David Eddy

Modesto

Editor at Growing Produce

None at Meister Media Worldwide

Editor, American Fruit Grower; https://t.co/dYWHOV5OuN; Meister Media. Keen interest in precision agriculture.

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Articles

Coffee Production in the U.S.? Big Guns Coffee Growing Strong

2 weeks ago | growingproduce.com | David Eddy

New fruit growers are often advised to look for a niche because it’s difficult finding a place in the market, and you have to differentiate yourself from the pack. T. Shane Johnson and his daughter Charli appear to have succeeded. “Just Google ‘hydroponic coffee farm,’” he says, “and when the page comes up, pretty much all you see is us.” “Us” is Big Guns Coffee of Tryon, NC, the only hydroponic coffee farm in the country, but Johnson doesn’t believe it will be the last.
Urgent Message for California Wine Growers: Pull Your Vines Now

1 month ago | growingproduce.com | David Eddy

California wine grape growers have a drinking problem. Worldwide, alcohol consumption continues to decline, especially of wine, learned growers at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium’s standing-room-only State of the Industry session in January. They’re simply growing too many wine grapes, not all them are wanted, and especially in the last three years, many get left on the vine to rot. The crux of the problem, declining consumption, is unlikely to abate soon.
Song Remains the Same for Colony Collapse Disorder

1 month ago | growingproduce.com | David Eddy

I’ll never forget seeing a headline back in 2009 on our website, GrowingProduce.com, “Colony Collapse Disorder On The Decline.” For those who don’t recall, the term Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), appeared in a lot of headlines in the years before 2009, and it seemed like the scourge of honeybees would never be defeated. Unfortunately, that appears to be truer than researchers, beekeepers, and growers would like.
California Has Smallest Wine Grape Crush in 20 Years

2 months ago | growingproduce.com | David Eddy

California wine grape growers, who have been drowning in wine for several years, got some welcome news this week, as this year’s crush is the smallest since 2004. The 2024 crush totaled 2,918,158 tons, down 25.2% from the 2023 crush of 3,899,631 tons, according to the California Department of Food & Agriculture’s Preliminary Grape Crush Report for 2024. Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed, at 1,438,527 tons, down 27.1% from 2023.
How Tree Fruit Growers Can Avoid the 'Death Spiral'

2 months ago | growingproduce.com | David Eddy

The current turbulence in the apple industry – not that growers of other tree fruits are dancing in the streets – is leading many folks to say a lot of trees need to be pulled out. The argument is not only is there too much fruit on the market, but much of it is also only mediocre. What’s needed is less quantity, and more quality. Unfortunately, in the tree fruit business, that means pulling out trees. It seemed to me that I had heard an outline of exactly this situation years ago.
A Biological Approach To Grow Great Blueberries

2 months ago | growingproduce.com | David Eddy

How serious is Paul Gill about wanting to farm exclusively organic? In 2019, when he started his new enterprise in California, he actually imported organic dirt, 40 truckloads of soil from Denmark. “True, the initial cost was high,” he says to the surprised look from a visitor. “But I simply didn’t want to wait for three years (to transition from conventional ground).” After farming blueberries for many years in British Columbia, Gill sought a new way to farm, free of chemicals.
Top Wine Grape Scientist Passes Away

Jan 23, 2025 | growingproduce.com | David Eddy

The UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology announced that Dr. Anita Oberholster, Professor of Cooperative Extension in Enology, died after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Her passing leaves an immeasurable void in the UC Davis V&E family, whose thoughts are with Anita’s husband, Connie, and their two children during this difficult time. The V&E Dept.
3 Takeaways To Make You a Better Fruit Grower

Jan 21, 2025 | growingproduce.com | David Eddy

It’s no secret there’s been tremendous turbulence in the apple industry in the past several years. Despite a smaller crop this year — especially in dominant Washington state — prices aren’t up commensurately. Worse, the prices growers pay for key inputs are up substantially, and labor costs continue to soar. Of course, that’s if you can secure a labor supply at all. This year some growers couldn’t find people who wanted to work during the growing season, and apples didn’t get hand thinned.
Survey To Reveal What Produce Growers Know About Biocontrols

Jan 13, 2025 | growingproduce.com | David Eddy

Growers have big gaps in their knowledge of biocontrols, according to an ongoing survey of West Coast growers by a Pacific Northwest researcher who has extensive knowledge of IPM.
Pistachio Power: Where Growing and Research Mesh for Success

Oct 29, 2024 | growingproduce.com | David Eddy

Ask an Extension agent from one of the world’s most productive agricultural regions — someone who works with a lot of fruit and nut growers — what makes pistachio grower Joe Coelho different, and she can hardly contain herself. “He’s sort of like an Extension person himself. There are a lot of innovative growers, but he takes it to another level,” Mae Culumber of University of California Cooperative Extension says. “If he has a problem, he’s likely to get a lab analysis.