Russia's production of beef, pork and poultry increased in July compared with a year earlier, the Federal State Statistics Service stated. Pork output gained 34% to 104,000 metric tons and poultry production rose 1.8% to 294,000 tons, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story
A quarantine for the oriental fruit fly began in parts of Orange and Los Angeles, CA, counties after multiple adult flies and larvae were detected by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The 130-square-mile quarantine is in the Anaheim area of Orange County, CA, and the Artesia and Cerritos area of Los Angeles County, CA. The oriental fruit fly is known to target more than 230 fruit, vegetable and plant commodities, reported The Packer. Full Story
The 2013 California table grape harvest started one to two weeks earlier than normal on most early varieties for many growers in the San Joaquin Valley. That earliness continued through the mid-season varieties and in general appeared likely to continue through the later varieties as well, although some growers say the later varieties are looking closer to normal timing. Quality has been exceptional so far this year, contributing to strong movement on what is expected to be a very large crop, possibly a second successive record year, reported The Produce News. Full Story
A small group of scientists and growers is laying the groundwork to revive the industry by cultivating oysters in cages and bags. So far, oyster aquaculture has produced modest returns in North Carolina, accounting for less than 21% of a $2.9 million oyster industry, reported Charlotte Observer. Full Story
Scotland's Sea buckthorn may be the next superfruit. Despite often being viewed as an invasive prickly weed, the plant's bright orange berries are packed with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Now, scientists from Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University are working on ways to use them in drinks and food, reported BBC News. Full Story
Orange-juice prices jumped 4% Aug. 19 following the release of industry reports that forecast a smaller Florida orange crop than some analysts expect. Louis Dreyfus Commodities, a unit of Louis Dreyfus Holding BV, released estimates to farmers pegging next year's Florida orange crop at 132 million boxes, each weighing 90 lbs., reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
Weather conditions that created the largest blueberry crop in the last three years have also provided ideal environmental conditions for growth and development of large populations of spotted wing Drosophila that in a matter of days has increased dramatically in the fruit growing region, reported Fruit Growers News. Full Story
The apple industry has been calling them the NY1 and NY2 apples for a couple of years, but on Aug. 1, Cornell University announced that after a year of rigorous consumer testing, the two new apple varieties developed in partnership with the New York Apple Growers now have official names. They are "SnapDragon" and "RubyFrost," reported The Produce News. Full Story
Mushroom production dipped slightly in the past year, compared with 2011-12, sales continued on an upward trend, topping $1.1 billion. It also marked the third-straight year that sales exceeded $1 billion, according to USDA's NASS annual mushroom report released Aug. 20, reported The Packer. Full Story
Nigeria, the fourth-largest cocoa grower in the world, is counting on early-maturing, high-yielding, disease-resistant beans to help double the country's production in two years. "We're distributing eight varieties of the plant that mature in about 18 months to farmers in the 14 cocoa producing states to replace the traditional crop with four to five years maturity," stated the chief executive of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story
Georgia has seen unusually high rainfall totals this year and that could lead to unusually high food prices later this fall. According to University of Georgia agricultural climatologist Pam Knox, many farmers are behind schedule because of the wet conditions. She stated that meat prices could also push higher; wet conditions have made it hard to farmers to dry hay, which could force them to buy other food for their livestock, reported GPB.com. Full Report
Royal Rose radicchio was officially certified a superfood based on a laboratory analysis of its nutritional breakdown, including antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. The most noteworthy antioxidant evaluated in Royal Rose radicchio was the level of anthocyanidins, which are sugarless plant pigments and a class of flavonoids responsible for the intense color of fruits and vegetables, such as blueberries, raspberries and red onions. Anthocyanidins are unique flavonoids because of how well they are maintained in the human body once eaten, making them incredibly beneficial to consume regularly, reported The Produce News. Full Story
There should be a few more California-grown garbanzo beans at the market in the coming year. The state's farmers intend to plant 2% more garbanzos than they did last year. Farmers will plant more kidney beans, too, but otherwise California bean plantings will decrease, compared with a year ago, reported California Farm Bureau Federation. Full Story
Farm income, along with capital and household spending, in parts of seven Midwest and Mid-South states, increased modestly in the second quarter of 2013 as compared with the same period last year. Quality farmland values across the district averaged $5,672 per acre in the second quarter of 2013, for an 11% increase from the first quarter, reported Agri-Pulse.com. Full Story
South Carolina's governor warned Aug. 19 that torrential rains soaking the Southeast have flooded fields and wiped out crops in the state, creating a disaster for agriculture. Soggy conditions around the region have delayed harvests and cut yields, reported The Tennessean. Full Story	
tU.S. soybean crops are seen sharply lower in the Midwest than recent years' averages would suggest for the number two and three producing states, according to an average of crop surveys collected by scouts on an annual tour through the Midwest. In Iowa, soybeans were counted at 927.30 in a three sq.-ft. average, down from the average of 1189.74 pods for the years between 2010 and 2012. In Minnesota, pods came in at 869.42 pods, down sharply from 1099.44 for the three years before, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)
Michigan tart cherry growers now have access to federal crop insurance, for the first time ever, according to Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. According to Stabenow's website, early freezes and frosts in 2012 decimated orchards, vineyards and fields across the state, destroying 97% of Michigan's cherry crop and underscoring the need to have protections in place to prevent farmers from being wiped out by disasters, reported Fruit Growers News. Full Story
Riveridge Produce and its six Michigan packinghouses have implemented a system that uses a 10-point protocol to ensure quality carton packs. Riveridge's protocol addresses everything from the orchard to storage and the packing system. A strict maturity guideline for harvest has also been setup to ensure the apples are sweet and ripe when they arrive to the retail stores, reported The Packer. Full Story
Washington News
Lawyers who got rich suing tobacco companies have turned their attentions on the food industry. Challenging healthy-sounding food labels they allege are misleading, the lawyers decided to sue in federal courts in Northern California, where the consumer-protection laws are expansive and the jury pool nutrition-conscious. "Even the judges are calling this jurisdiction the Food Court," stated Pierce Gore, the San Jose attorney serving as local coordinator for plaintiffs' firms in Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, Illinois, and New York. So far three dozen suits seeking class-action status are pending in the Bay Area, reported Bloomberg Businessweek. Full Story