Ag News: China Coronavirus Flexibility and Cosmic Crisp Survey
**Chinese officials are hoping the U.S. will agree to some flexibility on pledges in their phase-one trade deal.
This comes, sources tell Agweb.com, as Beijing tries to contain the Coronavirus health crisis that threatens domestic growth with repercussions around the world.
Phase-One has a clause that states the U.S. and China will consult “in the event that a natural disaster or other unforeseeable event” delays either from complying with the agreement.
**Idaho-based research firm Category Partners surveyed a group of consumers about Cosmic Crisp which got rave reviews.
The catch, Senior vice president Steve Lutz tells thepacker.com, because the new apple’s seen only a limited launch at this point, finding Cosmic Crisp consumers was tricky.
So, they identified prospective respondents from a social media site followed by a lot of WSU alumni, figuring since the Cosmic Crisp was developed there, Cougars would be more likely to have tried it.
Results? 86% said they were completely satisfied, and 74% said they’d buy Cosmic Crisp again. Go Cougs!
**California tomato processors expect to handle about 12-million tons of fruit this year, a figure essentially unchanged from 2019.
That's good news for the state's processing tomato growers, whose 2019 crop fell short due to late-season rain and hail.
With exports still uncertain, growers expect more of their harvest to be used domestically in products ranging from soup to salsa.