To provide California citrus growers with a strong toolbox of options to protect their orchards from Huanglongbing (HLB), the Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Committee has endorsed the following “Best Practices for Growers in Response to HLB in California.” The recommendations – which are grouped based on a grower’s proximity to an HLB detection – [...]
The Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Program will receive an additional $2.5 million in continuous funding from the State General Fund this year to create a dedicated citrus division at the Department of Food and Agriculture. The funding was requested by CDFA and approved by the legislature as part of the 2019 Budget Act passed [...]
CCM’s Joel Nelsen was reappointed to the Administration’s Fruit & Vegetable Trade Advisory Committee this week as announced by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer. These positions are highly coveted as they have direct engagement with Administration officials on trade policy. Nelsen has served since the George W. Bush Administration, and for [...]
Last week Texas, Florida and California Citrus Mutuals were summoned to Washington for a discussion on the utilization of dollars in the three main citrus producing states to offset challenges from ACP/HLB. For FY 18/19 Congress had increased appropriations but budget dollars were not passed until January 2019. USDA was concerned about “the wise use” [...]
Congresswoman Barbara Lee visited the Central Valley this week for an agriculture tour and roundtable meeting facilitated by local Congressman TJ Cox. Congresswoman Lee is the only California representative on the powerful House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture which directs funding for important programs at USDA including the Citrus Health Response Program, HLB Multi-Agency Coordination Group, [...]
The Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Committee (CPDPC) announces the addition of Kevin Ball as the new grower representative for the coastal district position. Kevin Ball will advise the committee on the latest citrus grower activities occurring in the coastal area. The CPDPC advises the Secretary and the agricultural industry about efforts to combat serious [...]
According to a March USDA/ERS report, the nation’s citrus crop is higher than the previous season by 31 percent. The report notes that Florida orange tonnage is significantly higher, but once again fails to differentiate between fruit destined for the fresh market versus that moving to juice and other processing objectives. The report notes that [...]
Earlier this week, the County of Fresno Department of Agriculture announced the appointment of Melissa Cregan as the Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights and Measures. She was appointed by the County of Fresno Board of Supervisors on March 26th with a retroactive effective date of March 11, 2019. Cregan holds a B.S. in Animal Science from [...]
Bloom season is underway and for citrus, this establishes the beginning of a time period when the use of insecticides is greatly restricted in citrus groves. As 10% bloom is declared in each district, all citrus growers, pest control operators, and beekeepers must comply with the regulations covering the citrus/bee protection areas (section 6654 and [...]
This week, the Joint Conference of the International Organization of Citrus Virologists and the International Research Conference on Huanglongbing is being held in Riverside. On Tuesday night, there was a dinner event ending the Virologist Conference and starting the HLB conference. During that dinner, CRB Interim President Franco Bernardi recognized Past CCM President Joel Nelsen, [...]
