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Farm Advisor Culumber is in Awe

Catherine Culumber is Impressed by Big Production

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Catherine Culumber is a UC Cooperative Extension Orchard Crops Farm Advisor in Fresno County. She has been on the job since June 30, and we wanted to catch up with her since she’s gotten her feet on the ground.

Catherine Culumber, UC Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor, Fresno County.

She came to the position with a Masters in Plant Science and a PhD in Soil Science.

“I’m so happy to be here, and it’s been great to get to know the network of people working in the University of California Cooperative Extension. There is endless amounts of resources and wealth of knowledge that I feel really fortunate to have.”

She is working with almond, walnut and pistachio growers, with the majority of her calls from almond producers.

Culumber was surprised with the vastness of Fresno County and all the production here. “My PhD research was in orchard systems at Utah State University, and it didn’t nearly prepare me for the infinite acreage that I saw upon arriving here,” she said.

She said that she has met some very innovative growers, and they all seem to be doing the best they can for the family farm.

“I think that farmers are very adaptable, and I can see that in recent years with the decrease in water availability, most people have adapted and gone to different micro-irrigation systems to increase their water use efficiency,” Culumber said. “The farmers are working hard to not only be sustainable, but they’re smart business people as well.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-12-27T12:38:59-08:00December 27th, 2016|

Understanding Purpose of CV-SALTS Program

CV-Salts Aims to Develop Salinity and Nitrate Management

By Brian German, Associate Broadcaster

The Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term Sustainability, known simply as CV-SALTS, is a collaborative program to develop sustainable salinity and nitrate management planning for the Central Valley.

Stephanie Tillman is a Soil and Agricultural Scientist for one of the agencies consulting on the project: Land IQ. The company is based in Sacramento and conducts science-based research in the agriculture industry. “We have a group of spatial scientists, or what is known as remote sensing and GIS specialists as well,” Tillman said.

Stephanie Tillman, Soil and Agricultural Scientist, Land IQ

Salinity problems can be very complex, especially when dealing with a large geographical area. CV-SALTS is a coalition of agriculture, city, industry and regulatory agencies working together to form a plan for managing salts and nutrients going forward. “When there’s diverse interests at the table, the potential for success of the regulations is increased because we do things that way and everyone comes to some kind of consensus,” Tillman said.

Salinity and nitrate concentrations are happening with greater frequency and magnitude all over California. As a response, the Central Valley Water Board, the State Water Board and other stakeholders began a joint effort to address those issues in 2006. “One of the really interesting and good outcomes of the CV-SALTS process has been all the technical work that’s been done…so we know a lot more now than we did before about the ambient conditions and the projected conditions,” Tillman said.

Tillman has worked as a soil and agricultural specialist for 15 years in California and other western states. She mentioned that they use remote sensing to gather their data, “which means we use imagery taken by satellites to help solve large-scale agricultural problems.”

The amount of data gathered throughout the process has also broadened the scope of the project from just salinity issues. “We also now know, through the Harter report and other studies, that we have a nitrate problem in the groundwater as well,” Tillman said.

One of the motivators behind getting the CV-SALTS program established was that, “in 2009, the state adopted the Recycled Water Policy, and when the state did that, it was required to write and adopt a salt and nutrient management plan. That includes salt, but it also includes other nutrients that impact groundwater quality,” Tillman said.

An unforeseen outcome of recycled water programs is the impact it has on water quality. “If you want to recycle water, it necessarily means that the quality will go down, and so those are conflicting policies that have to be dealt with in the context of CV-SALTS,” Tillman said.

Another driver behind CV-SALTS is the outdated language within current basin plans. “When they were written, the problems that we have surrounding salt accumulation were not as well understood. Therefore, the regulations that we have…are not adequate to address those problems,” Tillman said.

In 2008, the Central Valley Salinity Coalition was formed to organize, facilitate and fund the efforts needed to fulfill the goals of the CV-SALTS program. The CVSC is composed of many of the water quality coalitions throughout the Central Valley, along with public agencies, businesses, associations and other members. Collectively, the CVSC is working to advance the CV-SALTS effort by coordinating the meetings of the committees and managing various projects.

Most of the regulations that have come from the basin planning process have been drafted, but they are not yet final. The plans are projected to be adopted in June of 2018, leaving ample opportunity for formal and informal review, along with public comment throughout the next year. “Whenever the basin plans are opened up and changed, they are required to allow for public comment,” Tillman said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-12-23T17:09:41-08:00December 23rd, 2016|

Capturing Flood Flows in Almonds, Other Crops

Sustainable Conservation working with experts to recharge below-ground aquifiers

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

The recent Almond Conference in Sacramento brought thousands of growers and other stakeholders of the almond industry together, and a big topic of the meeting was water use, which almond growers are doing a great job in conserving.

Daniel Mountjoy

There’s also a lot of work focused on capturing flood flows due to heavy rains, and diverting it into almond orchards, with a goal of recharging the below-ground aquifer for use later when other surface water is not available. Daniel Mountjoy is with Sustainable Conservation, and he’s a director of resource stewardship.

Mountjoy is responsible for the management of three program areas: (1) Accelerating Restoration – through simplified permitting of small-scale restoration projects, (2) Rewarding Restoration – through payments for measurable outcomes and (3) Water for the Future – which demonstrates and incentivizes groundwater conservation and replenishment. “All our programs at Sustainable Conservation seek environmental solutions that make economic sense,” Mountjoy said.

“We’re focusing our effort on sandy soils where the infiltration rate is really fast. We haven’t had water to test this for the last couple of years, but in 2011, Don Cameron at Terranova Farms in Western Fresno County, captured 3000 acre-feet of water on 1000 acres of sandy farmland. He infiltrated on pistachios, grapes, and alfalfa fields and some fallow land during winter, as well as well into June and July on some of those crops.

Mountjoy said they’re working closely with the Almond Board to help secure more sites, especially the Sacramento Valley. “Because there’s more likelihood that we’re going to have more water supply there to test the concept so both UC Davis and Sustainable Conservation are out working with growers.

Researchers at UC Davis are also working on the crop health aspect in terms of how much excess water could be put on a crop, as well as focusing on how that crop could be managed once it’s flooded with water.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-12-22T17:17:32-08:00December 22nd, 2016|

Farm Workers Fearful for Future

Americans not interested in farm worker jobs, Western Growers Association says

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Jason Resnick

The noble farm workers moving though California orchards and vineyards – where they are pruning trees and tying vines, along with other winter work – are fearful that they could be deported.

“They are scared because there has been a lot of the rhetoric in the news out there that’s come from the presidential campaign,” said Jason Resnick, Vice President and general counsel for the Western Growers Association, based in Irvine. “It has certainly raised concerns for workers. However, we are confident that the President-elect understands the needs of agriculture, the importance of agriculture and that we rely on these workers to harvest the crops that feed the country and the world.”

“For the last decade agricultural leaders through all segments of the ag industry have been leaning hard on Congress for an immigration reform package that will do two things: One that will help us to maintain our existing workforce and to normalize their status,” Resnick said. “And two, we need lawmakers to streamline the future flow of workers who want to come here for the season and do the work and return back to their home country. It’s really a two-prong approach that we are looking for.”

And there has been additional rhetoric, along with letters to editors in major newspapers across the country. Many uninformed people are saying that farm workers should not be here because they are taking away American jobs.

“We’ve known for years and it’s been tested and proven again and again that Americans won’t pick crops at any wage,” Resnick said. “As part of the H2A temporary agricultural program that allows agricultural employee who are facing a shortage of domestic workers to bring foreign workers to the U.S. to perform ag work services on a seasonal basis, we have advertised for American workers in multiple states.”

“We are seeking American workers to do the work at considerable higher wages than minimum wage,” he said. “And we do not get many Americans applying at all. And when we do, they come to work and they barely last a day, let alone the season.”

“People in this country would do almost anything rather than farm work,” Resnick said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-12-21T13:57:19-08:00December 21st, 2016|

Big Almond Crops Coming, Marketing Efforts Shift to Higher Gear

The Almond Board of California Has Eyes on European Consumers

By Joanne Lui, Associate Editor

The Almond Conference was held recently in Sacramento, and growers and pest control advisors heard lots of news from forward-thinking industry leaders. Stacey Humble is Vice President of Global Marketing and Communications for the Almond Board of California, which hosts the annual event. She told California Ag Today that extra big crops are coming.

Stacy Humble

“You know, we have a dramatic increase in production coming online – about 500 million pounds. So, in terms of marketing, we need to make sure that we are utilizing all the resources that we have to their maximum benefit and that we’re reflecting on lessons learned in synergies and opportunities that we can take from one market to the next,” Humble said.

The Almond Board is looking at how they can strengthen sales in new markets as well as existing markets.

“How we can do more in existing markets so that we’re balancing our investment portfolio?” Humble said. “We’re trying to do more quickly in some markets and establish ourselves for success in the long term in other markets.”

A good example of possible increasing sales is the big European market, such as Germany. They are the biggest importer of almonds, but consumers there do not eat them as a nutritious snack.

“The German consumer loves the flavor of almonds, loves almond products and is very familiar with it, but has the lowest top of mind awareness in any market that we work in when it comes to thinking of almonds as a snack,” Humble said. “That is a huge opportunity. It’s essentially a new market for us, within an established market where we have existing trade relationships, where the consumer is familiar with the product and seeks it out already but just does so as a bakery ingredient.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-12-20T11:40:48-08:00December 20th, 2016|

Fine Tuning Almond Irrigation

New technology helps farmers use water to maximum effectiveness

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

At the recent big Almond Conference in Sacramento, there were a lot of discussions on water use in almonds. And while growers are doing a great job in conserving, there’s always ways to improve, according to Larry Schwankl, UC Cooperative Extension Irrigation Specialist Emeritus. He shared with California Ag Today the take-home points of his talk in front of several hundred growers.

Irrigation Specialist Larry Schwankl

“We have been researching, ‘How much do growers need to irrigate?’ We want to make sure that their irrigation system are effective and that they know how long to operate it and then ways of checking to make sure that they’re doing a good job and utilizing soil moisture sensors and devices,” Schwankl said.

Schwankl also suggested that growers use pressure bomb to accurately measure the pressure of water inside a leaf. When used, it’s possible to measure the approximate water status of plant tissues.

In using a pressure bomb, the stem of a leaf is placed in a sealed chamber, and pressurized gas is added to the chamber slowly. The device has been calibrated to indicate whether or not that leaf is stressed for water.

“We can predict how much water the tree’s going to need, and we can predict how much an irrigation system is going to put on, but there’s errors in all predictions,” Schwankl said. “We need to go back and check and make sure that we’re staying on target. That’s where knowing the soil moisture and the plant water status really helps.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-12-19T13:53:18-08:00December 19th, 2016|

Past CFBF President Pauli Reflects Back

Former head of California Farm Bureau Federation played instrumental part in many ag issues

California Ag Today enjoyed a recent conversation with Bill Pauli who farms wine grapes and Bartlett pears in Mendocino County on the North Coast.

Past California Farm Bureau Federation President Bill Pauli

Pauli was one of many that interviewed at the California Farm Bureau Federation’s 98^th annual Conference in Monterey earlier this month.

Pauli served as President of the California Farm Bureau Federation during some very challenging times. “I started clear back in 1981 as a vice-president of the California Farm Bureau, and culminated with president in 2005.

“During that period, I was heavily involved with CALFED and the Delta issues, which are so important to us and for which we’re seeing the issues today with the Delta and water supply and water management and availability,” Pauli said.

CALFED was created because of the importance of the Delta to California. The majority of the state’s water runs through the Delta and into aqueducts and pipelines that distribute it to 25 million Californians throughout the state, making it the single largest and most important source of water for drinking, irrigation and industry.

“I was also involved in a lot of the worker compensation issues, because when Governor Schwarzenegger came in, that was the big issue, or rates and what we were paying. That was always the important issue for me. We had all the other issues related to labor over that period of time, along with the environmental issues that continue to expand.

It’s not news that California Farm Bureau carries the water for almost all the other farming organizations in many ways noted Pauli.

“The thing that’s so unique about the California Farm Bureau, and our county farm bureaus in every county of the state, is that we represent all of agriculture.

CFBF represents 450 different commodities for the individual grower all the way down to the local ag level in California.

We have the big, broad-picture issues, but there’s also the local issues that are so important to the individual producer,” Pauli said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-12-16T16:09:15-08:00December 16th, 2016|

Paul Wenger: We Must Take Advantage of Signal to D.C.

California Farm Bureau Federation says Republican President, House and Senate are good news for California Ag

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

At the recent 98^th Annual Meeting of the California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) there was definitely a positive buzz in the air regarding the recent election.

Walnut and almond grower and CFBF President Paul Wenger said agriculture should take quick advantage of what is an unexpected trifecta.

president of the California Farm Bureau Federation

Paul Wenger

“During the Bush administration, the Republicans controlled the house and the Senate and also the White House, and we didn’t quite get done the things that we want to get done, but I think there was a signal sent in this last election,” Wenger said. “It surprised everybody. It surprised the Republicans, the Democrats, the Independents – everybody. The establishment. The non-establishment.”

Wenger said the industry has an opportunity to work with the incoming Trump Administration to actually get some things done. “I think the voters sent a very clear signal. We don’t want business as usual. We want to see things get done. People need jobs. People need to be able to not be held down by all this regulatory morasses out there, and so I think in the first 100 days and definitely within the first 14 months, it will make or break this administration,” Wenger said.

“We need to work together. We need to get moderate Democrats with the Republicans. We cannot allow … divisions within the Republican party. We’re lucky to have California Congressman and House Majority leader Kevin McCarthy in a very influential position,” Wenger said. “We have a great list of congressmen around the state – not only in the Republican but the Democrat side – to work together. So let’s solve some problems.”

Wenger noted that agriculture needs relief from the Environmental Protection Agency.

“I think one of the things that the Trump Administration wants to do through the Interior and the EPA is to get some relaxation or some equity in the Endangered Species Act,” Wenger said.

“The Endangered Species Act was put in under a Republican administration, but nobody thought it would be carried out to the extreme that it is. It’s a very immovable object. Let’s get some flexibility in this that gives mankind the same equal footing that we have for other species because we’re dependent upon that water,” Wenger said. “We can have a healthy environment and a healthy economy and produce food, but so far, those doors have been slammed shut, and it’s only one way, and that’s the species way.”

The Trans Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement is another issue. “We’re going to have to work with the Trump Administration. He came out during the campaign, said he was against it. He said he was against NAFTA. We need these trade agreements,” Wenger said. “He said he was going to put up a wall, but the other day he said in that wall there’s going to be doors, so if we can work with this Trump Administration and make sure that we have an available legal workforce, that’s great, but Waters of the US (WOTUS) is dead in the first few days of his administration,” Wenger said. “This will be good for all farmers and ranchers across the country.”

WOTUS is a rule that was a 2015 ruling by EPA as part of the Clean Water Act, which says that the EPA as expanded agency over bodies of water and even low areas of ag land where water can settle. It has been met with lawsuits form many states, and major pushback by agriculture.

Wenger said that the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) may also get another look. “We think there’s a good potential that they’ll take another look at and make it more practical rather than this onerous rule that everybody’s trying to figure out,” Wenger said. “Also, we think the estate tax is something that he’ll take a look at.”

“We’re excited to work with a new administration, see what we can forge in the first 100 days for sure, and at least in the first 14 months so that not only do we have a trifecta for the first two years of his administration, but the last two years too,” Wenger said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-12-15T15:04:21-08:00December 15th, 2016|

Ciatti Co. Hoping for a Smaller Winegrapes Crop in 2017

Brexit Also A Concern for California Sellers

By Joanne Lui, Associate Editor

The Ciatti Company – a worldwide company headquartered in San Rafael, CA – has been in the wine, grape concentrate and spirit brokerage business since 1971. They are experts in the industry, and President Greg Livengood spoke to California Ag Today recently to give an update on this year’s harvest and prices around the globe.

Ciatti Co. President Greg Livengood

“World supply is down a little bit this year from last. We saw some major weather events in the southern hemisphere to start out the year. … Starting in January in Argentina, we saw a fair amount of rain throughout the harvest. They were down a little over 30 percent from their three-million-ton average harvest and that really set the tone for South America,” Livengood said.

“Right behind that, the Chileans got going. They hit about the halfway point of their harvest when El Nino came and slapped them around a little bit. It rained very hard there – five major weather events – and their crop was down at least 20 percent, but in addition to that, they probably would have been down more, but they tried to salvage some of that fruit that suffered a lot of damage from the rain.”

According to Livengood, all of this may not affect pricing in California.

“It certainly helps to set a floor, a pricing floor, and that floor has come up,” Livengood said. “I don’t know that pricing necessarily will go in any direction here based on what happened down there, but … it’s a much more shallow dive that pricing could potentially take here if things go the wrong way.”

A real concern for California winemakers is actually Brexit – Britain’s exit from the European Union.

“ U.K.’s been a very good … market for wine. It is. They don’t grow a lot of their own so they’re buying it from everywhere else. It’s been a very good market for the U.S. The problem with Brexit is the economy. It’s the value of the pound, so the pound took a big hit when Brexit was announced. There’s concern it will take more of a hit. That decreases their buying power and that’s a concern for us here in the U.S. because our prices are generally a little bit higher than all of our competitors around the world,” Livengood said.

“We’re selling on the California name and we’re selling on quality and so as that consumer and as that retail buyer in the U.K. has less buying power, we do have concern that they may look for alternatives to California.”

Overall, Livengood actually hopes for a smaller crop worldwide because high crop yields in multiple years isn’t necessarily a good thing for the industry.

“You never want really long oversupply. 2013, worldwide, it was a bumper crop just about everywhere. We had too much wine in ‘14 and ’15 … and it’s taken us almost three years to really eat through a lot of that inventory. A shorter worldwide crop here in 16 is certainly something that we would welcome.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-12-14T14:18:16-08:00December 14th, 2016|

Youth in California Cattle

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

Statistically, it appears millennials aren’t considering agriculture as a career path. The USDA’s “2007 Census of Agriculture: Farmers by Age,” reports the average age of cattle ranchers was 57.8 years old. Malorie Bankhead, director of communications for the California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) and a millennial herself, said, “Young people in the beef industry have a really unique opportunity to get involved in something called the Young Cattlemen’s Committee (YCC), the young affiliate of our California Cattlemen’s Association.

Young Cattlemen’s Committee (YCC)

Bankhead explained, “There are four college chapters: Fresno State, Chico State, Cal Poly and UC Davis. We don’t discourage membership from high school students or even folks younger than that who are interested in getting involved. The membership is $25 per year, and with that, you’re afforded a wealth of opportunity to become involved. We have a fairly robust scholarship program available to YCC members where we interview up-and-coming leaders in the beef industry who are focusing academically and extracurricularly on the beef industry, with the career goal to reenter the beef industry.”

Bankhead said the Young Cattlemen on the Capitol event, set for April 5, “is another opportunity for young people in the industry—specifically YCC members—to come to the CCA office in Sacramento to to learn from our staff about the current hot topics in the beef industry affecting ranchers. We turn to discussions with those folks and each other and build your network in the beef industry. We also tour the Capitol, visit some legislators and network with them on issues impacting the beef industry.” Registration information is forthcoming on the CCA website under the YCC tab.

Patrick Cavanaugh2021-05-12T11:17:14-07:00February 15th, 2016|

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