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Avocado branch canker disease (ABC) is an increasing concern in orchards across Southern California and in other avocado-growing regions worldwide. This fungal disease can reduce productivity in infected trees and, in severe cases, lead to branch dieback and even tree loss. The fungi involved belong to the…

More than half of all California farmland now runs on drip or micro irrigation. That transformation is a genuine water efficiency win. But growers, advisors, and policymakers mostly missed a side effect: farm electricity use has not fallen. In many cases it has risen, and electricity rates have roughly…

In 2012, avocado growers were presented with the news that a newly discovered invasive beetle, named the polyphagous shot hole borer (Euwallacea fornicatus), could play havoc with production in Californian groves. Native to southeast Asia, the new arrival was a species of ambrosia beetle, a small weevil that…

Read it NowTOPICS IN THIS ISSUE • California converted its irrigation to save water. So why is the energy bill going up? • Silent Invaders: The beetles that could threaten California’s avocado empire • Avocado branch canker: what growers need to know and what we are learning • Hydrogel baits offer targeted…

June 26, 2026, FRIDAY.  9:30 am - 11:30Come out to Moorpark to get a refresher on pruning avocados.  Apricot Lane Farm, 10700 Broadway. Follow signs south for the Garden Barn, Check in there.  There will be a tasting of avocados.  then we'll set to prune some trees, 5 different methods.To…