Food & Farm News
Real Audio» November 29, 2006 «
Citrus farmers confront cold weather
With freezing temperatures forecast for the Central Valley, citrus farmers mobilize to protect their crops. Growers with trees in typically cold spots had crews picking fruit yesterday (Tuesday) to get it out of harm's way. Farmers also use wind machines and water to protect their fruit. Farm advisors said those protection methods should prevent any damage, because forecasters did not indicate that temperatures would fall to extreme lows for a long duration.
Deciduous trees benefit from chilly nights
Nut and fruit farmers welcome cool autumn nights as the start of the winter "chill hours." Deciduous nut and fruit trees need to be exposed to cool weather, to go fully dormant and burst forth with a strong bloom next spring. Chill hours accumulate when temperatures dip below 45 degrees. Cherry and apricot trees need the most chilling, ideally about 12-hundred hours during the fall and winter.
New wheat variety promises added nutrition
California farmers will be planting a new wheat variety in 2008 that contains more protein, zinc and iron. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, collaborated on the new variety. They restored a gene from wild wheat that apparently had been "turned off" when the plant was domesticated. The new variety enhances the dietary value of wheat and researchers say it offers a solution to nutritional deficiencies affecting millions of the world's children.
Milk promoters debut cookie-scented ads
San Francisco Bay Area commuters will experience a novel outdoor advertising campaign next week. The "Got Milk?" campaign will offer commuters a treat of milk and cookies at a San Francisco BART station. In addition, the scent of fresh-baked cookies will be added to outdoor ads at several of the city's bus shelters. The "Got Milk?" people say their scented outdoor campaign is the first of its kind in the United States.
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