Lower-end wines weather slump

UMPQUA, Ore. -- With the economy still having its troubles, Southern Oregon grape growers and winemakers don't mind that they continue to be somewhat of an unknown in the wine industry. Because of that, most wines from Lane County south to Jackson County have not inflated in price and sell ...

Navel harvest sees strong start, prices

California's navel orange growers expect the current harvest to yield a high-quality, abundant crop. Growers in the Central Valley and elsewhere have been taking oranges off the trees for about a month, and they started shipping about two weeks ago. What they're finding is that the q ...

Industry hopeful for new apple

WENATCHEE, Wash. -- Washington apple growers and tree fruit companies are eager to plant their first samples of the state's newest apple variety next spring, says the leader of a research commission involved in the effort. But widespread commercial planting probably won't occur for anothe ...

Quick dig starts fruit trees on journey

Apple harvest in Central Washington is done. In its wake, a little-known harvest quickly comes and goes. It's the annual digging of millions of young fruit trees in a three-week November window after they go dormant and before their roots freeze in the ground. Morning frost is not l ...

Tasters like new apple

WENATCHEE -- Trained and untrained fruit evaluators at Washington State University's Department of Food Science and Nutrition rated the "WA 2" as No. 1 in eating experience over nine other WSU experimental apple varieties and the well-known Fuji apple, said Bruce Barritt, WSU fruit tree breeder. ...

Active protection required to maintain trademarks

Winery owner Bob Kerivan was looking through a list of alcohol companies licensed in Oregon when he noticed a familiar name: Blue Moon Wines. Kerivan's Bridgeview Vineyards, based in Cave Junction, Ore., has sold wine under the Blue Moon label since at least 1993 and registered the tradem ...

USDA to buy apples

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will buy $18.6 million worth of apples and apple products in the near future, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced Nov. 11. The department also announced the purchase of $50 million of pork, $12.2 million of tart cherries and $1.8 million of dried plums. The p ...

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Cranberry harvests in Wis., US meet expectations

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. (AP) -- Cranberry harvests in Wisconsin and elsewhere are meeting expectations, meaning your cranberry sauce will cost about the same this Thanksgiving as it did last year. Wisconsin is the nation's leading cranberry producer. It grows nearly 60 percent of Amer ...

Pest finds prompt San Diego County quarantines

VALLEY CENTER, Calif. (AP) -- State agriculture officials have expanded and established quarantines in northern San Diego County to counter two insect infestations. The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced Wednesday that the quarantines were intended to minimize the spre ...

Hazelnut workshops aimed at new growers

Oregon State University Extension agent Jeff Olsen is fielding an inordinately high number of calls this year from growers seeking information on starting a hazelnut orchard. Olsen, partly in response to the requests, will host a workshop Dec. 4 for those wishing to move into hazelnut productio ...

Fresh-apple crop shrinks

WENATCHEE, Wash. -- Washington fresh-apple marketers expect a better sales season than last year due to a 4.5 percent drop in the latest crop estimate. But a private consultant warns of concerns. Prices are climbing after a downward slide caused by last year's record-volume crop. B ...

Olive oil acreage keeps growing

If you see a grove of short, densely planted olive trees in California, chances are they're part of an olive oil boomlet. While the table olive industry has struggled, the acreage of the fruit grown for oil has increased dramatically in the past five years. A majority of the state's rough ...

Vineyard files to deal with debt

A family-owned vineyard company in California has filed for bankruptcy protection, but the firm's managing member says its financial outlook is secure. Salisbury Vineyards of San Luis Obispo County, Calif., has filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcy, which is geared specifically to family farmers who ...

Beekeepers to hear from researcher

Nearly 250 Northwest beekeepers are expected to show up in Seaside, Ore., Nov. 19-21 for the annual Northwest Corner Beekeeping Conference. Colony collapse disorder and wintering bees indoors will be among the many topics discussed at the event, which is presented by the Oregon and Washin ...

Jackson County no longer spared from harmful fly

ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Entomologists researching the spread of a harmful fruit fly had been puzzled by its absence in Jackson County until a high school student discovered that it is definitely in southwest Oregon. The spotted wing Drosophila has plagued Oregon farmers since June, dam ...

Oregon vineyards report good yields, volume, quality

SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- It may turn out to be a very good year for Oregon wine growers. The wine grape harvest for Oregon is in and vineyards are reporting good yields, volume and quality for 2009. Final numbers are still pending. But the National Agricultural Statistics Service says ...

Virginia apple crop predicted to be smaller

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) -- Virginia's apple farmers are predicting a smaller crop than usual, and prices are staying low. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that Virginia growers will produce 30 million fewer pounds than last year. Wholesale prices of apples from the state have fallen about ...

Retailers suspend dealings with Mich. fruit grower

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- Wal-Mart, Kroger and Meijer said Friday they are suspending business with a large southwestern Michigan blueberry grower after investigators found children as young as 6 working in the grower's fields. The retailers said, pending further information, they have sto ...

Seasonal workers lose minimum wage claim

A large Oregon orchard company did not break minimum wage laws by deducting money for food and housing from seasonal workers' paychecks, according to a federal judge. Bear Creek Orchards, the fruit-growing arm of the Harry & David gift basket company, was legally allowed to charge emp ...

Wineries grow alongside production

Expansion at larger facilities indicates increasing investment WALLA WALLA, Wash. (AP) -- Six years ago, Precept Brands chose not to compete with companies making big-bucks wines, instead seeing opportunity in the under-$10-a-bottle market. Seems like it was a good move -- the company rece ...

Mechanical harvest could save table olives

The fate of the U.S. domestic table olive industry could hinge on a new harvesting technique being tried in California's Sacramento Valley. University of California researchers nine years ago planted trees widely enough apart for mechanical harvesters to fit into the orchards, and they're ...

Grape insurance extended to 7 Wash. counties

The burgeoning wine industry in Western Washington will find it easier to access a grape insurance program that has been used by growers in California and elsewhere for many years. The USDA's Risk Management Agency has announced it is making the Grape Multi-Peril Crop Insurance program mo ...

Police suspect meth lab, find wine instead

LEBANON, Pa. (AP) -- Authorities in central Pennsylvania who were called to investigate a suspicious odor at an abandoned house thought they had found a meth lab. It turned out to be an old winemaking operation. Police in North Cornwall Township searched the home's basement and discovered ...

Vineyard files for bankruptcy protection

. Bankruptcy filings list the Renwood Winery, also of Plymouth, Calif., as the company's largest unsecured creditor, with a claim of about $737,000. According to Renwood Winery's Web site, Smerling and a group of investors founded the winery in 1993. Its annual production has since grown from ab ...