-September 23,2020-
Navel orange forecast down 5%
USDA reports the initial 2020-21 Navel orange forecast is 84.0 million cartons, down 5 percent from the previous year. In Tulare County, the number one orange producing county, the report estimates that average set at 332 oranges per tree compared to 339 last year with a slightly larger average diameter at 2.198 inches. The smaller crop and larger size is considered bullish for prices.
Tulare County cotton acres at record low
Tulare County’s cotton acreage has dropped to 6695 acres this year – a record low .The numbers are reported. by the state Pink Bollworm program. Cotton acres in 2019 was 14,800. By contrast cotton acreage in1993 was near 145,000 acreage. Scores of cotton gins in the county have shut their doors over the years and today only Mid-Valley Cotton is still ginning cotton in Tulare.
Valley farmer are asking for help from the government this year due to depressed prices brought on by the tariff war with China and the pandemic.
Finger Limes immune to Citrus Greening
From LA Times
Citrus greening, also called huanglongbing or HLB, has upended the citrus-growing industry in Florida and put other American citrus producers, like those in California, on high alert. Now, 15 years after the disease first appeared in the United States, researchers at the University of California, Riverside have found a substance that might stop it.
Researchers’ best lead came from finger limes, an unusual citrus fruit that grows in Australia’s rainforests. The pickle-shaped fruits are full of caviar-like beads of juice, and the limes are immune to citrus greening. After finding the gene that grants the limes their immunity, the researchers used it to create the natural HLB-fighting protein. In controlled settings, spraying young trees with the protein killed the disease, Jeanette Marantos reports for the Los Angeles Times.