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OPN Connect Newsletter 165
Organic Brussels Sprouts, Pelger on Post-Pandemic Retail, Netafim, New Zealand Apples, and More...
The COVID-19 crisis is causing some growers in New Zealand to think twice about sending organic fruit into the US this year. At the beginning of the COVID outbreak, the USDA shut down all in country inspections and preclearance activities. If this continues, all fruit coming from New Zealand will have to be inspected upon arrival, leaving organic growers worried about their returns.
When COVID-19 began its surge, so did the overall produce sales surge. In fact, organic produce sales rose 22 percent and conventional sales increased by 20 percent in the month of March. Before we all over-celebrate the numbers, we must understand the realistic conditions that encouraged those sales. It was mainly due to the panic buying by consumers who felt a desperate need to stock their food pantries and refrigerators for fear of a food shortage during the COVID -19 early lockdown.
Sales of organic brussels sprouts have been increasing over the last several years, a trend that is also mirrored on the conventional side. Once the most-hated vegetable in the US according to a 2008 study by the Heinz Corporation, this bite-size member of the brassica family has been enjoying quite a comeback.
Netafim is an Israeli manufacturer of irrigation equipment which produces drippers, dripperlines, sprinklers and micro-emitters. Additionally, it manufactures and distributes crop management technologies, including monitoring and control systems, dosing systems and crop management software.
1. OFRF New Digital Toolkit for Climate Advocacy
2. Advancing Eco Agriculture Announces Webinar
3. Driscoll’s Launches Series to Culminate on Mother’s Day
4. Coachella Expecting Grapes in Early May
5. Grimmway to Ship New Crop Dry Onions & Sweet Corn
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