Pacific Nut Producer Magazine

Tag: U.S. Department of Agriculture

  • Opportunities for Tree Nuts, Dairy & Wine in Upcoming Peru Agribusiness Trade Mission

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service is accepting applications for its agribusiness trade mission to Lima, Peru, scheduled for June 9-12, 2025. Current and potential U.S. exporters interested in participating must apply by March 12, 2025.

    “Consumers in Peru are eager to stock their pantries with world-class, high-quality food and farm products, and this mission offers a unique opportunity for U.S. exporters to meet that growing demand,” said Foreign Agricultural Service Administrator Daniel Whitley. “It will also help our agricultural community forge meaningful partnerships and unlock new avenues for growth in South America.”

    Peru is the third-largest market for U.S. agricultural exports in South America. Since the 2009 U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, bilateral agricultural trade has risen from $1.46 billion to $5 billion in 2023, a 242.5 percent increase. In 2023, the United States was Peru’s second-largest agricultural supplier with a 13-percent market share.

    Peru and its South American trade partners offer robust logistics, distribution, processing, and cold chain capabilities, creating opportunities for exporters across industry sectors, including:

    • Beef, pork, poultry and related products
    • Dairy products
    • Tree nuts
    • Snack, bakery and confectionery products
    • Wine and distilled spirits
    • Condiments and sauces
    • Dog and cat food
    • Health-conscious foods (low-sodium, low-sugar, low-fat)
    • Ethanol
    • Live animals and feed ingredients
    • Bulk products, including pulses

    During the trade mission, participants will join buyers from Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador for targeted business-to-business meetings to explore and discuss potential business opportunities in each country. Foreign Agricultural Service staff and regional experts will also provide in-depth market briefings, lead informative site visits, and host networking events.

    For more information or to apply, visit www.fas.usda.gov/topics/trade-missions/peru-june-2025. The application deadline is Wednesday, March 12, 2025.

    The trade mission to Peru is one of several USDA-led export promotion opportunities in 2025, with additional missions planned to Côte d’Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Taiwan. The agency will announce application details for these missions soon.

  • USDA Completes Laboratory Modernization to Advance Pecan Breeding and Research

    The Pecan Breeding and Genetics Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) recently completed a 2.5 million dollars laboratory modernization to accelerate pecan breeding through innovations in genetics and plant disease research. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on March 26 to commemorate the completion of the project.

    Pecan trees represent North America’s native nut tree and a multimillion-dollar crop. These trees have been cultivated commercially for less than 150 years. It takes an average of 28 years from planting a new seedling to releasing a new pecan cultivar with traditional methods of pecan breeding. This is due to the long waiting period for pecan trees to start producing nuts, which takes up more than half of the time. With the new modernized laboratory, the Pecan Breeding and Genetics Program will now be able to incorporate genetic techniques into pecan breeding to accurately predict mature nut traits on young seedlings, saving up to a decade in the breeding process.

    Breeding new pecan cultivars is a lengthy process with long waiting periods of 7-10 years before a pecan tree can produce nuts and long testing phases to evaluate potential cultivars. It is challenging to support pecan breeding efforts due to their high resource demands and extended timelines, which make it impractical for private or commercial entities and challenging for academic programs.

    The event was hosted by USDA’s ARS and the Texas Pecan Grower’s Association. ARS leaders, State Representatives, scientists, and members of the pecan industry organizations toured the new laboratory with now dedicated research spaces for plant genetics, microscopy, tissue culture, controlled-environment growth chambers, and plant disease research.

    “Today marks the celebration of the opening of a new genetics and pathology laboratory,” said Warren Chatwin, the Lead Scientist at the Pecan Breeding and Genetics Program in Somerville, Texas. “This facility will enable ARS’ researchers here at Somerville to advance pecan breeding and support modern genetics and plant disease research, which hasn’t been possible since this site was established in the 1980s.”

    “This event also highlights the significant impact of our stakeholders, the pecan industry organizations. They have unified their voice through the National Pecan Federation to express the need for increased quality, accuracy, and speed of pecan breeding, genetics, and plant disease research, leading to the establishment of this laboratory space. The success of our research is only possible through partnerships with stakeholders including the Texas Pecan Grower’s Association, which has provided decades of support and significant contributions, most recently through the National Pecan Federation,” added Chatwin.

    In addition, researchers will now be able to do controlled evaluations of promising breeding lines with different regional strains of pecan scab. Pecan scab, caused by the fungal pathogen Venturia effusa, is the most economically significant disease in the pecan industry and has high diversity across the geographic range of cultivated pecans. For the first time, the Pecan Breeding and Genetics Program will now be able to screen pecan scab cultures from all areas of the country in controlled environments to identify new sources of disease resistance and incorporate those unique samples into the breeding program. Researchers will also be able to do controlled evaluations for other significant and emerging pathogens of pecan, including the heavily quarantined international pathogen, Xylella fastidiosa.

    The Pecan Breeding and Genetics program has released 32 pecan cultivars to the industry, with notable releases like ‘Pawnee,’ which moved the commercial harvest window forward to mid-September, ‘Lakota,’ which has high scab resistance, and ‘Wichita,’ a high-yielding cultivar that performs well in the West. USDA-ARS’ most recently released cultivars include ‘Pueblo,’ ‘Seneca,’ and ‘Zuni,’ which were patented in 2022.

    The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in U.S. agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact.

  • $700 Million to Connect People in Remote and Rural Areas to High-Speed Internet

    U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced nearly $700 million in grants and loans to connect thousands of rural residents, farmers and business owners in 22 states and the Marshall Islands to reliable, affordable high-speed internet through the ReConnect Program,funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This program is uniquely designed to fund the most difficult high-speed internet projects in the nation, which are the most rural, remote and unserved communities.

    Connecting all communities across the United States to high-speed internet is a central part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to rebuild the economy from the bottom up and middle out by rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure. This agenda is driving more than $500 billion in private-sector manufacturing investments, rebuilding America’s infrastructure, lowering costs, and creating good-paying jobs. And it’s transforming our country for the better – reaching communities in every corner of the United States, including those that have too often been left behind.

    “Keeping the people of rural America connected with reliable, high-speed internet brings new and innovative ideas to the rest of our country and creates good-paying jobs along the way,” Secretary Vilsack said. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are connecting rural communities to a global marketplace. These investments will support economic growth and prosperity for generations to come.”

    Today’s high-speed internet investments are part of the fourth funding round of the ReConnect Program. Many residents and businesses in rural areas would not have high-speed internet service without the ReConnect Program, as the program is a key part of the Administration’s Internet for Allinitiative to connect everyone in America to high-speed internet by 2030. Today’s announcement includes $667 million in USDA investments in Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the Marshall Islands.

    Today’s announcement includes several investments that will benefit people living in Rural Partners Network (RPN) communities. RPN works with hundreds of federal, state and local partners to address specific needs in rural communities that have long struggled to access government programs and funding. RPN helps these communities carry out locally driven plans to create jobs, build infrastructure and support economic growth and stability.

    Examples of projects in this announcement include:

    • In North Carolina, Star Telephone Membership Corporation is receiving a $24.9 million grant to benefit 2,674 people, 84 businesses, 117 farms and four educational facilities in Bladen, Columbus and Sampson counties. Bladen and Columbus are part of an RPN community.
    • In Oregon, Pioneer Telephone Cooperative is receiving a $24.9 million grant to benefit 2,239 people, 50 businesses, 205 farms and one educational facility in Lincoln, Lane and Benton counties.
    • In New Mexico, SWC Telesolutions Inc. is receiving a $9.2 million grant to benefit 4,962 people, 106 businesses, 11 farms and 17 educational facilities in Doña Ana and Sierra counties. Doña Ana County is part of an RPN community.

    Also, as part of USDA’s commitment to expand high-speed internet access, the Hood Canal Telephone Co. Inc. is receiving a $3.8 million loan through the Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan & Loan Guarantee Program. This investment will help construct 16 miles of fiber to provide high-speed internet access to 800 households and 10 businesses in Union, Washington.

    A full list of projects from today’s announcement is available online.

    Background: ReConnect Program

    Applicants to ReConnect Program funding must serve a rural area that lacks access to service at speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload. Applicants must also commit to building facilities capable of providing high-speed internet service with speeds of 100 Mbps (download and upload) to every location in the proposed service area. Additionally, to ensure that rural households that need internet service can afford it, all awardees will be required to apply to participate in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP offers a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service to qualifying low-income households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal Lands.

    Background: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

    President Biden forged consensus and compromise between Democrats, Republicans and Independents to demonstrate our democracy can deliver big wins for the American people. After decades of talk on rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure, President Biden delivered the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – a historic investment in America that will change people’s lives for the better and get America moving again.

    The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $65 billion to ensure every American has access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet through a historic investment in broadband infrastructure deployment. The legislation also lowers costs for internet service and helps close the digital divide, so that more Americans can take full advantage of the opportunities provided by internet access.

    To learn more about investment resources for rural areas, visit www.rd.usda.gov or contact the nearest USDA Rural Development state office.

    USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov.

  • NMSU Determining Combination of Native Flowers to Attract Different Pollinators

    Pollinator insects play a critical role in the agricultural world. Without their natural transference of pollen from plant to plant while obtaining nutrients, many types of vegetables and fruit for human consumption would not exist.
     
    More than 80 percent of plants are pollinated by animals, mainly insects. In recent years, there has been a decline in pollinator insects for many reasons, one being the decline or loss of habitat.

    This is one area people can help support pollinator populations, by growing native flowering plants from which the pollinators obtain protein and lipids from the pollen, and carbohydrates and amino acids from the nectar.

    Researchers at New Mexico State University’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences are studying the activity of insects, both pollinator and beneficial, around native plants to determine what mix of flowering cultivars will attract the different insect types.

    “We have evaluated 22 different perennial native plants in seven different mixes, or combinations,” said Miranda Kersten, senior program specialist at NMSU’s Agricultural Science Center at Los Lunas, of the study that began in 2017. “For the last two summers, we have done visual observations where we record the number of different insect groups visiting the flower, and taken vacuum samples from each of the plots to see which species are attracted to the plants.”

    From the current study, which is supported by a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Extension Implementation Program grant, the researchers can suggest plants to attract bumble bees, large and small native bees, and natural enemies of pests such as the ladybeetles, syrphid flies, and large and small wasps.

    “The flowers range in color from various shades of purple and pink, to orange, yellow and white,” Kersten said. “We did not use red flowers because insects don’t see that color well and are less attracted to the blossoms.”

    When planning a pollinator garden, it is important to include plants that flower at different times of the season. 

    “All during the season, bees are busy collecting nectar and pollen, depending if they are honey bees or native bees, to feed their babies during the winter,” said Amanda Skidmore, NMSU Cooperative Extension Service small farm integrated pest management specialist. 

    “Spring blooms help the early emerging pollinators,” she said. “Blooms throughout the summer that are different colors and shapes help attract the insects while they are building their nest. Fall blooms help them store up an energy source for their babies’ development.”

    Bees are considered to be the most efficient pollinator. They are the only pollinator that feeds on pollen/nectar as larvae and adults.

    “Some of our native bees are generalists, visiting many types of flowers, while others are specialists, visiting a specific species,” Skidmore said. “Bumblebees are generalists that are active from early spring to late fall, while different species of native bees are active in different times of the year.”

    A little-known fact is that New Mexico has more than 1,000 unique native bee species – the third-highest number in the nation behind California and Arizona.

    During the project, the researchers learned that Riddell’s ragwort was the latest-blooming flower of the plants included in the study and it was highly visited by bees and wasps in the fall. Plants with extra-floral nectaries, such as Rocky Mountain penstemon, can provide additional resources through the growing season and benefit a variety of insects.

    To learn more about identifying these beneficial insect groups, visit https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H172/welcome.html for the Extension publication “Backyard Beneficial Insects of New Mexico.” — By Jane Moorman, New Mexico State University