- Author: Ben Faber
Meet the Buyer: An L.A. Produce Market Tour for Los Angeles Growers and Food Advocates
Do you want to find new channels for selling your produce and make connections with produce buyers? Join us on a one day tour of produce distributors in the L.A. area where you will meet with senior buyers and leaders at these distribution companies committed to building their local base of suppliers:
Santa Monica Farmers' Market - our early start will allow for a special behind-the-scenes market tour to learn about the vibrant business-to-business transactions occuring there every week.
Space Exploration Technologies - meet the culinary team feeding the folks at the frontier of space exploration seasonally-inspired menus, much of it sourced from farms nearby.
Whole Food Distribution Center - talk with buyers committed to small, local and organic producers at the new state-of-the-art distribution facility and enjoy a yummy lunch.
Heath & Lejeune - learn the art of distributing orgranic produce from a seasoned buyer / seller.
These high-level buyers are positioned to appreciate your farm and products—whether organic, local, family-owned, sustainably grown, or high quality specialty crops. You'll gain an understanding of what it takes to work with them, have a chance to network with other farmers, and learn tips on how to tell a compelling story about your farm and its products that will expand your sales opportunities. This tour will be valuable for ANY farmer who wants to learn more about different distribution channels for their products, as well as for healthy food advocates and policy makers who want to have a better understanding of what small farms need to do in order to connect with willing buyers.
Space is limited; advance registration is required. Please reserve your space by December 4th, 2015. Lunch and snacks will be provided. There is no charge for this tour thanks to our generous sponsors.
Sign up at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-the-buyer-an-la-produce-market-tour-for-los-angeles-growers-and-food-advocates-tickets-19216471985
- Author: Ben Faber
The latest cost of production study done on oranges came out recently.
It applies to the San Joaquin parts of the Valley for sure, but many of the assumptions are true for evergreen tree crops in general. The cost of weed control, or fertilizing are not going to be different. Pest and disease control are going to be very different if you are a navel orange grower in Bakersfield or a cherimoya grower in Santa Barbara. The key to these studies are the different issues/categories a grower should be addressing and the studies provide a framework for that study. Also it gives general costs for different inputs, such as urea and glyphosate to make a comparison to what you might be paying
- Author: Ben Faber
There are something like 1,000 named varieties of avocado. Big, small, green, black, purple, round, pear-shaped, winter, summer, fall harvest, anise smelling leaves, all kinds of distinguishing features. A homeowner once called to ask about the ‘San Marcos' variety of avocado and we viewed images of this tree and fruit and finally figures out it was a ‘Bacon' that was planted on San Marcos Pass and had adopted the new name because they didn't know what to call the avocado tree in the backyard. So there are a lot of trees that are misnamed for known varieties.
If you want to find out the name of an unknown tree in your backyard, there is a convenient online source of information at Avocado Information at UC Riverside. There is an online list with photos of avocado varieties at:
http://ucavo.ucr.edu/avocadovarieties/VarietyFrame.html#Anchor-47857
And a variety database you can use to search by name at:
http://www.ucavo.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/Panorama.cgi?AvocadoDB~form~Search
There's also a list of unreleased varieties at:
http://ucavo.ucr.edu/avocadovarieties/UnreleasedVarieties.html
One of the best sources of variety information is the CA Avocado Society Yearbook where most varieties were listed for registration. Some of the descriptions are online, but in many cases it's necessary to go to the original paperback version
http://www.avocadosource.com/CAS_Yearbooks/CAS_Yearbooks.htm
Yearbooks can be found at many UCCE offices in Southern California, UC Riverside and Davis libraries, many Southern CA public libraries and from interlibrary loan.
- Author: Ben Faber
Please join us for Avocado Field Day at UCR on November 17, 2015 from 11:00-3:30. The event is located at UCR's field research station (1060 Martin Luther King Blvd., Riverside).
The day will feature an avocado tasting from the selections that the UC Avocado Breeding Program has developed, a presentation from Dr. Francisco Mena on “High Density planting in Chile, pruning and use of Plant Growth Regulators”, tours of the salinity trial to see how UCR and South African Rootstocks have performed, an update on the Avocado rootstock breeding program and view the research on avocado tree growth from Rodrigo Iturrieta Espinoza (Dr. Arpaia's Ph.D. student).
We will have a catered lunch, courtesy of the California Avocado Commission and the California Avocado Society starting at 12:00.
Please Register for Avocado Day as soon as you can, space is limited! Registration cutoff is November 10. For more information, please contact Peggy.Mauk@ucr.edu.
AGENDA |
|
11:00 – 11:30 |
Registration |
11:30 – 12:00 |
Posters and Avocado Tasting |
12:00 – 12:20 |
Serve Lunch (Buffet from Anchos) |
12:20 – 12:45 |
Free Time to eat lunch and socialize |
12:45 – 12:50 |
Welcome and Introductions |
12:50 – 1:10 |
Update of the rootstock breeding program – Arpaia/Mauk |
1:10 – 1:50 |
Francisco Mena – High Density planting in Chile, pruning and use of Plant Growth Regulators |
1:30 – 1:40 |
Load Vans |
1:40 – 3:30 |
Field Tours – divide group into 3 and rotate Salinity Trial (2 stops – Suarez et al., Mauk/Arpaia) Breeding program updates Tree growth - Rodrigo |
3:30 |
Adjourn |
- Author: Ben Faber
A note from UC Riverside Plant Pathologist, Akif Eskalen
Hello,
We just confirmed that the riparian forest in the Tijuana river valley in San Diego is infested with Kuroshio Shot Hole Borer. Rod Dossey and his team from WRA, Environmental Consultants first noticed the sign and symptoms of the beetle on Sept 25th, and contacted us for the confirmation. I have visited the site last week and mortality is already occurring on many trees including Arroyo Willow, Black Willow and Castor Bean. Please let me know if you have any questions.
PSHB/KSHB distribution map
http://ucanr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Viewer/index.html?appid=3446e311c5bd434eabae98937f085c80
Regards
Akif