California Almond Crop Shocking and First Case of Screwworm in Human
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**After farming at a loss for five straight years, California almond growers watched as prices rose over the past year, promising a return to profitability.
But on the eve of harvest, the USDA released an unexpectedly high crop forecast of 3 billion pounds.
Anticipating a glut, buyers pulled back, causing almond prices to drop nearly 20% overnight.
The reaction erased roughly a billion dollars from the total crop value, eliminating the profit margin.
**The Department of Health and Human Services reported the first human case of New World Screwworm in the U.S.
The diagnosis was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control.
The disease appeared in a traveler who’d been returning to the U.S. from Central America, where the disease is already present.
Oklahoma State Veterinarian Dr. Rod Hall said the patient lives in Maryland, where officials said they’re confident it is contained.
**Last year, more than 1 million students and 34,000 teachers benefited from the California Farm Bureau’s innovative agricultural education program, run by the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.
Since 1981, the program promotes agricultural literacy and awareness.
Executive director, Amanda Fletcher says their mission is to support teachers and students in incorporating agriculture into their classroom, adding it’s the food we eat; it’s the clothes we wear.
