UC Riverside geneticist lauded for breakthrough in battle against citrus-killing HLB disease [Inland Valley Daily Bulletin]
Citrus farmers and other industry officials are praising a UC Riverside scientist’s breakthrough in the fight against the citrus-killing disease Huanglongbing, but maintain that years of testing remain and growers must continue to be vigilant in protecting their trees. Earlier this month, UC Riverside announced that after five years of research, geneticist Dr. Hauling Jin discovered an antimicrobial peptide found in Australian finger limes that kills the bacterium causing Huanglongbin, or HLB, otherwise known as citrus greening disease….“It’s super exciting. I think it all just boils down to how quickly we can roll it out – if it’s a proven method to eradicate the disease,” said Michael Day, chairman of the Redlands Citrus Preservation Commission.
U.S. court allows sales of Corteva weed kill]er, adding to edge over Bayer [Reuters]
A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday ruled that Corteva Inc can continue to sell an agricultural weed killer that environmentalists said was threatening to plants and wildlife….A three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim from environmental groups that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency failed to properly consider the product’s volatility, or tendency to evaporate into a gas and drift away. Instead, they said the agency properly relied on studies to conclude that the volatility of 2,4-D choline salt will not cause unreasonable harm to the environment.
USDA mulls cattle market changes after coronavirus-related gyrations [Wall Street Journal]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture suggested broader reporting requirements for meatpacking companies as it investigates cattle market gyrations driven by the coronavirus pandemic and a fire at a major beef plant. The USDA said in a report Wednesday that, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice, it continues to investigate potential regulatory violations and anticompetitive conduct within the industry, but the report didn’t detail any wrongdoing by meat processors. The recommendations follow complaints from cattle ranchers who saw livestock prices drop as Covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, spread across the U.S., leading to processing plant shutdowns and sharply reduced beef production. At the same time, wholesale beef prices surged as consumers stocked up at grocery stores. That drove the difference between livestock prices and wholesale beef prices to a record level, according to the USDA’s report.
USDA study shows gulf between cattle, processed beef prices [Associated Press]
A study released Wednesday by the U.S. Agriculture Department into the disparity between cattle prices paid to ranchers and the higher prices earned by meat processors offers more details about the factors that have led to the situation. The 20-page analysis by the USDA explains how after a 2019 fire at a Tyson Foods beef plant in Holcomb, Kansas, and this year’s temporary closure of slaughterhouses amid the coronavirus pandemic, ranchers saw cattle prices drop while concerns about meat scarcity caused prices at grocery stores to rise.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/article244421502.html
Santa Barbara County’s crop value up 5% in 2019, according to annual report [ Santa Maria Times]
The value of agricultural crops produced in Santa Barbara County in 2019 rose 5.1% over the previous year, exceeding $1.6 billion, according to the annual Agricultural Crop Report released Monday….“For the 2019 crop year, as we have seen so many times before, our farmers, ranchers, nurserymen and cut flower growers, with nature’s cooperation, delivered in a big way … ,” said Agricultural Commissioner Cathy Fisher. As in most previous years, strawberries remained the leading crop with a gross value of nearly $571.2 million, far exceeding the No. 2 crop of wine grapes at just under $106.1 million, according to the report prepared by the County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office.
