28 Mar 2024
The aid is coming after the USDA granted a request for a federal disaster declaration. The decision means that farmers in 22 Washington counties and six Oregon counties are eligible for emergency loans of up to $500,000 each.
26 Mar 2024
The USDA investigated vacuum steam as an alternative to methyl bromide treatment for fresh fruit. The ultimate goal is to establish heat treatment programmes that preserve the integrity of a product and completely eliminate target infestations.
26 Mar 2024
Matt Whiting, WSU physiologist, encouraged farmers to consider crop load management as a 15-month process: from flower bud initiation in spring to harvest in summer. Along the way, farmers have tools to intervene.
13 Mar 2024
"We've had warmer weather than normal," says Trish Taylor, marketing manager of Riveridge Produce Marketing, Inc. "The trees are still dormant, but because of this weather, we think we might be a week early this year."
11 Mar 2024
The samba wasp and the ronin wasp have emerged as potential parasitoids. Researchers have studied the wasps and are seeking government approval to release them. The species have been found in the wild in Canada and the United States.
06 Feb 2024
Sweet cherry growers in central and eastern Washington faced devastating challenges throughout the 2023 season. Unusual weather patterns caused growers losses of more than 50%, according to the United State Department of Agriculture.
05 Feb 2024
Regarding rootstocks, one of the most promising approaches to increase plant resistance to viruses is post-transcriptional gene silencing, which employs RNA interference (RNAi) to prevent pathogenicity and virus replication.
02 Feb 2024
Birds, a threat to crops or friends for integrated pest management strategies? At the 'Stone Fruit Day' organised by Washington State University, the focus was on the role of birds in agriculture, looking at pros and cons of the latest research on the subject.
01 Feb 2024
Per McCord, WSU's cherry breeder, explained that it is basically a scaled-down version of what one sees in a commercial fruit packing warehouse. The line will bring overall efficiency to the university's sorting efforts.
26 Jan 2024
In addition to phytosanitary treatments, kaolin and covering the inter-row with Extenday sheets throughout the season as vector control strategies to cover weeds, which are very important for the insect's life cycle, were evaluated.
