(FDACS) — The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is reminding Florida’s tomato and pecan growers of the approaching crop insurance deadline. Growers have until Jan. 31, 2020, to apply for crop insurance coverage for the 2020 crop year. Current policyholders who would like to make changes to their existing coverage also have until the Jan. 31 sales closing date …
ITC Affirms That Mexican Dumping Threatens U.S. Tomato Growers
(FTE) — In a unanimous decision, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) made an affirmative determination that dumped Mexican tomato imports threaten the U.S. industry with material injury. This determination comes on the heels of an announcement last month by the U.S. Department of Commerce, which found that Mexican tomatoes had been dumped in the U.S. market at an average …
New Rules Aimed at Protecting Tomato Crops
(NSF) — New federal inspection rules are now in place for tomatoes and peppers, a month after Florida agricultural officials expressed concern that a virus had been found in tomatoes imported from Mexico. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that tomatoes and peppers from Mexico, Israel and the Netherlands must be inspected for tomato brown rugose fruit virus, …
Action Taken to Protect the United States From Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is taking immediate action to prevent the introduction of tomato brown rugose fruit virus into the United States and protect U.S. tomato and pepper production worth more than $2.3 billion annually. APHIS has issued a federal order imposing restrictions on imports of tomato and pepper seed lots …
Microbial Marauder of Potato, Tomato Crops Has an Accomplice
(USDA/ARS) — Descendants of the fungus-like pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s — Phytopthora infestans — may have had a “helping hand” in recent U.S. outbreaks of the costly blight disease. Reporting in the September 2019 issue of Virus Research, a team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS), Cornell University (CU) and Rutgers University scientists announced they had identified a virus that …
Florida Tomato Committee Names McAvoy Researcher of the Year
(UF/IFAS) — He may hold the title “emeritus,” which means “retired,” but Gene McAvoy remains active with University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Extension and research, helping bring farmers’ concerns back to UF/IFAS scientists. In fact, he just won the Researcher of the Year Award from the Florida Tomato Committee. For the past 22 years, McAvoy …
Hemp, Hops and More Crops Highlight Florida Ag Expo
Farmers, nursery managers and others can get a glimpse of the latest and greatest University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) research into tomatoes, strawberries, hemp, hops and ornamental plants at the annual Florida Ag Expo at the UF/IFAS Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. Informative sessions will fill the day, with events running from 7:30 a.m. …
Commerce Department Announces Final Dumping Margin of 21% on Mexican Tomato Imports
International Trade Commission will now Evaluate Injury to U.S. Growers Washington, D.C. (FTE-October 22, 2019) — The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced a final dumping margin of 21 percent in the resumed antidumping investigation of Mexican tomatoes. This result comes as no surprise to American tomato farmers who have seen domestic production decline significantly in the face of unfairly traded …
Growers Should Manage Tomato Bacterial Spot While Seedlings Are in Transplant Facilities
New findings from University of Florida scientists could help tomato growers nationwide in their battle against a damaging disease. With 37,000 acres, Florida’s tomato industry is a $520 million-a-year crop, so it’s critical to find sources of diseases so growers can avoid or treat them to sustain their yields. But a bacterium called Xanthomonas can cause bacterial spot in tomatoes, …
Tomato Brown Rugose Spreading Globally
Tomato brown rugose fruit virus is making headlines as it continues to spread around the globe. Below are reports posted to VSCNews in recent months as more about this pathogen has been revealed. One report is from a presentation during the recent Vegetable & Specialty Crop Expo. You can view that presentation here. Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus Spreading Globally …