USDA-NASS Projects California Almond Crop Up 18 Percent to 3 Billion Meat Pounds

The California Almond Objective Measurement Report, published today by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), estimates that the 2020 crop will be 3.00 billion meat pounds, up 18% from the 2019 crop production of 2.55 billion pounds.^[1] This estimate is even with the 3.00 billion pounds estimated in the California Almond Subjective Forecast, published in May 2020.

According to the 2020 Objective Report, the average nut set per tree is 5,645, up 21% from the 2019 almond crop. The Nonpareil average nut set is 5,621, up 27% from last year’s set. The average kernel weight for all varieties sampled was 1.51 grams, down 2 percent from the 2019 average weight.

“This year’s crop is proof that California is the perfect place to grow almonds,” said Holly A. King, Kern County almond grower and Chair of the Almond Board of California (ABC) Board of Directors. “Perfect weather during bloom, coupled with the steps almond growers have taken to ensure our orchards provide a healthy environment for honey bees and other pollinators, resulted in the abundant crop we are seeing on the trees up and down the Central Valley.”

Recent disruptions in global trade due to COVID-19, and ongoing trade disputes and negotiations with China and other key markets extending into the year, have caused some short-term challenges with the current crop, but the long-term outlook remains positive.

“As a shelf stable and nutritious food enjoyed by consumers around the world, we’ve weathered these disruptions in pretty good shape,” said Almond Board President and CEO Richard Waycott. “Domestic and export shipments are up year-to-date, and we expect global demand to be stronger than ever as we market this year’s record crop.”

While the Subjective Forecast provides an initial estimate of the 2020/2021 crop, the Objective Report is based on actual almond counts and uses a more statistically rigorous methodology to determine yield. In Dec. 2019, ABC’s Board of Directors approved a modified sampling protocol to further improve the accuracy of USDA-NASS’s reporting. From this year forward, the Objective Report will include measurements from 1,000 target orchards throughout the state (an increase of 150 samples from 2019) and provide nut counts on not one but two branches per tree. The Objective Report will also provide the weight, size and grade of the average almond sample broken down by growing region – no longer growing district – and variety.

USDA-NASS conducts the annual Objective Report, Subjective Forecast and Acreage Report to provide the California almond industry with the data needed to make informed business decisions, and thanks all farm operators, owners and management entities for their time in providing the information necessary to create these reports. These reports are the official industry crop estimates.

California Ag Today2020-07-07T14:01:18-07:00July 7th, 2020|

Should Farmers Meter Their Pumps Now– in Terms of SGMA?

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

With the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) closing in on growers throughout California, there are many questions. One big one is that should growers go ahead and put a meter on their pumps? Helping the farming industry comply with SGMA is Chris Johnson, who owns Aegis Groundwater Consulting, based in Fresno. He’s recommending that growers put a flow meter on their pumps, but he does understand their hesitation.

“I think they’re concerned about what’s going to happen if they provide a mechanism where someone can come out and actually measure, record and evaluate how much water they’re using, that somehow that’s going to go against them,” said Johnson. “And the reality of it is, is that somebody might very well do that but they’re better off knowing that going in, they’re better off understanding and being able to manage and represent for themselves upfront.”

It may be a good idea to meter pumps now.

Now, currently we have the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies, which have finalized the Groundwater Sustainability Plans. “The Groundwater Sustainability Plans are the deliverable that the Groundwater Sustainability Agencies are tasked with. But you have to understand the scarcity of data we actually have to work with, to actually be able to make decisions,” said Johnson. “And as a consequence, what so many different GSAs are forced to do is to either accept existing data at face value, or they’re having to interpret what the data might be in the absence of actual functional information. And so, it may very well misrepresent what the basin as a whole is having to go through, and they may put restrictions on farmers and growers based on that. And so, that is where having your own data helps you defend your water use, helps you protect yourself.”

<PATRICK: I believe the online version of this article ended here. I would support that, in that the preceding text focuses on the importance of having specific data for individual wells. The following text is more a soliloquy on GSP’s and data gathering and validity.

Johnson explains what will happen when the sustainability plans are in place in 2020. “I think what will happen is once the GSPs are filed with the Department of Water Resources, there’s going to be a period of reflection where people are looking at the adequacy of information supporting the plans. There’s going to be outside parties that question the adequacy of the data and plans, and ultimately out of that will come the next step, which is, ‘Okay, now we have these in place, we know there are a lot of shortcomings.’ Let’s go fill in those gaps. Let’s go get this data together,” said Johnson. I think that most of the regulatory agencies recognize there are data gaps. Let’s just work through the process is there thinking.

“Let’s get ourselves to where we can now start collecting the data. So, in theory, what we’re going to see is over the next 20 years a refinement in all of this, as more information is available, as scientists and engineers get to provide analysis to the policy makers, we end up with a better product in the end,” Johnson noted.

But will that product be good for the growers? “That’s a difficult question to answer because better in the end is leading us towards answering a question with, you’ll have as much water as you want. Well, that’s unlikely to happen,” Johnson said.

“I think there’s going to be significant changes in how we grow things in the Central Valley. The consequence of that may be everything from less food coming out of the Central Valley and/or higher food prices as these businesses attempt to maintain some degree of solubility, so to speak, financially, trying to meet these limited resource. Because that’s essentially what we’re doing,” he said. “We’re coming back and saying : Something bad happened. Now, we’re going to limit this resource.”

The agricultural industry throughout California keeps pushing that it’s too important, we have to provide food for the nation and the world. “I think the more important way to look at this is, is that California can’t afford to have ag fail. And as a consequence, we have to find a means to meet all these different demands and do so in a way that helps keep ag moving forward. It just probably won’t look like what it does today,” he said.

California Ag Today2020-07-07T09:18:53-07:00July 7th, 2020|

Should Farmers Meter Their Wells Now for SGMA?

Prepping for SGMA Regulations

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

With the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) is closing in on growers throughout California, there are many questions. One big one: should growers go ahead and put a meter on their pumps?

Helping the farming industry comply with SGMA, is Chris Johnson owner of Aegis Groundwater Consulting located in Fresno. He recommends that growers put flow meters on their wells. But he does understand the hesitation.
It’s pretty straightforward. Instrument your wells, and monitor them, including water levels, flow rates, electrical use. It’s good for growers to be able to manage wells as assets

Johnson thinks growers are afraid to put flow meters on their wells. They believe it may provide a mechanism where someone can measure, record, and evaluate how much water they’re using, that’s going to go against them. “And the reality of it is that somebody might very well do that, but they’re better off knowing that going in. They’re better off understanding and being able to manage and represent for themselves upfront.

And while the local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies have created the Groundwater Sustainability Plans, Johnson noted that the GSPs are the deliverable that the groundwater sustainability agencies are tasked with.

“But we need to understand that the lack of data that we have to work with and be able to make decisions. And as a consequence, what so many different GSAs are forced to do is to either accept existing data at face value, or they have to interpret what the data might be in the absence of actual functional information,” noted Johnson. And so, it may very well misrepresent what the basin as a whole has to go through, and regulators may put restrictions on farmers and growers based on that. That’s where having your data helps you defend and protect yourself.

California Ag Today2020-06-29T08:42:40-07:00June 29th, 2020|

UC Lindcove Research Center Gets New Director

El-kereamy named director of UC Lindcove REC

By Pam Kan-Rice, Assistant Director, News and Information Outreach

Ashraf El-kereamy will be the new director of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources’ Lindcove Research & Extension Center, starting on July 1, 2020. He will continue to serve as a UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UC Riverside and based at Lindcove Research & Extension Center.

“Elizabeth Grafton-Cardwell retires this year after 13 years as director of Lindcove REC, California’s premier citrus research center,” said Mark Lagrimini, UC ANR vice provost for research and extension. “We are excited to have Ashraf in place to carry on the tremendous success attributable to the research performed at Lindcove. Ashraf brings a breadth of research, extension and leadership skills.”

El-kereamy has extensive experience with several commodities with research revolving around plant hormones, fruit ripening, plant nutrition, and the responses of different plant species to abiotic stress conditions.

Since February 2019, El-kereamy has been serving as a UC Cooperative Extension citrus specialist based at Lindcove Research and Extension Center. Prior to the specialist position, El-kereamy was a UCCE viticulture and small fruit advisor for Kern County, where he established a research and extension program serving the San Joaquin Valley table grape industry for four years. Prior to joining UC ANR, he was an assistant/associate professor in the Department of Horticulture at Ain Shams University in Egypt.

“I am honored and very excited to be the director of Lindcove Research and Extension Center, which plays a crucial role in the California citrus industry,” El-kereamy said. “I am confident that, with the support of our industry, community and the University of California, we will build tomorrow’s Lindcove REC as a center of excellence in research and extension. I am looking forward to leading Lindcove REC and providing our clientele with up-to-date technologies to cope with the challenges facing the California agriculture industry.”

El-kereamy earned a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and master’s degree in pomology from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, and a doctorate in agriculture with an emphasis in grapevine physiology and molecular biology from Toulouse University in France.

California Ag Today2020-06-24T13:22:34-07:00June 24th, 2020|

AgvisorPro Here to Connect with Farmers

AGvisorPRO Hopes to Connect Farmers with Experts

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network of the West

Farming is complex and it requires deep expertise in a variety of fields. So what can a farmer do to access that expertise especially in a remote environment, especially during COVID-19? Rob Saik of AgVisor Pro has a solution: he calls it the Uberization of agricultural knowledge.

“The number of times through the course of the year, when a farmer could reach out to really talk to people with deep domain expertise that could help the farming operation are numerous,” said Saik. “And so the farms that I talked to, many of them have agronomists that are working with them, or many of them have veterinarians that are working with them. But geez, if the market’s moving, you need access to a marketing person.”

“The farmers told me that what they sensed was advisor pro would give them instant access to an entomologist when they needed to talk to an insect guy. Advisor pro would give them instant access to a marketing guy with deep domain marketing experience when they wanted to talk to somebody about marketing. And so it created a way for farmers to, first of all, find these people. And secondly, in some cases, a farmer just wants a second opinion,” explained Saik.

Farmers and experts can download the AgVisor Pro app and connect with each other to give and receive expertise in exchange for money. The experts are both vetted and rated to make sure the level of on-demand service remains high. Learn more at agvisorpro.com.

California Ag Today2020-06-24T08:03:12-07:00June 24th, 2020|

Remote Food Safety Audits Available

LGMA Partners with Western Growers to Offer Remote Food Safety Audits During Pandemic

Mandatory government food safety audits of leafy greens farms under the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement are continuing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Announced today by Western Growers (WG) and the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (CA LGMA), is the availability of a new process developed through a collaboration with iFoodDecisionSciences (iFoodDS), that streamlines all verification documents and data for online review by government auditors.

This process will allow the execution of remote audits and has been reviewed and accepted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which has oversight of the LGMA programs and auditors. While in-person inspections may be temporarily limited to protect farm workers, farm office employees and government auditors, much of the LGMA audits are focused on reviewing verification documentation which can be presented in various forms, including large amounts of paperwork.

“As an industry leader in produce safety, Western Growers remains committed to leading produce safety initiatives and solutions,” said Sonia Salas, WG assistant vice president of food safety, science & technology. “In a time where COVID-19 is testing all industries, this new auditing process will support food safety oversight during this pandemic.”

The system was developed over the past few weeks, has been tested and is now available to certified members of the LGMA who are audited an average of five times over the year.

“We were able to use this new process in a real audit situation and it worked extremely well from start to finish,” said Sharan Lanini, Director of Food Safety for Pacific International Marketing and chair of the LGMA’s Technical Committee. “This is a great development in the government audit process.”

“The streamlining of data and verification documents online is a really positive outcome of our ‘new normal,’” said Diane Wetherington, Executive Chair of the iFoodDS board. “The use of iFoodDS software will not only save the auditors time, but it will allow them to more efficiently assess compliance with LGMA food safety metrics through the use of a consistent online verification system.”

“When the LGMA began in 2007, it was the first program of its kind in the nation. As we navigate through these unprecedented circumstances, the LGMA program continues to find innovative ways to move forward and achieve its objective of advancing food safety for leafy greens products,” said Scott Horsfall, Chief Executive Officer of the California LGMA. “This new auditing system is another example of the pioneering spirit of the LGMA and its commitment to find new and better ways to enhance the safety of leafy greens.”

WG has worked with the AZ and CA LGMAs since their inception in 2007 and is currently the facilitator of proposed changes to the LGMA food safety guidelines. WG continues to explore and support new ways to enhance food safety efforts, particularly in these challenging times.

California Ag Today2020-06-23T08:17:53-07:00June 23rd, 2020|

No-Till Saves Water, Increases Yield

No-Tillage Sorghum Yields Exceed Standard Tillage in a Four-Year Rotation

Since the advent of irrigation in California with the widespread drilling of wells in the 1930s and the proliferation of orchard crops during the past two decades, total annual water use in many watersheds exceeds supply. Partly as a consequence, California enacted the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in 2014, which limits withdrawals to replenished levels.

Because irrigated agriculture accounts for nearly 80% of total water use, reductions in irrigation will be required, but preferably without decreasing either productivity or food supply. Furthermore, with some climate change projections suggesting a potential 20% water loss by the middle of the century, the need for more efficient water use could become acute. Fortunately, some water-saving methods such as drip irrigation have been supported by the government and there have been programs that have increased implementation and farmers understand these methods well.

Reduced disturbance tillage, or no-till, however, also offers an under-utilized strategy for increasing agricultural water use efficiency in California. There has been very little research and there is very little information available to farmers on no-till production systems for the diverse array of crops that have been produced in the state historically.

UC Cooperative Extension cropping systems specialist Jeff Mitchell led a diverse team of ANR, farmer, private sector and other public agency partners to evaluate the potential for producing sorghum and garbanzos, using high residue, no-till techniques in the San Joaquin Valley in a four-year study conducted at ANR’s ag experiment station in Five Points, Calif.

Standard tillage practices have been used throughout the region for nearly 90 years. Using similar inputs and amounts and pest management, they showed that a garbanzo and sorghum rotation in no-till yielded at least as well as in standard tillage.

Sorghum yields were similar in no-till and standard tillage systems while garbanzo yields matched or exceeded no-till than in standard tillage, depending on the year.

In the trial, no-till garbanzos yielded an average of 3,417 pounds per acre versus standard tillage with an average of 2,738 pounds per acre; garbanzo production in California, which is almost all in standard till, averages 2,300 pounds per acre.

We envision that if water costs continue to rise and as curtailments on water supply increase, the value of agricultural land in California will eventually decline, providing more of an economic incentive for using no-till for growing a portfolio of crops, such as sorghum and garbanzo, amenable to these pending constraints on irrigation.

In addition, there already exists high acreage of relatively low-value field crops in the state. As annual row crop farmers are faced with the need to reduce water use, knowing which field crops perform well in no-tillage conditions is important for the region. For this reason, this work may serve as a decision-making tool for growers in the future, especially if there is the opportunity to both reduce management costs and maintain yields

An outgrowth of this work on no-till systems is the group of about 15 farmers who’re now a part of a USDA NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant Program project that is looking at opportunities and approaches for reducing disturbance in organic vegetable production systems.

California Ag Today2020-06-22T08:14:15-07:00June 22nd, 2020|

Farmer Pedro Schambon Develops Pro Farmer Software

Pro Farmer Software For Farmers by Farmers

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information of the West

Farmers of fresh produce all have to navigate various regulations such as Good Agricultural Practices, Organic and other certifications, and the Food Safety Modernization Act. Pro Farmer software can help.

This is a challenge for farms of all sizes, and particularly for small farms that do not have the staff to help keep things up-to-date. Farmer Pedro Schambon saw an opportunity to help in this area by creating Pro Farmer Software.

“When we were farming organic vegetables and you know, one of the requirements is to get the Good Agricultural Practices Certificate. Comply with a Food Safety Modernization Act, comply with Good Agricultural Practices, and also comply with the organic certification. And every year when we were getting their auditors to come to our farm, it was a lengthy process to be able to comply with everything that is required in those three certifications,” said Schambon.

Schambon used Zoho, which is a low-code platform to build the software himself. Once he had something that managed his farm, he began offering it to other small farmers as well. He still farms himself but sees this as a way to equip the next generation of farmers with the tools they need to be successful.

Learn more about the software at pfs.farm

California Ag Today2020-06-16T08:49:26-07:00June 16th, 2020|

UC Launches COVID-19 Prevention Survey on Farms

UC Conducts Survey of COVID-19 Prevention on Farms

By Pam Kan-Rice, UCANR, Assistant Director, News and Information Outreach

All California growers, ranchers, farm labor contractors and ag supervisors are invited to complete a short survey about their experiences addressing COVID-19 in the workplace. The survey is being conducted by the UC Davis Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety.

The survey is anonymous, should take less than 10 minutes to complete, and is available in English and Spanish at https://bit.ly/agCOVIDsurvey.

“At the UC Davis Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, we are working to respond to the COVID-19 crisis with practical resources for growers, ag employers, and farmworkers,” said Heather E Riden, agricultural health and safety program director. “The goal of this survey is to understand what practices farms are implementing to prevent COVID-19, where they have seen success, and where there may be challenges. We will take this information to assess whether there are new resources, trainings or information that we can provide.”

Respondents are given the opportunity to share their contact information at the end of the survey.

“We plan to share any findings as well as new materials with anyone who expresses interest,” Riden said. “We will also summarize the results and post them on the WCAHS website.”

For more information about the survey, contact aghealth@ucdavis.edu.

Visit https://aghealth.ucdavis.edu/covid19 for COVID-19 training resources and employer guidance. The center’s COVID-19 website offers farmers many resources, including an employer checklist and tailgate training discussion guide.

California Ag Today2020-06-12T10:26:20-07:00June 12th, 2020|

SmartFresh™ Helps Bring Fresh Melons to Distant Markets

Fisher Ranch Expands Its Business Using AgroFresh’s Flagship Technology to Deliver High Quality Melons

AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. (“AgroFresh” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: AGFS), a global leader in produce freshness solutions, and family-owned grower and shipper Fisher Ranch recently partnered to deliver ready-to-eat, ripe melons from California to global markets using SmartFresh™ technology.

With the use of SmartFresh technology, California-based Fisher Ranch has created new business opportunities by extending the storage window and gaining improved inventory flexibility. The grower reported excellent freshness results using SmartFresh™ SmartTabs™ on cantaloupes and Golden Dewlicious™ honeydew melons. According to Fisher Ranch, AgroFresh’s industry-trusted post-harvest solution enables melons to ripen on the vine, allowing the fruit to retain great firmness and sugar content despite longer transit time.

SmartFresh SmartTabs helps growers and shippers maintain fresh and firm fruit during transit, which results in longer retail shelf life. SmartFresh has also been proven to help control skin disorders on melons for 26 days in cold storage.

“After the successful completion of our commercial trials last year, SmartFresh enabled us to deliver great-tasting, aromatic, high quality melons to global markets, which was a new achievement for us,” says Mike Farrage, sales manager at Fisher Ranch. “With this success in mind, we’ve increased our export volume this year and we’ll now apply SmartFresh to our entire shipment of export melons.”

SmartFresh SmartTabs is a convenient, easy-to-use solution for transport containers and small storage rooms. There’s no need to manually insert sachets in each box of produce.

“We’re excited to help our customers optimize the quality of their fresh produce and grow their business, at potentially higher margins, in distant markets that they otherwise could not access,” says AgroFreshcommercial development manager Fernando Edagi. “We’re thrilled to help growers such as Fisher Ranch deliver melons that provide a great eating experience with consistently high quality, flavor, sweetness and firmness.”

“In our industry, we’re noticing an increasing shift to long shelf-life (LSL) melon varieties that lack aroma and flavor,” says Farrage. “By using SmartFresh, we’re able to enjoy the same shelf-life benefits offered by the LSL varieties, but with enhanced characteristics such as aroma, flavor, firmness and texture that consumers prefer.”

SmartFresh technology empowers growers, packers and retailers from around the world to preserve quality and freshness for a wide range of crops including: apple, pear, avocado, banana, melon, tomato, broccoli, mango*, peach, nectarine, plum, persimmon, kiwifruit, lime* and watermelon.

SmartFresh SmartTabs is registered by the US EPA; Registration No. 71297-3. Always read and follow label directions.

California Ag Today2020-06-03T22:04:41-07:00June 4th, 2020|