I hope you enjoyed our cover story about lettuce producer Mellon Farms. I was impressed by the number of acres, the efficiency of the farm, and most importantly, the fact that it is a third-generation family-owned operation. It is wonderful that Archie Mellon, the patriarch of the family, farmed with his son Doug years ago, … Read more
There remain some issues to be resolved with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s final Produce Safety Rule under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Although some facets of the proposed rule were changed to the industry’s satisfaction, the mechanics of adjudging producer compliance have yet to be laid out. In addition, the water rule … Read more
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Biological Sciences Directorate (BIO) announced $6 million in available funding to support the development of transformative plant and animal phenomics and microbiome technologies. NIFA This USDA-NIFA, NSF-BIO Joint Activity is soliciting Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research … Read more
Neogen Corporation has announced that Dr. Robert Donofrio has joined the company as the director of microbiology, research and development in Neogen’s Lansing, Mich.-based food safety research and development group. Dr. Donofrio comes to Neogen after a 16-year tenure at NSF International, an Ann Arbor, Mich.- based safety testing and product certifcation company. Most recently, Donofrio … Read more
New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Department of Agriculture will host the annual fruit growers’ workshop March 4 at the Santa Fe County Fair Building, 3229 Rodeo Road, in Santa Fe. “This workshop will be good for folks wanting to learn more about starting an orchard or renovating an existing one,” said Shengrui Yao, NMSU … Read more