Top 5 - Organic News to Help You Grow #318

1. California Rains Mean Strong Pricing on Celery

Supplies of organic celery will be limited until likely Mid-June. “The historically cold and rainy winter in California has caused significant supply issues of celery for the industry including blight, seeder and planting gaps,” says Brian Amaral of Braga Fresh Family Farms/Josie’s Organics.  Read More

2. Sun Belle’s Blackberries in Peak Production

Optimal temperatures and growing conditions are resulting in peak production of Sun Belle blackberries and Green Belle organic blackberries from central Mexico through late May.  Read More

3. Meet the Entrepreneur Bringing Organic Farming to Urban Real Estate

Alexandre Ferrari-Roy, founder and CEO of the urban agriculture firm MicroHabitat, isn’t looking to squat on vacant lots or commandeer forgotten patches of land to make more room for urban farming—not anymore, at least.  Read More

4. Spring Melon Deal Under Way for Divine Flavor

With the spring season and warmer weather now the norm, Divine Flavor will be in full swing with its melon program for the next 50 days. With offerings of watermelon (regular seedless and mini seedless) and cantaloupe and honeydew grown both organically and conventionally, the Nogales, AZ-based grower-shipper anticipates a strong month of May in terms of volume and promotion for its expanded melon program out of Mexico.  Read More

5. $100 Million Opportunity to Develop Organic Markets

In the coming months the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service will be releasing an RFP focusing on Pinpointed Organic Market Development as part of their Organic Transition Initiative. This program will develop new and expanded markets for targeted domestic organic products by providing more resources and market certainty for producers and processors transitioning to organic or initiating new organic production and processing capacity.  Read More