Larry Frease harvests hazelnuts on the family farm outside of McMinnville, Ore., in this October 2008 file photo.
The 2010 Oregon hazelnut crop forecast shows a smaller crop than predicted earlier this season, which may push prices upward, a grower said.
Based on an unscientific grower survey conducted by the Oregon Hazelnut Commission earlier in 2010, the industry was expecting another good year, aroun ...
Thursday, September 02, 2010 9:45 AM
WENATCHEE, Wash. -- One retailer basically said the new Glory cherry lived up to its name. Another and a wholesaler said it was good but not overwhelming.
That's the feedback Steve Castleman, salesman for Columbia Marketing International of Wenatchee, said he received on the first commercial ...
Thursday, September 02, 2010 10:45 AM
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Western Canadian beef producers have found a novel way of putting the "bar" in barbecue.
Angus cattle in British Columbia's Okanagan wine and cattle region are being fed red wine with their grain. Chefs in this Canadian Pacific Coast province said it makes ...
Thursday, September 02, 2010 10:02 AM
Agriculture is a huge part of Washington's economy, farmworkers keep it running and housing is a key to keeping that labor, says the Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust.
In what it believes is the largest survey of farmworkers in the state, if not the nation, the trust talked to 2,845 W ...
Saturday, August 28, 2010 9:08 AM
The unusual find of a melon fruit fly in a rural and agriculture-rich section of Kern County threatens to jeopardize harvests.
Concerned growers filled a meeting hall in the Kern County community of Lamont Aug. 18 to learn the impacts of a state and federal quarantine zone put in place in an ...
Thursday, August 26, 2010 9:03 AM
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Zirkle Fruit Co., of Selah, has agreed to make a $12,500 donation to an Ellensburg nonprofit to settle outdoor burning violations citations from the Washington Department of Ecology.
Zirkle will donate to HopeSource, which provides clean-burning wood stoves and home heating devic ...
Saturday, August 28, 2010 9:08 AM
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- A worker was killed when the tractor he was driving overturned on an orchard embankment near Wiley City, west of Yakima.
Coroner Jack Hawkins told KNDO-TV that 35-year-old Aaron Corona Ponce of the Yakima area had been spraying the orchard Monday morning when the tractor ...
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 1:28 PM
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) -- As the first apples of the season ripen this month, one farmer's phone has been ringing more than usual.
People regularly call Foggy Ridge Cider in Dugspur, asking how to start their own orchards, said owner Diane Flynt.
"It's not like somebody's call ...
Wednesday, August 25, 2010 8:09 AM
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- Washington apple growers are going to take an estimated $44 million hit this year from a new Mexican tariff, another chapter in an ongoing trade dispute that has already hurt cherry and pear growers.
The 20 percent tariff took effect Thursday and affects all U.S. ...
Monday, August 23, 2010 4:29 PM
BOSTON -- The nation's cranberry crop is on track this year to become the second largest on record, the USDA said Aug. 17.
The USDA's annual cranberry forecast calls for 7.35 million 100-pound barrels, up 6 percent from about 6.9 million barrels a year ago. The crop hit a record 7.87 million ba ...
Sunday, August 22, 2010 12:09 AM
California almonds posted shipping records for the fourth consecutive crop year in 2009-10, and a plentiful harvest is on the way to meet the exploding demand.
More than 1 billion pounds were sent to export destinations and 450 million pounds were shipped domestically, marking a 6 percent inc ...
Saturday, August 21, 2010 9:09 AM
WENATCHEE, Wash. -- While forecast at a record 108.8 million boxes, Washington's 2010 apple crop may shrink during harvest and the year-long sales season.
Skin discoloration, called russet, on Golden Delicious and Fuji could reduce the amount of fruit packed for fresh sales versus culled from ...
Saturday, August 21, 2010 10:09 AM
WENATCHEE, Wash. -- A new cherry variety of apparent promising potential is receiving closer scrutiny with its first commercial harvest.
Glory is a sweet cherry discovered eight years ago on Wenatchee's Stemilt Hill, which is famous for producing, reputedly, the best cherries in the world.
...
Saturday, August 21, 2010 10:09 AM
By DEAN BRICKEY
East Oregonian Publishing Group
PENDLETON, Ore. -- Steve Walker is the eternal optimist. For a farmer, that's a good thing.
Despite some early problems with this year's watermelon crop, the harvest at S.R. Walker Farms is in full swing and Walker isn't looking back.
...
Thursday, August 19, 2010 10:50 AM
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) -- California agriculture authorities have quarantined parts of Kern County to prevent the spread of an invasive fruit fly.
The 82-square-mile quarantine for melon fruit flies is near Mettler, about 25 miles south of Bakersfield. It went into effect this week ...
Saturday, August 21, 2010 2:48 PM
HERMISTON, Ore. (AP) -- The state has fined a fruit grower in Eastern Oregon $15,000 for failing to immediately clean up an herbicide spill and for improperly disposing of hazardous waste.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said Wednesday that an employee of Stadelman Fruit LLC s ...
Friday, August 20, 2010 10:08 AM
BOSTON (AP) -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects cranberry production to grow by 6 percent this year, which would make the 2010 crop the second largest on record.
The USDA's annual cranberry forecast calls for 7.35 million barrels, up from about 6.9 million barrels a year ago.
...
Thursday, August 19, 2010 11:49 AM
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- State agriculture experts are asking citrus growers to be on the lookout for sweet orange scab of citrus caused by a fungus and recently found on a satsuma tree in Orange, Texas, about 3.5 miles west of the Louisiana border.
Previously, this disease had only been rep ...
Thursday, August 19, 2010 7:48 AM
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Virginia apple growers are expecting a normal harvest this year despite high temperatures and dry conditions.
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said Monday that some earlier variety apples may be smaller than normal because the heat has slowed ...
Wednesday, August 18, 2010 10:28 AM
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- Glenn Anderson decided to make a change when he followed in his father's footsteps by growing almonds near the Central Valley town of Hilmar -- he stopped using pesticides and pasteurizing the nuts.
He said it's paid off in happy customers and sold-out harvests, but ...
Thursday, August 19, 2010 12:08 AM
JACKSONVILLE, Ore. -- Don't toss that wine bottle cork into the trash. Or the soft metal bottle cap. And save the bottle.
The cork and bottle can be reused. The metal can be recycled.
That's the message Bill and Barbara Steele are preaching as they attempt to establish a closed loop system th ...
Sunday, August 15, 2010 12:18 AM
California and Northwest peaches are facing their stiffest competition in years from the timing of harvest in other peach-growing regions of the nation.
The result is lower prices, which are great for consumers but not so good for growers, said Gary Van Sickle, president of the California Tre ...
Saturday, August 14, 2010 9:19 AM
Call her Jane.
She's considered the typical European food buyer, and she's the result of the first-ever in-depth consumer assessment in that region by the Almond Board of California.
The ABC came up with Jane -- a prototypical almond customer -- after doing focus groups in London and five ...
Saturday, August 14, 2010 9:19 AM
WENATCHEE, Wash. -- Washington will produce a record 108.8-million-box apple crop this fall, according to the official forecast the industry released Aug. 11.
Despite the volume, prices should remain strong because companies have learned how to manage large crops of close to or greater than 1 ...
Saturday, August 14, 2010 10:19 AM
ROSEBURG, Ore. -- A record 55 different wine labels are scheduled to pour their best wines at the eighth annual World of Wine Festival scheduled for Aug. 28 at Del Rio Vineyards & Winery, 52 N. River Road, Gold Hill, Ore.
The festival from 5 to 9 p.m. will showcase top red and white vintag ...
Saturday, August 14, 2010 10:19 AM
The Washington-Oregon Canning Pear Association has reached a new, two-year, variable-price contract for growers with three Pacific Northwest pear canners.
The agreement establishes a $251 per ton base price for No. 1 grade Bartlett pears sent to processors this year and a $253 per ton base pr ...
Saturday, August 14, 2010 9:19 AM