Food And Farm News
10-15-2025
Organic seal helps boost 'phenomenal' date market
Fresh California dates hit grocery store shelves last month after harvest for Medjool dates, the state's top variety, began in the Coachella Valley in early September. Growers and marketers say demand is high for the fruit, especially among health-conscious consumers. "Dates are on fire," said Amanda Sains, vice president of marketing at Joolies, a date company based in the Coachella Valley. "They are doing phenomenal right now." An added selling point for many California dates is that they're grown using organic farming methods. About 78% of dates grown in Riverside County, which dominates U.S. date production, are certified organic. Growers say multiple factors, including market forces and the nature of date production, encouraged them to grow the fruit organically. "It's not a fad," Riverside County farmer Albert Keck said. "It's a major part of the industry now."
Almond prices rise as crop yields lag behind forecast
California almond growers were largely skeptical when the U.S. Department of Agriculture in July forecast a 3-billion-pound crop in its "objective measurement" report. The high crop forecast caused almond prices to drop nearly 20% overnight, erasing roughly a billion dollars from the total crop value and eliminating the profit margin for many farmers. Now, well into harvest, prices have recovered as growers and handlers report smaller crop yields. "Now that we're processing, prices have already returned to pre-estimate levels because the crop is nowhere near 3 billion pounds," Stanislaus County almond grower and huller Paul Vermeulen told Ag Alert® in a field report. Ryan Indart, who grows almonds in Fresno County, gave a similar assessment in a recent field report. "Now that harvest started, everybody has realized, including the buyer market, that the objective estimate was woefully inaccurate," Indart said. "Prices are coming back up, which is good."
California researchers work to breed better beans
At the annual Dry Bean Field Day in August, University of California, Davis, researchers described advancements in breeding and upcoming consumer testing to determine preferences for lima, black-eyed and garbanzo beans. "This event is a chance to get the growers' thoughts on some of the next varietal candidates likely to come out of the breeding programs," said Christine Diepenbrock, a UC Davis assistant professor of plant sciences and an organizer of the field day. Colusa County farmer Jim Wallace said the university's bean breeding program has created "every important variety that we're producing in California today." Wallace added that newer varieties have not only improved flavor but have also increased yields. "But when you go all the way back to my father's farm, he'd get 15 to 18 bags of limas, and that was acceptable," he said. "Today, we're producing high 20s and low 30s."
Students lead the way in developing new organic crop varieties
A student-led breeding program at the University of California will soon be releasing new crop varieties for organic farmers. Among the upcoming releases are new organic wheat varieties bred to have good bread-making traits, improved yields and even different colors, including blue, purple and charcoal. Students are also producing new organic tomato varieties called Orange Creamsicle and Rockin' Roma, the former a fresh-market tomato with a tart taste and smooth finish, the latter a firm processing tomato with balanced acidity. In addition, field trials are ongoing for 45 types of sweet potatoes, with the goal of combining less common but flavorful varieties with commercial varieties that grow well on organic farms in California. The Student Collaborative Organic Plant Breeding Education program, developed in 2015, came in response to grower reports of a need for more organic seeds.
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