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Posts Tagged: tomatoes
Strong prices boosted the California processing tomato crop
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 to processing tomatoes' increasing value. Processors agreed to pay growers $83 per ton in 2014, up from $70 per ton last year. That prompted farmers to grow tomatoes rather than lower-value crops like rice, wheat and other commodities.
The article says farmers would be unlikely to be able to match the 2014 tomato crop next year if there is another year of drought.
Dryland farming yields small amounts of very flavorful produce
Bland spoke to a number of experts who believe withholding irrigation produces a superior product.
"Once you taste a dry-farmed tomato, you'll never want anything else," said Jen Lynne of Happy Boy Farms.
"Dense and really flavorful" locally grown dry-farmed potatoes are available at Whole Foods Market in Sebastopol, said produce buyer Allan Timpe.
Paul Vossen, University of California Cooperative Extension adviser in Sonoma County, says many people who dry farm do so only because they have no water with which to irrigate their land.
"They do it because they have to, and so they'll make it part of their marketing strategy," he says.
Crop diseases a concern in strawberries and tomatoes this year
Record reporter Reed Fujii spoke to Brenna Aegerter, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in San Joaquin County. She said she's never seen such losses due to beet curly top virus.
"In my eight years here in this county, I had only seen curly top in two fields," she said. "The virus was present in every tomato field I have seen this season, though in most fields, the incidence was so low as to not be a concern."
Beet curly top is spread by beet leafhopper. The insect don't like tomatoes and peppers, but will briefly feed on the crop and infect them before moving on, Aegerter said. The high leafhopper population is most likely a cyclic peak.
"The hope is we'll go back next year to not seeing it," Aegerter said.
Amy Asman of the Santa Maria Sun used UC Cooperative Extension materials for her story on the serious pallidosis-related disease threat in local strawberries. For detailed information about the strawberry decline, see UCCE advisor Surendra Dara's story in the Strawberries and Vegetables blog.
Processing tomatoes facing a critical threat: curly top
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 we're going have lower production in this area, which does account for over a third of California processing tomato production," Turini said.
Listen to the report here:
For more on curly top virus, see the UC Pest Management Guidelines for the disease.
A 'multi-million dollar food fight' heats up, plus other recent news coverage
The reporters called the proposition a "multi-million dollar food fight."
"All of the data that's come out from the American Medical Association and National Academy of Sciences have all agreed that the food products on the market today that are genetically engineered are safe," Van Eenennaam told the reporter
Polls show the 'Yes on Proposition 37' campaign is "way ahead" of those who oppose the initiative, "but there's a long way to go until November," the reporter said.
Vision still pays dividends after 150 years
Sacramento Bee editorial
The Sacramento Bee editorial staff called the 1862 Congress of the United States one of the most productive in American history. One of the reason was it's passage of the Morrill Land-Grant College Act July 2, 1862. The act created the world's best system of public colleges and universities for people of modest means, the editorial said. Previously most Americans had no access to higher education. California took up the land-grant offer in 1864 and the University of California was born – at Berkeley – in 1868. Later, the University Farm would become UC Davis. The Citrus Experiment Station would become UC Riverside.
Building a better, tastier tomato
Lauren Sommer, QUEST Northern California, KQED
Lauren Sommer interviewed Ann Powell, associate researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis, about her finding that the gene that creates "green shoulders" in tomatoes influences the amount of sugar in the ripe fruit. Powell says now that they know about this gene, plant breeders could put it back in commercial varieties.
Bees need a hand, especially in drought
Debbie Arrington, Sacramento Bee
In honor of National Honeybee Day, the Sacramento Bee paid homage to the indispensable pollinator with information about the challenges it faces. Colony collapse disorder, drought and urbanization take their toll. There was some good news: "Bees got through the winter a little better," said Eric Mussen, UC Cooperative Extension specialist, apiculture. "This spring, we saw bigger, earlier and more swarms." However, nationwide, the hot dry summer has made it a tough year for honey production.
