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CALIF. AGRICULTURAL LEADERS WIN AWARDS

2013 Ag Leadership Award Recipients Honored

Announced TODAY, California Agricultural Leadership Foundation (CALF) and the Ag Leadership Alumni Council honored four individuals with the 2013 Ag Leadership Awards. The awards were presented on Oct. 17 at Fresno State.

Stephen Patricio and Ron Macedo received the 2013 Profiles in Leadership Award, which recognizes Ag Leadership Program alumni for their leadership in improving the industry, community, business, government, education and/or the environment.

Patricio is a Class 19 alumnus and president and CEO of Firebaugh-based Westside Produce, a major grower/packer/shipper of cantaloupe and honeydew melons that he co-founded in 1993. He is regarded as a passionate and visionary leader in the produce industry. He has been an active and important voice for food safety for the past 20 years.

Macedo is a Class 32 alumnus and the owner and manager of R.A.M. Farms, Inc., a custom farming and farm management business in Turlock. He has made a powerful impact in the agriculture industry and in his community through leadership roles, volunteer and outreach efforts, and his businesses. The Turlock Chamber of Commerce recognized him as its 2013 Agricultural Leader of the Year.

David Wehner and Rob Yraceburu received the 2013 Honorary Fellow Award, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated consistent commitment and uncommon excellence in the furtherance of education and leadership in California agriculture. Recipients are also dedicated and longtime supporters of the California Agricultural Leadership Program.

Wehner is interim vice president of strategic initiatives at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and former dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. In his role as a CALF partner university dean for 11 years, he provided valuable expertise, insight and support to Ag Leadership. He has also served on the California State Board of Food and Agriculture

Yraceburu, the executive vice president and division manager of Wells Fargo’s National Food & Agribusiness Division, has worked with the company in several financial capacities for over 25 years. He has brought his business perspective and breadth of experiences to the CALF board since 2009.

Both honorees have also participated on CALF Ag Leadership candidate screening committees.

“We are extremely pleased to recognize these four distinguished individuals,” said CALF President and CEO Bob Gray. “They are all exemplary leaders and role models who have made a difference in countless ways, and we are proud that they are affiliated with Ag Leadership.”

CALF operates the Ag Leadership Program, which is considered to be one of the premier leadership development experiences in the United States. Since it was first delivered in 1970, more than 1,200 men and women have participated in the program and have become influential leaders and active volunteers in agriculture, government, communities, business and education. The organization’s motto is, “We grow leaders who make a difference.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:44:17-07:00October 24th, 2013|

New Added Value Use of Smaller Avocados

Gator Eggs Discovered At Fresh Summit

Avocados packed in what looks like an egg carton are now being marketed as “Gator Eggs” by Shanley Farms in Morro Bay. We found them at the recent Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit in New Orleans.

Megan Shanley is director of marketing and sales for Shanley Farms.

“We are marketing the gator eggs to shoppers with an option that they rarely see. It is a 6 pack of size 84 avocados packed in a carton similar to a half dozen of eggs,” she said. “This is about 1/3 cup size that people can eat as a serving for one sandwich or one salad. There is no waste or the need to put the other half in the refrigerator where it often turns brown.”

The nationwide launch will be in December.

For an avocado farmer, the smaller size would fetch a lower price, but when packaged as a Gator Egg, there is added value that provides more profit for the retailer and the farmer.

The product is marketed and shipped by Shanley Farms from their 8,000 tree ranch, from August through October. “We will source out avocadoes from other producers to enable year-round availability,” said Shanley.

The family operation will also be shipping their Sierra Sweet Kiwi, which are grown in Tulare County and are left on the vine longer for more sweetness. That product will be shipped starting in January.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:44:17-07:00October 23rd, 2013|

RISK ASSESSMENT ON SALMONELLA AND TREE NUTS

FDA Extends Comment Period for Salmonella and Tree Nuts

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition extended the period for submission of comments, and for scientific data and information related to its planned assessment of human salmonellosis associated with eating tree nuts. The new deadline is December 16, 2013.

The risk assessment seeks to quantify the public health risk associated with eating tree nuts potentially contaminated with Salmonella, the bacterium that causes salmonellosis, and to evaluate the impact of risk-based preventive controls.

A call for comments, and for scientific data and information for the assessment was published in the Federal Register of July 18, 2013. The FDA has extended the submission period in response to requests for an extension to allow interested persons additional time to submit information.

The need for this assessment is underscored by outbreaks of human salmonellosis linked to tree nuts over the past decade, by product recalls, and by Salmonellaisolation from tree nuts during surveys. In recent years, contamination with Salmonellahas been found in almonds, cashews, pistachios, pine nuts, Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts and walnuts, among other types of tree nuts destined for human consumption.

The assessment will inform FDA policy and may be useful for owners and operators of tree nut processing plants and other post-harvest facilities, among other stakeholders.

For resources related to the planned assessment, information on how to make submissions, and links to the Federal Register notice, visit the FDA Risk & Safety Assessment web page.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:44:17-07:00October 23rd, 2013|

RETRAINING JOBLESS FARM WORKERS

State Grant To Prepare Laid Off Farm Workers For New Careers

A $6.4 million grant from the California Employment Development Department (EDD) will retrain 1,187 jobless migrant and seasonal farm workers statewide for promising new careers in the allied health field, industrial maintenance, retail trade/service, and the green and renewable energy sector.

“The recession dealt a heavy blow to farm workers statewide, a population already struggling with high unemployment,” said EDD Chief Deputy Director Sharon Hilliard. “This grant will help them move from jobs with few opportunities for advancement into new careers with bright futures. They will receive the training needed for a broad array of jobs, including positions in green and renewable energy.”

The grant was awarded to La Cooperativa Campesina de California, the statewide association of service providers implementing Workforce Investment Act Title I (a framework for the nation’s workforce development system) and the Community Services Block Grant (which provides funds to alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in communities, particularly farmworker service programs.

La Cooperativa provides services that focus on self-sufficiency through training and employment for farm workers throughout California, but especially in rural areas where farm workers live and work.

Funding for the program is drawn from the Governor’s 25 percent portion of Dislocated Worker Funds, Title I of the Workforce Investment Act, and is under the administrative authority of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency’s EDD.

For more information about this project, please contact Marco Lizarraga, La Cooperativa Campesina de California, at (916) 388-2220.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:44:17-07:00October 23rd, 2013|

INNOVATIVE HANFORD DAIRY

Milk Company Delivers Sustainability, Wholesomeness, Accountability

Rosa Brothers Milk Company aims to expand the milk-drinking population. Their flavored milks may encourage not only children to drink the milk they need for essential vitamins and minerals, but adults also, and without high fructose corn syrup. And, the company takes sustainability seriously, very seriously.

The Rosa Family

For 60 years, three generations of the Rosa Family have been building their Hanford, Calif. dairy farm. M.F. Rosa Dairy started in 1953 by the first Rosa generation, the brothers’ grandparents. When their dad, Manuel, returned from service in the Korean Conflict, he and his new wife, Eva, bought the farm from his parents. Then, in 1998, the two brothers, Noel and Rolland, purchased the farm. Additional family members are involved in the business.

Rosa Brothers Milk Company received the People’s Choice for Best New Product Award this year at the Fresno Food Expo.

Their milk products include whole, reduced fat, skim, Chocolate, Strawberry and Half and Half Creamer. Newer milks include root beer, which tastes like the bottom of a root beer float, and orange cream, which tastes like the 50/50 popsicle. Eggnog milk will be introduced next month for the holidays.

Ice Cream flavors include the basic vanilla, chocolate, strawberry; standards like chocolate chip, pistachio, rocky road; and more creative types such as banana, coconut and chocolate, and nut and honey.

Just last year, the dairy built a creamery in Tulare where they bottle their milk in glass containers and make their ice cream.

The glass milk bottle keeps cold milk colder, protects the environment through recycling, and while other containers such as paper, plastic or metal transfer flavors to the milk, glass containers do not transfer outside flavors into the milk.

Buying Rosa Brothers milk is unique; first-time buyers pay a $2 deposit for the glass bottle. When consumers return for a refill, they bring back the empty bottle and pay for a new bottle of milk—without the deposit. This easy system helps keep large quantities of plastic out of landfills.

Rosa Brothers are genuinely interested in recycling beyond using glass milk containers. Some of the animal feeds are by-products of human foods such as distiller grains, canola meal and almond hulls. These are very good sources of essential nutrients and are blended in under the supervision of professional nutritionists.

Cow manure is distributed as fertilizer on fields near the dairy for growing hay and grains that, in turn, feed the cows.

The Dairy uses sand for cow bedding; then it is washed and reused.

Water is reused four consecutive times to cool the milk as it comes from the cow; slightly warmer, to wash the cows before they are milked; to pump into concrete “flush lanes” to keep clean the area where the cows stand to eat; and finally, to irrigate and fertilize the crops that feed the cows.

Noel and Rolland Rosa

The creamery was built and continues to be repaired with recycled materials previously used in the oil drilling industry. Old tires hold down cattle feed covers.

Distribution is local and reaches 60 stores currently between Bakersfield and Fresno. The milk is typically delivered from the cow to the fridge within a few days.

Rosa Brothers offers 100 percent accountability in that visitors can tour the dairy where the milk is produced, watch the milk going into the bottle at the creamery (through a glass window), be assured that the milk is never “pooled” with other farms, requiring additional processing to make the milk uniform. Plus, the company throws in family-oriented activities for their visitors.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:44:17-07:00October 23rd, 2013|

INNOVATION FOR CALIF. HORTICULTURE GROWERS

Bayer Debuts Serenade Optimum to Control Diseases and Resistance

Bayer CropScience introduced Serenade® Optimum fungicide and bactericide, its newest innovation for horticulture growers in California, among other states, during the 39th Annual CAPCA Conference in Reno, Nevada, yesterday. It is part of a collection of biological fungicides and insecticides from Bayer CropScience that gives growers more options in their integrated disease management programs to help fight resistance and optimize the marketability of their crops.

Rob Schrick

“As a global market leader in crop protection, we continuously invest in innovations for new technologies that improve the health, quality and yield of horticulture crops,” said Rob Schrick, Strategic Business Management Lead – Horticulture, Bayer CropScience. “With the addition of Serenade Optimum, we further our commitment to delivering innovative solutions that aid growers in producing quality crops.”

Based on a unique patented strain of Bacillus subtilis, Serenade Optimum works in multiple ways to provide effective suppression of challenging fungal diseases, such as Botrytis and Sclerotinia, and bacterial diseases, such as Xanthomonas and Erwinia. The fungicide’s novel, multi-site mode-of-action makes it very difficult for diseases to develop resistance, empowering growers with a new tool to combat fungicide resistance and enhance existing integrated disease management programs.

Serenade Optimum is a flexible tank-mix option and is compatible with registered products such as copper, sulfur, micronutrients, insecticides and fungicides. Serenade Optimum has a four-hour re-entry interval and a zero-day pre-harvest interval, and is exempt from the requirements of residue tolerance.

Serenade Optimum is best used to suppress early season outbreaks, right after rain when pressures flare, or right up to and including the day of harvest to maintain tight harvest schedules, and has just a 4-hour re-entry interval and zero-day pre-harvest interval. Serenade Optimum is available for use on grapes, leafy and fruiting vegetables, strawberries and potatoes.

Bayer is a 150 year-old global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of agriculture, health care and high-tech materials. Bayer CropScience, is responsible for the agricultural business and is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of seeds, crop protection and non-agricultural pest control.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:44:17-07:00October 23rd, 2013|

FDA Extends Comment Period

Risk Assessment on Salmonellosis and Tree Nuts 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the period for submission of comments, and for scientific data and information related to its planned assessment of human salmonellosis associated with eating tree nuts.

The new deadline is December 16, 2013. The FDA has extended the submission period in response to requests for an extension to allow interested persons additional time to submit information.

Please see the Constituent Update for more information.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:44:18-07:00October 23rd, 2013|

POTENTIAL RELIEF FOR CALIF. PASTURE AND RANGELANDS

Hope for Needed Winter Moisture

USDA reported TODAY that California is a major area of concern over its pasture and rangeland conditions.

Two very bad years in much of the state have caused the situation to be as rough as it is, as the cool season months approach.

The wet season has already begun in the Pacific Northwest, so as we head into November and December, we await possible seasonal rain and high elevation snow to arrive before we reach about the halfway point of the year in January.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:44:18-07:00October 22nd, 2013|

Ag and the Local Economy Features in Video

Video Highlights Importance of Ag

For Communities

On Oct. 3, local businesses and ag entities were part of an event in an alfalfa field, west of Firebaugh in Fresno County. The goal of the event was to show how important an alfalfa crop is to the economy of a local community. It highlighted everything involved in producing a field of alfalfa from fertilizers to PCAs to the milk produced by the cows who will eat the alfalfa.

The impact of not producing an alfalfa field due to a zero water allocation next year is highlighted in the video, which was produced by the California Farm Water Coalition.

Be sure to watch the video link to see how the agriculture community came together to obtain this wonderful visual of the many businesses affected by ag.

The video links are available at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDMO6CQRS2Y

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:44:18-07:00October 22nd, 2013|

USDA PROGRAM PAYMENTS

Enrolled Calif. Farmers to Receive USDA CRP, Direct and ACRE Payments

USDA has begun distributing Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) annual rental payments to participants across the country, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced TODAY.

USDA will also distribute 2013 direct payments and 2012 Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) program payments beginning Oct. 24. Payments were originally to be issued earlier in the month, but were delayed due to the lapse in Federal funding.

“Farmers, ranchers and rural landowners across the country count on USDA programs and the payment delays due to the shutdown were an unnecessary burden,” Vilsack said. USDA will schedule these payments without further delay. “Farm Service Agency staff have worked hard to get this assistance out the door as quickly as possible,” he added.

CRP

California producers hold a total of 508 CRP conservation contracts for their farmland and will receive an average of $35.11 per acre for their habitat and environmental protection measures. Statewide, California producers will receive $4,421,800 in conservation payments for 125,934 acres.

U.S. producers will paid for nearly 700,000 CRP contracts on 390,000 farms covering 26 to 31 million acres, making this FSA voluntary program the largest public-private partnership for conservation and wildlife habitat in the nation. Specifically, the program helps ag producers safeguard environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and provide millions of acres of habitat for game and non-game wildlife species, while improving water quality.

USDA also issues non-rental CRP payments throughout the year. These payments for certain contracts include a 50 percent expense reimbursement for establishing and managing cover as well as incentive payments for enrolling eligible high priority conservation practices. Nationally, CRP reduced runoff and leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus into waterways by an estimated 605 million pounds and 121 million pounds, respectively, in 2012, and soil erosion reductions totaling 308 million tons in 2012.

DCP and ACRE

The 2013 DCP and ACRE programs are issuing direct payments to the more than 1.7 million farms and ranches across the nation enrolled in the Farm Service Agency’s programs. Producers with base acres of certain commodities are eligible for DCP payments. These commodity stabilization programs form a safety net for farm and ranches to deal with the rise and fall of both market prices and production costs and to stabilize production in key crops in the U.S.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:44:18-07:00October 22nd, 2013|

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