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Key Climate Data Added to Enhance Grower Decision-Support Tool

By Pam Kan-Rice UCANR

Free CalAgroClimate tool helps growers protect crops from frost and extreme heat

California farmers can see how climatic conditions that may affect agriculture are changing in their regions by using CalAgroClimate so they can make strategic changes. Nine new agriculturally important climate indicators have been added to the decision-support tool created by UC Cooperative Extension and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists.

These new tools use a high-resolution climate dataset called PRISM to provide location-specific or county-aggregated long-term trends in agroclimatic indicators from 1980 to last year. These new agroclimate indicators include Frost Days, Last Spring Freeze, First Fall Freeze, Freeze-Free Season, Tropical Nights, Hot Days, Extreme Heat Days, Heatwaves and Diurnal Temperature Range (see definitions below). These indicators were derived from a study published in the journal Agronomy.

All of the new tools are free and available on CalAgroClimate for anyone to access.

“Frost-related tools such as Frost Days, Last Spring Freeze, First Fall Freeze, and Freeze-Free Season can help farmers and agricultural clientele make informed long-term choices,” said Tapan B. Pathak, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in climate adaptation in agriculture based at UC Merced, who is leading the CalAgroClimate project.

“For instance, if you are planning to invest in a frost sensitive crop in your region, these indicators can provide valuable information on whether frost risk has changed over time and whether it is less risky to make such an investment,” he said. “Wine grapes, for instance, are very sensitive to frost. Although not all frost events are damaging, understanding long-term trends in frost can help in making long-term strategic decisions such as whether to invest in frost protections.”

Another set of new agroclimatic indicators, on CalAgroClimate – Tropical Nights, Hot Days, Extreme Heat Days, Heatwaves and Diurnal Temperature Range – are based on higher maximum and minimum temperatures. Tropical Nights, for instance, calculates total number of nights when overnight temperatures exceed 68 F. More frequent tropical nights can increase crop respiration rates and can be detrimental for fruit quality and quantity, increase the risk of damage from pathogens, and potentially impact fruit set and yield.

Knowing how trends are evolving over time can assist growers in managing their crops to reduce risks. Similarly, growers can easily look at trends related to heat – hot days, extreme heat and heatwaves – on CalAgroClimate to assess their options on what they need to do to be adaptive. In the short term, growers may put up shade or for longer term, choose varieties that are more heat-tolerant.

“In recently published work, one of the farmers in the Central Valley told us, ‘When you really see so much difference in a short amount of time in your immediate area…we would have to look at that and say, well, we’re going to have to adapt varieties because this is a 20- or 25-year planting and we’re going to have to find crops or varieties that will adapt to that,’” Pathak said.

Another farmer told us, “Knowing what’s going to happen or at least having a good idea, if you know something’s going to be become or won’t be viable, then obviously you’re going to try to phase that out, and phase in something that’s better suited.”

Pathak added, “The new agroclimatic indicators on CalAgroClimate provide a reality check on how conditions are changing in short and long-term, what it means for farmers and to assist them on deciding what they need to do to be adaptive. These tools will greatly benefit farmers and agricultural clientele in assessing risks and making informed decisions.”

Other collaborators include Steven Ostoja and Lauren Parker of the USDA California Climate Hub, Prakash Kumar Jha of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and Robert Johnson and Shane Feirer of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Informatics and Geographic Information Systems.

Definitions of AgroClimatic Indicators:

Frost Days are days in a year with minimum temperature below or equal to 32F.

Last Spring Freeze is the latest day in spring when minimum temperature is below or equal to 32F.

First Fall Freeze is the earliest day in fall when minimum temperature falls to 32F or below.

Freeze-Free Season is the time between the last spring and first fall freeze, represented by the number of consecutive days in a year without freezing temperatures.

Tropical Nights are number of nights when temperatures exceed 68F.

Hot Days are the days per year with maximum temperature exceeding 100 °F.

Extreme Heat Days are the number of days per year with maximum temperatures warmer than the 98^th percentile of historical summer maximum temperature for the selected location.

Heatwaves are events that occur when extreme heat lasts for at least three consecutive days.

Diurnal Temperature Range is the difference between daily maximum and minimum temperatures.

California Ag Today2023-05-12T12:40:25-07:00May 12th, 2023|

Fresno State Helps Lead USDA Efforts to Strengthen California Food Industry

By Geoff Thurner, Fresno State Jordan College

Fresno State’s Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology will receive $2.2 million from the United States Department of Agriculture to take on a leadership role in the new Southwest USDA Regional Food Business Center that will help small- and medium-sized farmers and food producers integrate with larger, regional food supply chains.

The regional center is part of a $35 million cooperative agreement led by the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources that will offer added assistance in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Colonias communities with inadequate infrastructure along the rural, U.S.-Mexican border. The Jordan College joins 16 organizations and 38 collaborators from four states, coming together to enhance and expand business support services to food and farm businesses.

“Food security is national security,” said Dr. Rolston St. Hilaire, dean of the Jordan College. “I am pleased that, through our team’s participation in the Southwest Regional Food Business Center, we will be able to address regional food insecurity challenges and provide insights on the economic viability of food and farm businesses across the supply chain.”

The Department of Agricultural Business at Fresno State will work to expand connections with underrepresented minority growers, service providers and businesses to leverage resources and expand opportunities for growth and economic stability. Dr. Srinivasa Konduru, chair of the department, said faculty will share their expertise to help food producers and other food businesses improve their business plans, especially to optimize strategies for supply chain integration.

The Department of Industrial Technology at Fresno State will help small and medium food businesses leverage technology to improve efficiencies, develop new products and packaging, increase traceability and ensure customer satisfaction.

“All of these areas are vital for today’s regional and global supply chains and Central Valley economy,” said Dr. Arun Nambiar, chair of the Department of Industrial Technology. “It is imperative to provide them with every possible assistance to ensure that they can thrive in today’s world of stiff competition. We will consult with them to help them select, implement and use appropriate technology so that they can access wider markets.”

Dr. Erin Stafford Dormendy, chair of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at Fresno State, will share her expertise in making the food supply chain as safe as possible by controlling food-borne pathogens and improving food contact safety. She will work with small- and mid-sized food businesses on best practices for food safety, quality control and sustainability that businesses can follow to meet the regulatory requirements of larger buyers. She will help train a team of graduate students and a team of undergraduate students to become the next generation of leaders in the food processing industry.

The Southwest USDA Regional Food Business Center will add expertise from the university’s Water, Energy, and Technology (WET) Center, which provides vital resources and support to local food entrepreneurs, farmers and innovators, driving economic growth and sustainability in the region.

“I am thrilled the award will support our food accelerator program that can contribute to the transformation of the food system of California’s Central Valley,” said Helle Peterson, director of the WET Center. “We will empower the next generation of food leaders to bring food products and innovations to communities throughout California and beyond.”

Finally, the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will provide a team of two MBA students per semester to consult on in-depth projects that will focus on opportunity assessment, feasibility assessment, business planning, marketing strategies and HR issues tailored to the food producers’ needs.

The Southwest USDA Regional Food Center is one of 12 centers recently unveiled by the USDA as part of a $420 million initiative to help the economy avoid an overreliance on national-scale businesses across the nation. Encouraging smaller, regional food suppliers could help to alleviate food distribution vulnerabilities that were exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when certain companies shut down temporarily.

“From the second I spotted this opportunity, I knew the Jordan College could be a leader for California,” said Gil Harootunian, executive director of University Initiatives and the Office of the Provost. “The Jordan College houses the experts who can be the backbone of this work to create more resilient, diverse and connected food supply chains.”

California Ag Today2023-05-12T11:56:40-07:00May 12th, 2023|

USDA Forecasts Smaller Almond Crop

By Rick Kushman, Almond Board of California

The 2023 California Almond Subjective Forecast published Friday by the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS) estimates that the crop harvested in 2023 will come in at 2.50 billion pounds, 3 percent below last year’s 2.57 billion pounds.

Forecasted yield is 1,810 pounds per acre, down 90 pounds from 2022 and the lowest since 2005.

“A lower crop estimate was not unexpected considering all that growers dealt with last year and during this year’s bloom,” said Richard Waycott, president and CEO of the Almond Board of California (ABC). “The cold, wet weather kept bees in their hives and reduced the hours they could pollinate orchards. In the past three years, growers have faced high costs, shipping issues, drought and more. But the water picture is better, at least for this year, shipping continues at record levels and global demand continues to grow. California’s almond farmers are prepared to meet that global demand.”

The report said: “Record rainfall and unprecedented stormy conditions impacted pollination. Limited bee flight hours were reported in all growing regions. There were reports of downed trees due to high winds and oversaturated soil. Yields are expected to be the lowest in years, with variation observed across varieties and orchard locations. Colder than normal temperatures continued through March and April, resulting in a delayed crop.”

The Subjective Forecast is the first of two production reports from USDA-NASS for the coming crop year. It is an estimate based on opinions from a survey conducted from April 19 to May 6 of 500 randomly selected California almond growers. The sample of growers, which changes every year, is spread across regions and different sized operations, and they had the option to report their data by mail, online or phone.

On July 7, USDA-NASS will release its second production estimate, the 2023 California Almond Objective Report, which is based on actual almond counts in nearly 1,000 orchards using a more statistically rigorous methodology to determine yield.

This Subjective Forecast comes two weeks after USDA-NASS released the 2022 California Almond Acreage Report which found total almond acreage had dropped in 2022 to 1.63 million, 1.2 percent down from 1.65 million in 2021. It also estimated 1.38 million bearing acres in 2023, up from 2022’s estimate of 1.35 million bearing acres.

USDA-NASS conducts the annual Subjective Forecast, Objective Report and Acreage Report to provide the California almond industry with the data needed to make informed business decisions. These reports are the official industry crop estimates.

California Ag Today2023-05-12T11:46:14-07:00May 12th, 2023|

Louder Voices, Bigger Investments Needed for California Water Security, Local Experts Say

By Alex Tavlian, San Joaquin Valley Sun

The California Water Alliance’s water forum tackled how best to fight for a stable, plentiful water supply for America’s breadbasket.

As the San Joaquin Valley yo-yos from drought to flooding, the region’s top water experts spent Thursday afternoon examining how to best approach the Valley’s long and short-term needs.

The viewpoints came amid the California Water Alliance’s third-annual water forum featuring the leaders of Friant Water Authority, Westlands Water District, farmer Cannon Michael, and Rep. John Duarte (R–Modesto).

Duarte hones in on twin crises: With the expected ‘Big Melt’ likely to increase flooding likelihoods across the San Joaquin Valley over the spring and summer, Duarte opened the forum by noting that he pressed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite permitting for channel flow improvements by water agencies.

“I would encourage anyone who can to move ambitiously on this opportunity. There may be some Federal grants available, but the diesel is going to be cheaper than the biologists later,” Duarte said. “So get busy.”

The freshman Republican congressman stressed that bringing California’s water security conversation to its urban hubs in the Bay Area, and particularly Southern California, should center around its ability to relieve housing affordability through the creation of new, available 50-year water supplies.
He added that the dream list of water projects – from proposed new dams to raising pre-existing reservoirs – would run the state roughly $12 billion.

“I’m in favor of the Federal government and the state government paying for it. California had $31 billion in unemployment fraud during COVID. California’s paying $120 billion for a bullet train nobody’s going to ride. It’s currently flooded, it’s a bullet boat. [Gov. Gavin Newsom’s] gonna go from Woke Moses to Woke Noah this summer,” Duarte said.

“The money’s there. There’s a definite sentiment in at least part of Congress, and I think it’s spreading. I think there’s a lot of urban legislators that are Democrats that are starting to wake up and find out that our water scarcity in California is really hurting working families up and down the state. Without water abundance we will never have affordable housing for working families in California again.”

Reality check needed: Michael, a member of a litany of water organizations and chairman of the San Luis-Delta Mendota Water Authority, pressed for an all-of-the-above approach to the state’s water fluctuations, acknowledging the need for groundwater recharge while boosting above ground water storage.

“It makes me nervous a little bit that some of the NGO community is highlighting groundwater recharge as strongly as they are. Not that I don’t think it’s valuable. But in some ways, it’s kind of a head fake. It’s this shiny object that’s going to solve these problems. It’s going to solve some problems, but [the Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley] has done a great job of pointing out the deficit in the Valley of water and the only way out of that is from above ground storage.

Michael singled out Shasta Dam as the poster child for the tug of war.

“There’s this opposition to raising Shasta, which is just insane. It was designed to be bigger and it’s a key component of our system. That reservoir has essentially been hijacked,” Michael said. “That reservoir will never be drawn down below 1 million acre-feet any more. We saw that last year when the Settlement contractors, who were supposed to get 75 or 100 percent of their supply got 18 percent At the same time, there was 1 million acre-feet more of water in Shasta than in 1977.”

Embracing recharge: Freshly-minted Westlands Water District executive director Allison Febbo noted that the nation’s largest agricultural water district is focused on tackling water scarcity by leaning into efficiencies while rapidly embracing in groundwater recharge, a top priority of the district.

“What we need to do is be able to recharge and really squirrel away the water when we have this abundance of water that we’re seeing right now we need to be able to take that and save it for the future,” Febbo said.

“Westlands has gone from zero recharge to right now over 1600 acre feet a day of recharge, and we’re hoping to get to over 65,000 acre feet of recharge in the next month or two, possibly more.”

Febbo added that a collaborative approach was the route to strengthen water security in the Valley.

“This isn’t something that can be done by just one water district or one water agency or even one region, this is really a statewide solution where we need to be collaborating with each other, partnering with each other, and moving away from this ‘If I win, you lose’ or ‘If you win, I lose’ mentality,” she said. “We need to be collaborating together and finding multifaceted solutions for these problems.”

A call-to-action: Jason Phillips, the chief of the Friant Water Authority, laid bare the deficiencies in securing increased water supplies for central California, calling on farmers to utilize their voices for targeted investments.

“I would say that we need to understand something very clearly: we have failed miserably for 40-plus years at generating new water supplies and constructing anything. We’ve gotten nothing done for new storage. So, we need to be very careful when we say ‘We need to build new storage.’ We’ve been saying that for 40 years,” Phillips said.

“We failed with CALFED, which was a President Clinton and Governor Gray Davis joint proposal to build five new reservoirs, none of which happened. That was 23 years ago,” the Friant chief said. “[2014’s] Prop. 1 was a failure. It passed, but it has not been building any new storage.”

“When we talk about what we should be focusing on, the only people who should be focusing on storage is Congressman Duarte and others who can write into law that you are going to go get it done. Because the environmental community and the current people that run this government, they have our number. Checkmate it every time. They will make sure we don’t build it, no matter how smart or how good we think we’re going to get it done.”

“We need to get more sophisticated at how we can go and actually start building water supply. The most important infrastructure that we need is infrastructure of advocates and advocacy to be able to use our existing project facilities. The reason we failed for the last 40 years and depressing as it might sound we might fail for the next 40 is because we’re not able to sit up here and articulate quickly enough – because it’s so complicated in California – why we’ve lost so much water.”

“In 2008 and 2009 there was a biological opinion that was forced upon us by government employees – not Congress – that cost us more water than five Temperance Flat Reservoirs would have produced like that. Gone.”
Phillips turned the table on professional advocates, lawyers, and lobbyists working on behalf of water agencies and grower groups who have insufficiently fought onerous water cutbacks.

“Most of [the 2008/2009 biological opinions], you were all paying someone who agreed to it. That was our advocacy. You were paying somebody to agree to give up water on an order of magnitude that far exceeds any storage projects we’ve built,” Phillips said.

“The hardest thing is that the government employees using the Endangered Species Act and other laws to take our operation of existing projects and constantly tweak it to send more water out to the ocean – and it’s not instead of what they were sending, it’s always on top of that.

“We will have choices to make: do we want to advocate against that? Or do we want all of who you’re paying for to go sit at the table with the government to agree to give up more of our water?”

Rethinking the Calif. equation: Ryan Jacobsen, the Fresno County Farm Bureau boss, noted that the state needed a reality check to its once-simple water equation of 50-40-10, meaning 50 percent of water went to environment, 40 percent of water went to agriculture, and 10 percent to municipal and industrial water users.

“That’s no longer true. Today, those numbers are 80.5 percent of the water in the state of California goes toward environmental purposes now. Of that, 50 percent of that is uncaptured in the environment, 30.5 percent is captured and stored for the environment. Fifteen percent of the total supply is now going toward agriculture, and 4.5 percent is the urban share,” Jacobsen said, citing a new study from the California Farm Bureau Federation.

California Ag Today2023-05-11T15:10:38-07:00May 11th, 2023|

Hales to Join UC ANR Leadership Team

By Pam Kan-Rice, UCANR

Higher education leader is known for his work with underrepresented communities

Brent Hales will be joining University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources as the new associate vice president for research and Cooperative Extension beginning July 1.

“After a nationwide search, Brent emerged as a proven and respected leader who will help us to strengthen partnerships, build trust, address challenges and define our 2040 strategic vision,” said Glenda Humiston, UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources.

Hales brings over 20 years of higher education research and leadership experience, including at land grant institutions and in Cooperative Extension. He currently serves as an associate dean of Pennsylvania State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences and director of Penn State Extension.

“I am very excited to join the UC ANR family,” Hales said. “My grandfather was a 1939 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and both of my parents grew up in California.”

Before joining Penn State in 2019, he served as the senior associate dean and chief financial officer of the University of Minnesota Extension, associate dean for the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality, and the director of the Economic Development Authority Center at University of Minnesota, Crookston.

His research focuses on holistic community and economic development and entrepreneurship. He has spent his career working across the United States and the globe with underrepresented communities. Since 1998, Hales has worked with Native American Nations in asset development and capacity building.

“I am excited to collaborate with California’s Native Nations, urban residents and underinvolved Californians as they seek to achieve their goals,” Hales said. “Some notable areas are tackling climate change, food security and workforce development.”

“What excites me most is to be part of the leadership team for the premier institution of Ag and Natural Resources research and extension in the United States,” Hales said. “The people, the facilities, the opportunities and the engagement with the communities and organizations of California is second to none.”

Hales earned a Ph.D. in rural sociology from Iowa State University, a master’s degree in sociology from Middle Tennessee State University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Brigham Young University in Utah.

He is the father of six children, is the grandfather of six grandchildren and has been married to his best friend Candy for over 30 years.

Deanne Meyer, UC Cooperative Extension livestock specialist, has been serving UC ANR as interim associate vice president for research and Cooperative Extension over the past year and is assisting Hales with the transition.

UC Agriculture and Natural Resources brings the power of UC to all 58 California counties. Through research and Cooperative Extension in agriculture, natural resources, nutrition, economic and youth development, our mission is to improve the lives of all Californians. Learn more at ucanr.edu and support our work at donate.ucanr.edu.

California Ag Today2023-05-11T11:58:57-07:00May 11th, 2023|

Agricultural Organizations Hold Heat Illness Prevention and Wildfire Smoke Training Session

On May 12, 2023 a coalition of agricultural organizations will hold two Heat Illness Prevention and Wildfire Smoke Training Sessions in

Easton, California. Manuel Cunha, Jr., President of Nisei Farmers League said, “we appreciate the staff and the efforts of the Department of Industrial Relations,

Cal/OSHA Consultation staff with their presentation of the safety message: WATER, REST, SHADE.” Jeff Killip, the Cal/OSHA Chief will attend the

afternoon session.

Cunha continued, “the efforts by all our agricultural partners, as well as Cal/OSHA is to educate employers and supervisors about the dangers of working in the heat and the dangers of wildfire smoke. We have held many educational sessions, sent out publications, had media events and continue to have ongoing outreach efforts throughout the State. Education is the key to reducing the number of heat illnesses and the dangers of wildfire smoke that we see in our fields.”

Attend one of the sessions on May 12, 2023 for the latest educational materials outlining high heat procedures and wildfire smoke training including

additional steps to be taken to ensure our employees safety. In addition, Carlos Suarez, State Conservationist for USDA-NRCS will be in attendance to discuss Flood Disaster Assistance Programs and answer your questions. He will be present for the Spanish and English Sessions. Joe Prado, Assistant Director, Fresno County Department of Public Health will bring Fresno County’s Rural Mobile Health Unit which offers medical services at no cost to agricultural workers and residents living in the rural communities of Fresno County. You can request the mobile unit at DPHMobileHealth@FresnoCountyCA.gov or call 559-600-4063.

Date: Friday, May 12, 2023

Time: Session One in Spanish 10:00 a.m. to noon

Session Two in English 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Place: C.P.D.E.S. Portuguese Hall, 172 W Jefferson Avenue Fresno

(referred to as the Easton Hall)

There is no cost for attending these training sessions. Donuts & coffee served.

We want to thank our agricultural partners listed below:

Fresno County Farm Bureau

Nisei Farmers League

Allied Grape Growers

American Pistachio Growers

Olive Growers Council of California

African American Farmers of California

California Cotton Ginners & Growers Association

California Fresh Fruit Association

California Apple Commission

California Blueberry Association

Tulare County Farm Bureau

Western Agricultural Processors Association

This should be attended by Farmers, Farm Labor Contractors, Packing Houses

and Processing Facilities Employers, Farm Managers, Crew Bosses, Foremen and Supervisors

Certificates of Completion will be issued at the end of each session by Cal-OSHA

California Ag Today2023-05-11T11:51:44-07:00May 10th, 2023|

UC Davis Releases 5 Strawberry Varieties Resistant to Deadly Fungal Disease

By Emily C. Dooley

The University of California, Davis, is releasing five new strawberry varieties that are resistant to the soilborne disease Fusarium wilt, have high yields and improved fruit quality.

UC Eclipse, UC Golden Gate, UC Keystone, UC Monarch and UC Surfline will be available for sale to California nurseries from Foundation Plant Services in April.

Roughly 88 percent of strawberries grown in the nation come from California. Fusarium wilt is one of the most common reasons for crop loss and death and yet 55 to 59 precent of cultivars planted in the state since 2014 have not been resistant, according to UC Davis research.

This is the first release from the UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program where all the cultivars have Fusarium wilt resistance. They are meant to replace susceptible plants on the market such as Monterey, UCD Royal Royce and UCD Valiant.

Monarch was also developed specifically as a prototype for mechanical harvesting – another first out of the breeding program, which dates to the 1930s and has released 72 patented cultivars over the decades.

“These provide the same yield or better and they are Fusarium resistant,” said Steve Knapp, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and director of the UC Davis Strawberry Breeding Program. “They have a better collection of traits. They’re superior.”

Dangerous pathogen

Fusarium wilt didn’t present much of a danger to strawberry crops until after the fumigant methyl bromide was phased out of use in the United States in 2005. But the pathogen had always been in the soil, and cases of wilt appeared a year later and increased over time, leading to concerns that a Fusarium wilt pandemic could destroy the crop in California.

“The disease has taken off fast and we need to react quickly to address the need,” said Glenn Cole, a breeder and field manager with the Strawberry Breeding Program.

Knapp said the program tries to “encourage people to consider things like disease resistance” and routinely invites growers and other experts to events showcasing research breakthroughs and improved cultivars.

Varieties for the seasons

The new strawberry varieties each have improved flavor and characteristics that allow for near year-round growing around California, where about 1.8 billion pounds of the fruit are harvested each year. Some of the cultivars are adapted for production in the southern part of the state while others do well under the long daylight hours of summer along the coast.

Eclipse, a “summer plant” cultivar, has the potential to increase grower profitability as it produces in the fall and winter, and yields during research testing were 54 percent higher than similar cultivars. “We expect this cultivar to have wide commercial appeal,” Knapp said. “Eclipse is going to eclipse them all.”

Golden Gate and Keystone are “day neutral.” Those type of cultivars grow throughout the summer on about 60 percent of strawberry farming acres in the state. The “short-day” plants Surfline and Monarch are resistant to Verticillium wilt and Phytophthora crown rot.

Surfline and Eclipse are firmer and promise longer shelf lives. Monarch provides growers with improved fruit qualities relative to other mass-produced cultivars and has characteristics needed for advances in mechanical harvesting, Knapp said.

Genetic tools

Breeding program experts have long been researching ways to improve strawberry cultivars so the crop can withstand pests, disease and other stressors. To find plants that had Fusarium wilt resistance, they obtained the DNA of thousands of plants in field studies. The scientists also developed genetic tools to screen the plants and identify the genes that have resistance to the Fusarium pathogen.

Knowing that information allowed the team to breed resistance into and develop new cultivars, at a faster rate than previous efforts. “These tools have allowed us to sweep out the susceptibility and bring in resistance,” Knapp said.

California Ag Today2023-04-27T08:27:32-07:00April 27th, 2023|

Westlands Water District Celebrates 100% Water Allocation from the Central Valley Project

Today, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) announced an increase in water allocations for the Central Valley Project (CVP). Last month, Reclamation increased the CVP allocation to 80% for contractors like Westlands Water District (Westlands) following an initial allocation of 35% of the water entitled to under contract. Today’s announcement brings the total up to 100% for the first time since 2017.

In response to the announcement, Jose Gutierrez, Westlands’ interim general manager, issued the following statement:

“We are exceedingly grateful to Reclamation, and its dedicated and hard-working staff, for the increased water allocation. Following two years of 0% allocations, this announcement will provide much needed water to support the District’s communities, family-owned farms, and hard-working families in the San Joaquin Valley. This water supply will assist growers in Westlands with putting the land to work to grow the food that feeds the world.”

Mr. Gutierrez noted further:

“At the same time, we must recognize the need to continue preparing for the next drought and future dry years. For that reason, Westlands is investing in a sustainable water future for our farmers. Westlands is exploring and implementing creative approaches to maximize water use efficiency, recharge and storage and improve climate resilience.”

Seizing the opportunity that this year’s hydrology has presented, Westlands has supported its landowners’ efforts to use available water to recharge the Westside Subbasin. To date, District landowners have the capability of recharging up to 3,300 acre feet of water per day. And, groundwater recharge is expected to increase over the coming weeks as both more projects become operational and water becomes available.

This year demonstrates the need to continue the investment in California’s water infrastructure and to refine environmental regulations, so that California is able to capture, transport, and store as much water as possible during wet periods to avoid drastic cuts during dry periods. As climate continues to change, we must remain steadfast in investing in a more predictable and reliable water supply system for our environment, residents, farms and communities.

California Ag Today2023-04-24T09:58:15-07:00April 24th, 2023|

Storm Damage Resources and New Assistance for Distressed Borrowers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reminded growers of current and new federal assistance this week for producers impacted by floods and facing financial risk.

California continues to be inundated with surface water, both runoff from snow melt and extended precipitation. USDA reminded California growers that both technical and financial help is available through federal disaster assistance. Producers with flooding damage are heavily encouraged to document the damage with pictures, receipts and farm records. Any of those items will help expedite assistance, said Farm Service Agency’s California Executive Director Blong Xiong in a press release.

The Almond Alliance is helping almond growers with the process. The Almond Alliance has created a Storm Damage Reporting & Resource page to help producers take advantage of programs that were triggered under the Presidential Disaster Declaration. The Almond Alliance reminds growers to document and notify damage to the proper agencies. “A simple phone call can make the difference between resources available and being left out. Timely notice of loss reported to your local FSA office is critical to ensuring adequate resources and assistance is deployed to your area, as well as your ability to participate in potential future programs,” said Aubrey Bettencourt, Almond Alliance president and CEO.

Also this week, USDA announced additional assistance for producers with qualifying farm loans who are facing financial risk. The extra $123 million funding will begin in April and is made possible through the Inflation Reduction Act. Loans that qualify for the assistance are “borrowers of direct or guaranteed loans administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) whose operations face financial risk.”

USDA offered an example of qualifying loans in a press release, stating “in the October payments, farmers that were 60 days delinquent due to challenges like natural disasters, the pandemic or other unexpected situations were brought current and had their next installment paid to give them breathing room.”

Again, this assistance is automatic and will begin in April. Contact your local FSA office for more information. You can locate your local USDA Service Center by going to www.farmers.gov.

California Ag Today2023-04-17T10:32:16-07:00April 17th, 2023|

Wet Orchard Floors Could Cause Phytophthora Problems

By Patrick Cavanaugh, with the Ag Information Network

With all the rainfall in many parts of the state, standing water in orchards could be a problem to those trees as it could cause anaerobic situations. Katherine Jarvis-Shean is a UCANR farm advisor based in Yolo County with additional coverage in Solano and Sacramento counties. She noted problems if that water stays standing deep in orchards.

“The danger zone comes after, say four days or so, in terms of having anaerobic responses. Certainly, if you’re sitting in moisture and saturated soil for more than 24 hours, you’re in the danger zone with phytophthora infections. Which is a serious fungal disease,” she said.

“And we’re even looking at some water lines above the root zone crown. So then you get water just on a pure almond scion that can, it’s very vulnerable to phytophthora, especially aerial phytophthora,” noted Jarvis-Shean. “It’s a good year to stay on top of your phytophthora management in terms of phosphite, and other potential phytophthora treatments for those wet orchards,” she said.

California Ag Today2023-04-12T11:35:13-07:00April 12th, 2023|

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