- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Despite the drought, California farmers produced a record-breaking crop of processing tomatoes in 2014, reported Dale Kasler in the Sacramento Bee.
“It's remarkable, simply remarkable that tomatoes weren't negatively impacted,” said David Goldhamer, an emeritus water management specialist with the University of California Cooperative Extension.
According to the California Tomato Growers Association, the 2014 processing tomato crop amounted to 14 million tons, 16 percent larger than last year and surpassing the old record of 13.3 million tons harvested in 2009.
The growth was attributed...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
This year's Fresno County processing tomato crop is suffering from a severe case of curly top virus, reported Alice Daniel on the California Report this morning.
Daniel interviewed Tom Turini, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Fresno County. He said it's common to find some tomatoes infected with curly top, but this year is much worse than usual. The virus is transmitted by beet leafhoppers, which in dry years arrive early from coastal foothills and infect a bigger swath of cropland.
Fresno county has about 100,000 acres of processing tomatoes. Some fields have been completely lost.
"It is likely...
