Food & Farm News
Real Audio» October 6, 2005 «
'Ag Leaders' work for governor's reforms
"Ag Leaders for Reform" will campaign for Governor Schwarzenegger's initiatives on the November ballot. The governor appeared with leaders of several California farm groups at a Fresno news conference yesterday (Wednesday), to announce the coalition. California Farm Bureau Vice President Paul Wenger said the governor's measures would make state government more responsive to the people. The governor has sponsored three reform measures to appear on the November 8th ballot.
Trucking woes affect vegetable shipments
A continuing shortage of trucks has complicated shipments of California-grown vegetables to Eastern buyers. Vegetable shippers say the buyers can't find enough trucks, and that truckers have increased their rates because of high diesel fuel prices. Compounding the problem is the need for trucks to haul food for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Celery growers, for example, say they have excellent-quality celery available to buyers who can overcome the shipping problems.
Florida citrus growers gain help for 'greening'
Crop-disease experts from California have gone to Florida, to help people there fight a citrus disease. Citrus trees affected by a bacterial disease called "greening" suffer from yellowed leaves and reduced production. The disease has not been seen in California citrus groves. The California representatives say their work in Florida will help them learn how to prevent the disease ... and how to deal with it if it should arrive here.
Farmers look forward to persimmon harvest
California persimmon growers will start their harvest in the next few days. That's a week to 10 days later than usual. Growers in the Central Valley and Southern California say the crop appears lighter than average. They say they aren't certain if cool spring weather played into the equation, because persimmons are self-pollinating. Persimmons also tend to produce lighter crops in alternate years. With fewer pieces of fruit on the trees, the individual persimmons are growing to larger sizes.
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