Total acreage harvested by mechanical means was 44,091, nearly 30 percent of the State’s total raisin-type grape acreage, according to the Pacific Region Office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. The Overhead Trellis System was used on 13,031 bearing acres in 2019, accounting for 8.8 percent of the total raisin-type grape acreage. Fresno and Madera County growers have 49 and …

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced details of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which will provide up to $16 billion in direct payments to deliver relief to America’s farmers and ranchers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to this direct support to farmers and ranchers, USDA’s Farmers to Families Food Box program is partnering with regional and local …

Donald Emil Gumz was a Valley native, who like many lifelong residents, had a love and passion for the region, including Fresno State. He came from a family of grape farmers but worked with numbers, in an accounting career that started with a local entrepreneur and developer, and ended with the Vie-Del Company, which produced brandy, wine and juice concentrates, where …

The H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program provides a legal means to bring in foreign-born workers into the United States on a short-term basis. Workers employed on an H-2A visa may remain in the U.S. for up to 10 months at a time. Employers must demonstrate and the U.S. Department of Labor must certify that efforts to recruit U.S. workers were not …

Why is milk being dumped and produce left to rot in fields while grocery store shelves go empty during the COVID-19 pandemic? Why are grocery stores running out of meat, and eggs becoming so expensive? The head of California’s Department of Food and Agriculture, researchers from the University of California, Davis, and food purveyors will tackle these and other questions …

Erik McLaughlin, Kristina Mielke van Löben Sels, and Alex Oh have been elected to the Washington Wine Industry Foundation Board of Directors. Erik McLaughlin is CEO and Managing Partner at Metis. He has nearly three decades of experience in the fine wine and hospitality industries, and has been extensively involved in industry groups including the Oregon Wine Board, Washington Wine …

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has started making payments through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program – Plus (WHIP+) to agricultural producers who suffered eligible losses because of drought or excess moisture in 2018 and 2019. Signup for these causes of loss opened March 23, and producers who suffered losses from drought (in counties designated D3 or above), excess …

The Washington State wine industry has allocated more than $1.2 Million for viticulture and enology research in the coming fiscal year (July 2020-June 2021), a record amount for research that aims to improve overall wine quality by addressing vineyard and winery challenges. The Washington State Wine Commission Board of Directors approved over 25 research projects totaling more than $1,204,000 for …

U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Jovita Carranza announced today that agricultural businesses are now eligible for SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and EIDL Advance programs. SBA’s EIDL portal will reopen today as a result of funding authorized by Congress through the Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act. The legislation, signed into law by the President one week ago, provided …

INTERNATIONAL FRUIT GENETICS, LLC (IFG) has taken steps to protect its intellectual property in China. The California-based company is the sole and unique proprietor of different table grape varieties, such as IFG Six (Sweet Sapphire ™), IFG Eleven (Sugar Crisp ™), IFG Sixteen (Sweet Favors ™), and IFG Seventeen (Sweet Joy ™). In recent years, IFG has kept a close …