Intensified upwelling in the equatorial Pacific is bringing unusually cold sea surface temperatures, part of the cold event known as La Niña. Although the exact atmospheric mechanics are not fully understood, these colder surface temperatures are generally associated with drier growing conditions across South [...]
This month, USDA lowered its 2020/21 early-midseason orange production forecast to 20.0 million 90-lb boxes for Florida, down 2.0 million boxes from the December estimate and down 3.0 million boxes from the November estimate. Florida’s Valencia orange production estimate remains at 34.0 million boxes, [...]
California 2019 almond production is estimated at around 2.2 billion pounds, down 4 percent from 2018 and down 12 percent from the subjective forecast released in May. Average state yield fell to 1,880 pounds per acre, the lowest volume since 2009, due to wet, [...]
For the second year in a row, California almond growers are expected to set a production record. Currently, there are nearly 1.2 million bearing almond acres in California, with yield expected to be 2,140 pounds per acre. Together, these factors lead USDA to estimate [...]
Last year, then-Governor Brown surprised many by signing into law a fast-moving, 12-year ban on local soda taxes. Reports suggest that Brown had made the move to forestall a threatened voter initiative—backed by business groups—that would have made it significantly more difficult for counties [...]
In the U.S., Connecticut’s governor is backing a proposed sweetener beverage tax of 1.5 cents per ounce—part of a series of taxes on e-cigarettes and related supplies, some bottled alcoholic beverages, and even plastic bags. The governor’s office estimates revenue for the sweetened beverage [...]
After backing California into setting a ban on local sugar taxes by threatening to bring forward an initiative to ban most local taxes, opponents of soda and beverage taxes are using ballot initiatives in a slightly different tactic in Washington state. According to reports, [...]
Aug-Sep 2018/19 domestic almond shipments, at 117 million pounds, were just shy of last season’s record volume for the first two months of the marketing year, but export shipments of 206 million pounds began 2018/19 down 15 percent year over year. Shipments to China [...]
