Prune Growers Have Tough Season Economically

California Prune Growers Suffer Economically

California prune growers forced economically to make a 23% reduction in crop deliveries and suffered a 28% reduction in price. This hardship comes despite several positive factors for the industry, including $50 million in USDA purchases of prunes and positive results from trade mitigation offsets and industry promotion efforts in Japan and elsewhere.

Growers reviewed the daunting double hit to grower returns from several factors, including the disruption to trade caused by the coronavirus pandemic at the 52nd annual membership meeting of the Prune Bargaining Association (PBA) on Thursday last week by conference call/video conference.

According to data presented by PBA General Manager Greg Thompson, average grower returns for several growers will fall by more than $500 per ton from the previous crop year. “Growers are to be commended for the tremendous efforts they have made to match production with demand,” explained Thompson. “Growers were told they would be paid little or nothing for smaller prunes, so they increased their efforts to prune, thin, and then screen out fruit at harvest, bringing the crop down from an estimated 110,000 tons to 85,000 tons.”

As background, according to the University of California, growers have an investment of nearly $18,000 per acre (not including land) to establish a prune orchard. Growers spend an additional $4,194 per acre each year to produce and deliver the crop. “The extra effort made this past year by growers increases expenses and reduces yields,” explains Thompson. “It is truly a double whammy to have grower prices fall so precipitously.”

The brutal cut to grower prices comes in the face of many positives for the industry. Imports of cheaper but more inferior quality prunes are down 76% for the first five months of the year, while domestic shipments of California prunes are up 13%. USDA programs in response to unfair and retaliatory tariffs and trade barriers, and needy family feeding programs, have helped offset losses in overseas markets and gain back market share.

Shipments to Japan, a key market for California prunes, are up 14% over the previous year. Over the past three years, the USDA has purchased nearly $50 million of prunes for needy families, school lunches, and other feeding programs.

One of the biggest positives for the California prune growers comes from a united industry working together to promote health and wellness through nutrition research. “Everbody wants to make a health claim these days,” explains Ranvir Singh, PBA President. “But prunes are the tried and true healthy and completely natural food. There is so much more to the health benefits of eating prunes than anyone first imagined.”

Scientific research is revealing more and more about the importance of gut health to overall health. Prunes have been shown to positively impact both gut health and bone health, among other bonuses. “The benefits of micro-nutrients, boron, potassium, fiber, and an apparent anti-inflammation benefit in the gut make prunes a truly remarkable food,” remarks Singh.

The Prune Bargaining Association was formed in 1968 as a grower-owned cooperative to improve the California prune industry’s economy, encourage the production of a quality product, and provide a forum for growers to exchange ideas regarding the industry. The PBA establishes the industry’s raw product price for prunes.

California Ag Today2020-07-29T17:40:34-07:00July 28th, 2020|

Research on Citrus Greening Disease Control

Progress is Being Made on Controlling Citrus Greening

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network

Citrus Greening Disease, also know as Huanglongbing, has devastated farms in places like Florida, and poses a serious threat in California. Researchers at the University of California Riverside are making progress on potential control. Dr. Hailing Jin describes what makes this pathogen so difficult.

“First, this is a very special bacteria, which cannot be cultured in vitro. So it’s very hard to study. Second, they are phloem limited. They only stay in the phloem, the vasculature tissue of the whole tree. So it’s not very easy to detect on. Another important thing is that they are transmitted by flying insects called Asian Citrus Psyllid, so can be spread very quickly,” explained Jin.

Dr. Jin and colleagues have been researching plants that are tolerant to the disease to identify genes that may lead to natural defense. They plan to publish their research in the coming months.

California Ag Today2020-07-24T10:22:23-07:00July 24th, 2020|

The 2020 Almond Crop Set to Be 3 Billion Meat Pounds

By Patrick Cavanaugh with the Ag Information Network

Three billion pounds! That’s the California almond objective measurement report done by the USDA and the National Agricultural Statistic Service. It’s up 18% from the 2019 crop.

Holly King is a Kern County almond grower and chair of the Almond Board of California. “I’ve always thought, boy, when the stars line up, we are going to blow the doors off the barn with production,” she said. “And this is the year with the acres we’ve got planted, it’s not a surprise that we could get to 3 billion. We just certainly got there a little sooner than we thought, an it’s a big jump from last year, for sure,” said King.

King noted that the crops were down in the last few years when there were pollination problems because of weather. “So this year we did not. It just was picture perfect and the trees are performing and you can sure see it in the numbers. I know the North got hit harder by moisture last year and the trees had a little bit of arrest and boy, you start looking at the nut, count on the trees in northern California, and it’s huge,” said King.

And, globally consumers love almonds. “We are fortunate that they aren’t a very perishable crop, not like growing produce,” King said. And they are heart healthy. They’re nutrient dense. They’re portable, and they’re affordable. So we’re very fortunate that our product has that many attributes that are certainly more in demand. On top of that, people are asking not only is it good for them, but is it good for the planet? And we have a good story to tell,” noted King.

California Ag Today2020-07-22T11:42:53-07:00July 22nd, 2020|

Blueberry Harvest Wraps Up

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network

California has wrapped up blueberry harvest in the state. Growers were expecting a record crop but COVID-19 and weather issues created some challenges. Here’s the California Blueberry Commission’s Todd Sanders.

“Overall, we were expecting a record crop of over 77 million pounds due to COVID and weather related issues and stuff like that, I don’t think we’re going to come in nearly that high. But we’re going to come in pretty close. I think it will be probably around 65 to 68 million pounds, will be our final number,” said Sanders.

“That’s fresh and processed. But this season was difficult. Our season was right in the middle of the pandemic as we’re still kind of going through it as we speak. But we were right in the middle of the lockdown, there was trouble moving fruit, especially when it comes to exports. That’s 20% of our product is export and it was difficult to export anything. So it was a difficult season, but the growers I think did pretty well. But we’ll have to see when the final numbers come back,” said Sanders.

Sanders said the majority of the blueberry harvest has moved north up to Oregon and Washington. He provided that report as part of the blueberry industry’s new weekly podcast called “The Business of Blueberries”.

California Ag Today2020-07-21T18:39:13-07:00July 21st, 2020|

Tomato Harvest To Start Soon

By Tim Hammerich, with the Ag Information Network

We’re now in mid-July which means for many California farmers tomato harvest will soon be in full swing. Winters-based farmer Bruce Rominger recently shared through Tomato Wellness how intense the process is to make sure our tomatoes are as fresh as possible.

“In three weeks when these tomatoes are ripe, our crews are going to be out here and our machines are going to be out here, and we’re going to run 24 hours a day. Just like the cannery runs 24 hours a day. And we’re going to harvest these at peak ripeness,” said Rominger. “They will be in that processing facility, probably within two to three hours of when I pick them right here. They will process them right away and put them in cans and then they’ll be ready to go to grocery stores.

So some of them are immediately put in cans, some are put in bigger containers and then they’re made into a pasta sauce or mix with different ingredients a little bit later. “But they are put away and preserved at absolutely peak ripeness. We pick them a hundred percent red ripe and they’re in that cannery right away and immediately processed and ready for consumption,” noted Rominger.

California produces more than 90 percent of the nation’s processed tomatoes and nearly half the world’s total processed tomato tonnage.

California Ag Today2020-07-21T08:35:58-07:00July 21st, 2020|

USDA, USTR Name New Agricultural Trade Advisors

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer today announced the appointment of 25 new members to serve on seven agricultural trade advisory committees.

The Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee is comprised of senior representatives from across the U.S. agricultural community who provide advice to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on trade policy matters including the operation of existing trade agreements and the negotiation of new agreements. Members of the six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees (ATACs) provide technical advice and guidance from the perspective of their specific product sectors.

The newly appointed advisors will serve until 2024. Each committee will be supplemented by additional appointments over the next four years. Applications are encouraged at any time. A complete list of committee members and application information is available at www.fas.usda.gov/topics/trade-advisory-committees.

Following is a list of the new advisors, by committee:

Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee
Constance Cullman, American Feed Industry Association
David Puglia, Western Growers
David Salmonsen, American Farm Bureau Federation

ATAC for Trade in Animals and Animal Products
Robert DeHaan, National Fisheries Institute
Mallory Gaines, American Feed Industry Association
David Herring, Hog Slat Inc./TDM Farms
James Parnell, Alabama Farmers Federation
Maria Zieba, National Pork Producers Council

ATAC for Trade in Fruits and Vegetables
William Callis, U.S. Apple Export Council
Casey Creamer, California Citrus Mutual
Jodi Devaurs, California Table Grape Commission
Jonathan Maberry, Washington Red Raspberry Commission
Caroline Stringer, California Fresh Fruit Association

ATAC for Trade in Grains, Feed, Oilseeds and Planting Seeds
Peter Bachmann, USA Rice Federation
William Gordon, American Soybean Association
Derek Haigwood, D.I.D. Farms
Patrick Hayden, North American Export Grain Association
Dalton Henry, U.S. Wheat Associates
Edward Hubbard, Renewable Fuels Association
Tina Lyons, Double River Forwarding, LLC

ATAC for Trade in Processed Foods
Kevin Latner, National Industrial Hemp Council
Richard (Denton) McLane, McLane Global Trading
Max Moncaster, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
Bernadette Wiltz, Southern United States Trade Association

ATAC for Trade in Sweeteners and Sweetener Products
(No new members.)

ATAC for Trade in Tobacco, Cotton and Peanuts
Karl Zimmer, Premium Peanut

California Ag Today2020-07-17T12:24:02-07:00July 17th, 2020|

Heat Illness Prevention During These Hot Summer Days

By Markie Hageman Co-Editor

It’s extremely important for farm employees to know how to prevent heat illness. Larry Williams is the CEO of the EE Hall Company among the largest ag labor contractors in the state. Williams is also the executive risk and safety manager for the company and they take worker’s safety in the field very seriously.

“Heat illness is a big thing for us because we employ over 25,000 employees throughout the state of California. And we’re in the ag industry and we’re in all commodities. So heat is a big thing, especially coming up in the summertime for us.”

Williams describes how they get it done across the state, and the first thing they provide is shade trailers for 100% of their employees.

“In addition to the shade trailers, if needed, we have canopy umbrellas where needed for our individual irrigators, and we try to make sure we’re ahead of the game”

State regulations say that shade must be available to all workers. When temperatures reach 80 degrees,

“Yes, we have to have shade available but every site that we pull up to, we automatically bring shape whether it’s 60 degrees, a hundred degrees shades already there and available.”

And of course, plenty of water must be available for all field employees. Additionally, when temperatures reach 95 degrees or above, the employer shall ensure that employees take a minimum 10 minute preventative cooldown rest period, every two hours.

California Ag Today2020-07-17T09:03:12-07:00July 17th, 2020|

“Dirty Dozen” List Coverage Drops to All-Time Low

From: SafefruitsandVeggies.com

The authors of the so-called “Dirty Dozen” list made a serious miscalculation with the release of this list during the pandemic. If the authors thought they could capitalize on escalating food safety fears among consumers as a means to gain increased attention and coverage for their list, they were seriously wrong.

Upon learning of the pending release, the Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF) used its consumer-facing outreach tools to communicate that this list is not only scientifically unsupportable, but hurts consumers because it’s fear-based messaging may be discouraging the purchase of any produce – organic or conventionally grown. We also posted an open letter asking the list authors to put the needs of consumers first and cancel the list release. While we always aggressively defend the safety of all produce, this year the AFF was even more strident because it was so important to reassure consumers about produce safety under these unprecedented circumstances.

And we had some crucial help. Among the AFF’s biggest advantages in recent years has been our involvement with the dietitian/nutrition community. We alerted this audience immediately upon learning about the list release, shared our messaging and reminded them about the safety information and resources available at safefruitsandveggies.com.

Their reaction to the list release was not just frustration, but outrage that a group would promote unwarranted safety fears of these healthy, immune-boosting foods during this pandemic. They took over social media conversations, advanced AFF messaging, linked to our website information, wrote blogs and articles and conducted media interviews effectively chasing and shaming the list authors from their own dialogue and promotion.

The result of all outreach efforts was that mainstream media coverage declined by a staggering 70% from the previous year. This drop is even more significant when you consider that we had already seen a consistent downward trend of coverage over time. And, for the first time, total media coverage carrying AFF messaging exclusively outpaced stories featuring one-sided content from the list authors.

But despite the results from AFF campaign efforts, our work must continue. In an AFF survey of dietitians and nutritionists, 94% agreed that fear based messaging, like the “dirty dozen” list, is having a negative impact on their ability to increase produce consumption among their clients and consumers.

This “fear barrier” could go away quickly if groups and organizations would stop disparaging the more affordable and accessible forms of produce to advance one production method over another. And if we join together to support consumer choice whether they prefer to purchase organic and/or conventionally grown fruits and vegetables since both forms are healthy and safe. This change would be a win for consumers and a win for public health.

California Ag Today2020-07-15T11:39:27-07:00July 15th, 2020|

Center For Land-Based Learning Receives $15,000 From CLA Foundation

Donation to support general operations for the Center for Land-Based Learning

The Center for Land-Based Learning was awarded a $15,000 grant by the CLA Foundation to support its general operations as the organization continues to settle into its new headquarters in Woodland, CA. The new headquarters is located on thirty acres of prime farmland with a 5,400 square-foot administration building, 2 barns and additional outbuildings, and 9 acres of riparian habitat on the banks of Cache Creek.

“Any organization that receives a CLA Foundation grant must be nominated for consideration by a CLA employee. It is great to see our CLA employees engaging in this way. Center for Land-Based Learning fits so well with the CLA Foundation mission, and we’re thrilled to be supporting this important work,” Reed Matthews, Managing Principal of the CLA Sacramento office.

The Center for Land-Based Learning has experienced significant growth and change in the year 2020. In May, the organization moved from their previous location of 19 years in Winters, CA to a state-of-the-art, newly constructed Statewide Headquarters and new farm infrastructure. The new headquarters will be crucial to the organization’s ability to expand its programs and serve more people.

“We are so grateful to the CLA Foundation for their generous support,” notes Mary Kimball, Executive Director for the Center for Land-Based Learning. “This is a pivotal time for agriculture and natural resource management. As we move forward in the next chapter of the Center’s history in our new headquarters, the need for general operating support will become even more imperative. This generous grant makes a big difference in our ability to provide our critically important programs.”

The Center for Land-Based Learning’s move to its new headquarters has been made possible by its very successful Growing our Future Capital Campaign. To date, the Campaign has raised over $5.5 million and recruited over 100 donors. The organization is thankful for all of its generous donors who have made the new headquarters a reality.

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California Ag Today2020-07-14T08:53:37-07:00July 14th, 2020|

Sacramento Ag Policy Update

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network

2020 has been an unexpected year for all of us. Now that we have started the last half of the year, what do we need to be watching from a policy perspective. That’s the question we asked Emily Rooney, the President of the Agricultural Council of California.

“When you look at the shift that the pandemic caused on the state legislature, there are two sort of surprises, I would say. One is on the climate front, the state passed a statewide cap-and-trade program,” said Rooney. “And now there is a state Senator that is trying to get a cap-and-tax program passed instead of the cap-and-trade program. And essentially that would be a double tax,”

“And so there would be a cap on emissions plus a tax on all of us for carbon. It would be a carbon tax of some sort. So that was a surprise. This gentleman thinks that there might be increased revenues, and that plays well for the state when it’s in a budget crisis. So that was a surprise,” she said

“And then the other issue that’s always been an issue for us are some of these labor issues. Right now, given the issue of the pandemic, the depth and number of those bills has drastically increased. So I would say those are probably the two big surprises,” she said.

Important issues to monitor closely in the last half of this year.

California Ag Today2020-07-13T10:38:39-07:00July 13th, 2020|