we can understand the usage part of the experience and we can drive sales even further,” Seifer said.

Part of this year’s success in the produce aisle this year, Seifer said, has to do with the fact that consumers are sourcing more meals from home today than they were several years ago.

Looking to 2025

Parker said sometimes the produce and floral tide goes up, and sometimes it goes down.

“But innovation and people who meaningfully deliver growth, they don’t just ride the wave. They work with the wave to turn the tide,” she said. “So, I do feel like it’s vitally important that we use all of this consumer and insight data, much of which [the International Fresh Produce Association] has provided to the industry to get deeper and make strategies for growth.

“There is not a produce company left who does not keep monitoring what sells, but we need to go deeper,” Parker said, adding that the industry needs to look at retailer and supplier-specific information and needs to understand consumers.

“We are predicting based on this modeling that produce will grow next year, but only at 1%, and pound growth will flatline,” she said. “Now, some of those reasons, of course, are out of our control: Macro-economic climate is disrupted and will only continue to be so in 2025. We do expect the consumer to be at the mercy of that, just like all of us in the industry are going to be.

“There are many reasons that they should buy fresh produce. There’s just as many reasons that others can steal some of our shine or even take away that demand,” Parker added. “We predict in the analytics we run that 39% of produce categories will struggle to find growth next year. It’s up to us to figure out how we’re going to change that for the future.”

Pistachio industry poised for supply increase, report says

Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:11:55 GMT

The U.S. pistachio industry is poised for a significant supply increase that will make marketing innovation and health research crucial to maintaining price stability, according to a new report from RaboResearch, a division of Rabobank.

Over the past 20 years, pistachios have consistently offered higher gross returns per bearing acre than almonds and walnuts in California, according to the report.

“With average gross returns of $6,400 per acre over the past decade, pistachios have outperformed almonds and walnuts by 20% and 70%, respectively,” a news release about the report said.

The profitability of pistachios, combined with its resilience against to salinity and drought, has spurred rapid planting growth since 2012, RaboResearch reports.

From 2011 to 2023, California’s pistachio-planted area increased by over 372,000 acres, with projections suggesting a bearing area of 590,000 acres by 2028, the release said. Industrywide challenges, such as the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in California, are expected to limit new plantings, signaling a shift from rapid growth to a maturity stage in production, according to the report’s authors.

U.S. pistachio output accounted for 63% of the global output in 2023-24.

“This growth is a result of steadily expanding bearing acreage, with the U.S. outpacing the other major producer, Iran,” said David Magaña, senior analyst of fresh produce and tree nuts for RaboResearch.

In 2023-24, Turkey and Iran accounted for 15% and 14% of the global pistachio crop, respectively, the release said.

The U.S. pistachio production grew at a compound annual growth rate of 10% over the past decade, significantly higher than the global CAGR of 5%, the release said.

The U.S. also leads in pistachio production, rising from 41,500 metric tons in 2005 to 225,000 metric tons in 2023-24. Key drivers of demand include product and packaging innovations, health research, promotional efforts and the availability of high-quality products year-round, the report showed.

RaboResearch said the four key markets for pistachios are the U.S., Turkey, China, and the European Union, which account altogether for 72% of global pistachio consumption.

“It’s interesting to highlight that over the past decade, pistachio consumption has increased in the U.S., Turkey, China, and the EU, expanding at compound annual growth rates of 13%, 7%, 5% and 6%, respectively,” Magaña said. “In India, a country that absorbs 4% of world’s pistachios, consumption has expanded at 11% CAGR in the past 10 seasons.”

The U.S. accounts for 70% of global exports, while China, the EU, Turkey, and India absorb the majority of imports, the release said.

Magaña said that the U.S. pistachio industry’s success is partly due to its ability to identify and serve international markets efficiently. China, in particular, is a crucial market, especially in the season leading up to the Chinese New Year.

“However, heavy reliance on a single market poses geopolitical risks, highlighting the need for market diversification and improved access,” the release said.

For the 2024-25 season, initial prices are expected to remain steady, with potential improvements due to a shorter crop. Strong shipments and lower supplies could lead to very low inventories, supporting prices into the 2025-26 season, the release said. The average price estimate for 2024-25 to 2028-29 is around $2.10 per in-shell pound, with an 80% chance of prices ranging between $1.80 and $2.20 in 2027-28.

“However, with increasing pistachio volumes, demand creation will be essential to avoid unsustainable price pressures,” the release said. “Continued adoption of economically sustainable practices will be crucial to maintaining profitability.”

How gene editing hopes to boost produce consumption

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 16:03:55 GMT

Pairwise, a food and agriculture company that uses gene editing and CRISPR technology to transform plants and production systems, recently partnered with Bayer to license its leafy-greens blend edited with CRISPR to improve its flavor. The company says it also developed the first seedless, thornless blackberry variety using CRISPR.

In this “Tip of the Iceberg” podcast episode, Pairwise co-founder and CEO Tom Adams talks about the role gene editing and CRISPR technology will play in the future of the fresh produce industry. (View the complete episode in the video player above.)

Adams explained that CRISPR and gene editing are different from genetically modified organisms. With GMOs, a gene from another organism with a desired trait — such as insect resistance — is added into the desired plant so that the plant then has that gene.

“Gene editing allows, without going through all the breeding process, ... directly [changing the desired trait] using this very precise enzyme that allows you to target the gene and change it,” he said.

Gene-editing tools such as CRISPR can be used to make changes to genes present with all variants of a species.

“CRISPR is a really interesting tool that allows us to do very precise changes to DNA and it really was derived from and something that was found in nature,” he said. “Bacteria use these tools — the CRISPR tools — to protect themselves from viruses just like we have immune systems that help protect us from viruses.”

The Nobel Prize-winning discovery was made when scientists found they could use the CRISPR tool and use to modify a piece of existing DNA and Pairwise co-founder David Liu found a way to subtly edit DNA, Adams says.

“We often see CRISPR described as scissors — so the original one would double-cut the DNA and fix it, and then it would be repaired and make changes,” he said.

One of the first available Pairwise innovations was in leafy greens. A researcher at Pairwise used CRISPR to eliminate the spicy taste of mustard greens to help make them more palatable for use in salads and more.

“We were thinking about things that could help with people’s diets and nutrition and looking at the salad space,” he said. “We realized that people talk about eating kale, but they eat romaine and iceberg. Romaine and iceberg aren’t bad for you; they just don’t carry a lot of nutritional value and kale carries. I don’t mind kale, but it seems kind of tough ... I don’t like the bitterness very much. We created this type of green very nutritious that’s basically a new type of salad.”

Adams says the Pairwise team demonstrated the leafy greens at fairs in places like Seattle and Austin, Texas. He says the team probably gave away more than 6,000 salads and got a wide variety of consumers — from those skeptical of gene-editing technology to those who are more savvy. He says those who didn’t want to eat the salad often based that decision on how the greens were grown — conventionally instead of organic — as opposed to the use of gene technology.

He says Pairwise got more than 3,000 consumers to fill out surveys on the greens, with about 91% indicating a willingness to buy the new greens and giving high marks for the benefits of gene editing.

“I think the finding there is you can really win over consumers by creating a tangible product that does something for them,” he said. “What we didn’t really do with the GMO product [I worked on previously], we were not really communicating to people with positive energy.”

Report details health, sustainability benefits of organic produce

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 19:01:17 GMT

When consumers reach for a strawberry in the produce aisle, will its nutritional value and sweetness vary depending on whether it was grown organically or not?

The answer is addressed in a new report from The Organic Center that details the nutritional difference that eating organic produce makes and the environmental, human health and socioeconomic benefits of organic produce production and farming.

The report’s findings are based on a review of 85 scientific studies throughout the world conducted over the last three decades on the health and environmental impacts of organic produce and agriculture, according to a news release.

“Healthy diets need produce. Fruits and vegetables — whether eaten fresh or cooked — provide essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to the human body. But not all produce is equal,” Amber Sciligo, The Organic Center’s director of science programs, said in the release. “Non-organic produce is often grown with synthetic pesticides and fertilizers which can be harmful to human and environmental health, while organic farmers rely on natural ecosystem services to manage pests and provide the nutrients for crop growth.”

The Organic Center says the impact of the widespread use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers in non-organic agriculture on human and environmental health has been well documented. Studies have shown that toxic chemical residues can linger on the surface of and within non-organic fruits and vegetables, drift into the air, be absorbed into skin, linger for decades in soil and seep into water supplies, the release said.

The new report shows that organic produce and agriculture benefit human health, the planet, and the farmers and farmworkers who grow food in a multitude of ways.

The Organic Center says organic produce is more nutritious and tastier than non-organic produce and contains more antioxidants and nutrients. Eating organic produce reduces dietary exposure to pesticides, while farming organically drastically improves the health of those growing food by limiting chemical exposure from pesticide application, the release said.

The farming practices used in producing organic fruits and vegetables foster more biodiversity, maintain and improve soil quality, boost water quality, protect air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help slow global warming, the center says. The higher premiums associated with organic products enhance farmers’ livelihoods and boost rural economies.

Organic produce constitutes a significant part of the $70 billion U.S. organic market, being the largest organic category when measuring organic retail sales. According to the Organic Trade Association’s “2024 Organic Industry Survey,” organic produce sales in the U.S. in 2023 hit a record value of $20.5 billion, with organic produce now accounting for more than 15% of total U.S. fruit and vegetable sales.

The Organic Center says organic production practices make a measurable difference in the produce consumers eat.

Naturally occurring compounds, such as disease-preventing antioxidants, are present with higher concentrations in organic produce; without being fed synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, the organic plants produce more of these natural compounds for their defense, the release said. The development of compounds like sugars, which contribute to the taste of the final product, are stressed by chemical pesticides, which ultimately causes sugar breakdown and inhibits sugar transport into the fruit.

Compounds giving produce a more pleasing aroma are more prevalent in organic, according to The Organic Center, which adds that greater activity from microbes in organic soils allows for more absorption of minerals at the plant’s roots, hence more nutritious minerals in the final product. The higher antioxidant levels in organic produce translate into a longer shelf-life for organic since antioxidants slow the rate at which fruit ages after harvest, the release said.

“It’s fascinating, and promising, that scientific studies are finding taste preferences for food grown more slowly and with environmentally friendly practices,” Sciligo said.

The Organic Center says the findings translate into a host of positives for organic produce, such as:

Organic apples have higher levels of antioxidants, including flavonols and phenolic acids, raised by 66% and 31% respectively, compared to conventional apples.
Organic oranges contain 11% more vitamin C, in addition to almost 22% more essential oils than non-organic oranges.
Organic passion fruits have higher levels of vitamin C as a result of higher plant immune system activity throughout their development.
Organic lemons have 20% to almost 40% more of three of the most common aroma-inducing compounds than non-organic.
Organic green beans, aided by their longer shelf life, contain more key nutrients, such as the minerals potassium, magnesium, sodium, calcium, iron, zinc, and more vitamin C.

“Fruits and vegetables are so important to our health, as is avoiding toxic chemicals,” Sciligo said. “Since some of the most detrimental pesticides are used for conventional produce production, we want to share with consumers the scientific data that shows the protection from chemicals that organic provides and the increased nutritional value, along with the host of notable environmental benefits of organic produce crop systems. An informed consumer makes better choices for themselves and their families.”

Funding for the report was provided by Organically Grown Co.

The Organic Center says its mission is to convene credible, evidence-based science on the health and environmental impacts of organic food and farming and to communicate the findings to the public. The center is an independent nonprofit research and education organization operating under the administrative auspices of the Organic Trade Association.

Potatoes USA shares insights on shopping behavior

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 16:37:44 GMT

A new Potato Path to Purchase study from Potatoes USA offers a deeper understanding of the pre-shopping and in-store experiences that drive potato purchases.

In addition to revealing the most recent data, the study provides actionable steps retailers can take to help drive potato sales, according to a news release.

“Potatoes are a staple in consumers’ kitchens,” Kayla Vogel, senior global marketing manager at Potatoes USA, said in the release. “They earn a place on the table whether it’s a casual Wednesday night or a Thanksgiving feast, and consumer favorability for potatoes translates to valuable opportunities for retailers.”

Consumers note quality, price and quantity are the top three potato purchase factors, the study found.

The Consumer Path to Purchasing Potatoes study, fielded by Nielsen IQ, found that shoppers’ path to purchase potatoes is mostly influenced by three key factors with over 90% of potato purchases being preplanned.

“Ranking purchase factors, freshness/quality receives the top rating, ahead of price,” Vogel said. “For retailers, it is important to highlight freshness, including tips on how to best store potatoes at home to optimize shelf life and prevent unnecessary food waste.”

According to the study, 84% of consumers want transparent bags so they can gauge freshness and quality for themselves. Merchandisers should create eye-catching displays with quality products and inspiration to try new potato recipes and varieties, Vogel said.

“In-store, visual displays and inspirational signage drive influence more than discounts and promotions,” Vogel said. “As budgets tighten, people have remained loyal to potatoes. That means there are opportunities to significantly achieve scaled results through improved visibility, merchandising and cross-merchandising.”

Potato purchasing decisions are driven by planned meals, the study found.

Pre-store, the study said there are numerous high-impact influences on consumer purchasing decisions, including:

• Price and promotions in circular flyers.

• Recommendations from family and friends.

• YouTube recipes.

• Products in cookbooks.

• Shopping list apps.

• Ads in magazines or newspapers.

“Meal planning significantly influences pretrip purchases with 90% of purchases being preplanned,” Vogel said. “It’s important to integrate potatoes into recipe suggestions to optimize their inclusion on consumers’ grocery lists and prioritize pre-store touch points to influence consumer decisions.”

The study found that 80% of respondents plan which potato type they will buy with more than 44% going directly to the planned type in-store.

“In-store buying decisions are predominantly swayed by point-of-purchase displays,” Vogel said. “Retailers and merchandisers can enhance the in-store experience through larger displays, secondary locations, inspirational signage and ensuring potatoes are readily accessible within the store.”

In addition, 89% of consumers believe potatoes are versatile and easily adapted to many different types of dishes.

“To inspire mealtime with potatoes, provide on-pack and shelf inspiration to show how potatoes can be used in the meal lineup multiple times a week without eating the same thing twice,” Vogel said. “It’s also important to highlight new ways of using common varieties in special ways as well as expand on special occasions to increase sales.”

LSU releases early-maturing sweetpotato

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 15:19:29 GMT

The Louisiana State University AgCenter recently released a new sweetpotato variety , Avoyelles, which is named for the parish where scientists initially found the variety.

The variety boasts higher yields, lighter skin, good taste and harvesting up to 30 days sooner than other sweetpotato varieties, according to the university.

LSU AgCenter sweetpotato breeder Don La Bonte said the new variety can be harvested about 90 days after planting, something growers had asked for.

“The value is this time of year — when you start getting into July and August when you’re running out of product for the retail and processing sectors — here’s something you can harvest without losing a lot of yield and be able to service your customers,” La Bonte said in a report from the LSU AgCenter.

La Bonte also told the university an early-maturing variety can help growers in years when plantings happen later. The variety is resistant to root-knot nematode and has a pleasant, creamy texture.

Researchers look at how early harvest, storage affect tomatoes

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 17:20:43 GMT

New research from the University of California, Davis, examines changes in tomatoes at the molecular level to better understand what happens during postharvest handling and cold storage.

The findings, published in the journal Horticulture Research, are a first step toward establishing optimal tomato handling and storage guidelines and could reduce food loss and waste, Diane M. Beckles, the senior author on the research and a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, said in a news release.

“Growers need the flexibility of being able to harvest fruit at different times to maximize profitability,” Beckles said. “We want to extend shelf life but lose as little quality as possible. Looking at how these processes are regulated at multiple levels — including changes in the activity of genes and connecting them to processes that are important to quality — is key to a better understanding.”

When growers harvest early or store at low temperatures, fruit can suffer, she said.

In the research, the scientists monitored differences in hormones, DNA makeup, gene expression and other biological activities when the fruit were stored at different temperatures, Jiaqi Zhou, the lead author on the paper and doctoral candidate in horticulture and agronomy, said in the release.

“We’re trying to understand why the quality is different between the postharvest and the fresh harvest fruit using molecular biology approaches,” Zhou said in the release.

Postharvest fruit refers to fruit that undergo various handling processes, such as early harvesting and low-temperature storage.

Researchers examined unripened green fruit warmed to room temperature after being stored at 41 degrees, 54.5 degrees and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Storage at 41 degrees led to poor fruit quality but the longest storage time, while the fruit quality at 68 degrees was good but had a shorter storage time, the release said. At 54.5 degrees the fruit had acceptable quality and a moderately long shelf life.

The need to reduce loss is there, Beckles said, because 30% of harvested fruits and veggies worldwide are never eaten due to damage, spoiling or appearance.

“This is absolutely unacceptable, given nutritional insecurity and the difficulty in successfully growing crops in the face of climate change,” she said. “Any research that helps us to understand shelf life and qualities is important in helping to reduce the percentage of fruit that would potentially be lost or wasted.”

The work was supported by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Henry A. Jastro Graduate Research awards and the Ministry of Higher Education in Thailand, the release said.