The Ag Digest logo

Menu

Back to Magazine

Editor

Eli Navarro

Eli Navarro covers what happens between harvest and sale: drying, sorting, storage, processing, and the standards a buyer checks. The stories follow chili peppers through the drying season, hops from bine to pellet, and anything else whose value depends on what happens after it leaves the field.

Articles by Eli Navarro

  1. A spiky green burr split open on the ground, showing a glossy reddish-brown chestnut inside, among grass and fallen twigs

    Forest Crops & Trade8 min read

    The Chestnut Hills: How Korea's Autumn Nut Lost Its Biggest Buyer

    Every autumn the hills around Gongju and Buyeo drop their burrs, and the nuts are sorted by size and sold to a co-op at a price the growers did not set. Behind every bag is a harvest about half what it was at the start of the century, orchards and growers that have aged together, and an export trade to Japan that has all but gone.

    Read article
  2. A green barley field stretching to a hazy horizon on Gapado, with a clump of pale wildflowers at the left

    Spirits & Grain8 min read

    Korean Whisky and the Long Bet on Time

    A Korean distillery pays for grain, casks, and warehouse space years before it can sell a bottle. The public record shows a market that has cooled, inputs that are mostly imported, a climate producers say works fast, and a tax that grows with every year in the cask.

    Read article
  3. Tall walls of green hop bines climbing strings between wooden poles in a hop yard under a grey sky

    Hops & Brewing8 min read

    Can Korea Grow Its Own Hops?

    Korea grew hops once, then imported nearly all of them. Now a handful of farms are planting again while imports fall by half. What would make a Korean hop something brewers buy twice?

    Read article
  4. A dense layer of dried Korean red chili peppers

    Peppers & Seasonality6 min read

    The Pepper Year: From Green Fruit to Korea's Red Pantry

    One plant moves through two markets and a dangerous summer: fresh green pepper, ripe red fruit, dried pods, powder, and the long work of protecting color and flavor.

    Read article