California Agriculture News Archives - Page 175 of 175

Rain, Snow and Floods!

It’s happening and it’s good news! Rain and snowfall—about 85 percent of normal, and there is plenty of winter left to increase the rain and snowfall.

Let this be a fire-bell ringing in the night for the Federal Government who falsely think we are in a drought, and that is the reason why growers cannot farm on the West Side of the San Joaquin Valley.

FEDS: Do your part and allow the federal pumps to be turned on to provide critical water deliveries to the valley’s and cities of California—–INSTEAD OF LETTING ALL THE CRITICAL WATER GO OUT TO SEA!!

Without the pumps being on when farmers need the water, we have 40 percent-plus unemployment in the West Side communities—and thousands of acres of prime farm land, sitting idle.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:47:55-07:00January 22nd, 2010|

Ag Leadership Applications

Applications are now being accepted for Class 41 of the California Agricultural Leadership Program. More information and all of the required forms are available at www.agleaders.org. Applications are due May 14.

“Participants in the program find it to be exciting, challenging, thought-provoking, educational and life changing,” says Bob Gray, president and CEO of the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation (CALF). “Fellows receive a valuable and unique leadership experience that not only benefits them personally and professionally, but also benefits the agriculture industry and their communities.”

Founded in 1970, the California Agricultural Leadership Program has more than 1,100 graduates and current fellows. The intensive two-year program is designed to enable fellows to reach beyond perceived limitations and boundaries in order to find common ground with others and to bring about transformational change. For more information call (916) 984-4473.

“The Ag Leadership Program is not about agriculture,” says CALF Director of Education Dr. Charlie Crabb. “It is about passionate, hard-working people in agriculture developing the skill sets, imagination and courage to tackle the challenging issues that face the agriculture industry, as well as our state, nation and world.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:47:55-07:00January 9th, 2010|

A New Year with Promise

I do hope the New Year will be good for all Western growers of all crops. The water year is shaping up good and hopefully will continue to fill the soil profiles of the west.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:47:55-07:00January 3rd, 2010|

Hoping for a flood Year

With a new rain and snow season upon us, let’s hope that we get hammered way beyond average. With a moderate El Nino present, we should definitely experience more rain and snow this season.

With water in reservoirs rising as I write, it should mean an estimated state water delivery well above 10 percent, which was announced prior to the current rain and snow event.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:47:55-07:00December 12th, 2009|

Almond Industry Conference

I just got home from the two-day Almond Industry Conference in Modesto, hosted by the Almond Board of California. More than 1800 almond growers and PCAs were there.

There was a trade show with many companies offering supplies and services for growers. Also there were great seminars with many University of California farm advisors and researchers speaking.

Good News: The almond industry is very healthy with Nov. exports hitting a record breaking 146 million pounds up 24 percent over Nov. 2009.

Prices are increasing for growers as well. 2010 should be another good year for the almond industry!

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:47:55-07:00December 11th, 2009|

Facts About California Agriculture

Updated on July 9, 2013

The State is #1 by a Long Shot!

What is the current value of all California agricultural production? $43.5 billion

Does California truly feed the world?

California is the world’s fifth largest supplier of food, cotton fiber and other agricultural commodities. We produce more than 400 different crops—everything from world- renowned wines to specialty items such as almonds and raisins.

For the past 50 years, the men and women who work in California’s fertile fields have made this state the nation’s No. 1 agricultural producer and exporter. If it’s for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it was probably grown right here in California.

What crops are primarily grown in California?

The Golden State is the nation’s sole producer (99 percent or more) of many specialty crops, such as: Almonds, Artichokes, Clingstone Peaches, Dried Plums (prunes), Figs, Garlic, Olives, Persimmons, Pistachios, Pomegranates, cannery tomatoes, Raisins, Sweet Rice and Walnuts.

California also produces half of the U.S. – grown fruits and vegetables

How many farms are in California?

California has nearly 80,000 farms and ranches—less than four percent of the nation’s total, Yet, the Golden State’s agricultural production represents 13 percent of the nation’s total value.

What are some of the top crop values?

California’s top 20 crops and livestock commodities account for more than $28 billion in value. Each of the top 10 commodities exceed $1 billion in value.

California’s Top 20 Commodities, 2007

Milk and Cream
Grapes
Nursery
Almonds
Cattle and Calves
Lettuce
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Floriculture
Hay
Oranges
Chickens
Broccoli
Cotton
Walnuts
Rice
Carrots
Pistachios
Lemons
Avocados

What are top 10 agricultural counties in California? (Rounded in Billions)

1. Fresno (grapes, almonds, tomatoes, poultry, cattle and calves) $6.6

2. Tulare (milk, organs, cattle and calves, grapes, alfalfa hay and silage) $5.6

3. Monterey (leaf and head lettuce, strawberries, nurseries, and broccoli) $4.14

4. Kern (almonds, grapes, milk, carrots, and citrus) $3.5

5. Merced (milk, chickens, almonds, cattle and calves, and tomatoes) $2.3

6. Stanislaus (milk, almonds, cattle and calves, chickens, and walnuts) $2.2

7. San Joaquin (milk, grapes, tomatoes, almonds, and walnuts) $1.7

8. Ventura (strawberries, lemons, celery, woody ornamentals, and tomatoes) $1.5

9. San Diego (flower and foliage plants, trees and shrubs, bedding plants,

avocadoes, and tomatoes) $1.5

10. Imperial (cattle, alfalfa hay, leaf and head lettuce, and carrots) $1.3

How does California stack up in the nation’s dairy industry?

Milk is California’s No. 1 farm commodity and the Golden State is the leading dairy producer by a wide margin. California produces 21 percent of the U.S. milk supply, 23 percent of the cheese, 31 percent of the butter, 50 percent of the nonfat dry milk, and 15 percent of the ice cream. The state’s dairy farms have increased their milk output every year since 1978.

However, since 2008 California dairymen and women have suffered under low milk prices and high feed prices.

According to milk production data released early in 2013 by the California Department of food and Agriculture, the state’s diary farms lost $882 million in 2012. An average 1,000 cow dairy with an average per cow production of 23,457 pounds of milk, lost about $310,000 for the year.

Over the last two years, more than 200 California dairies of shut their doors.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:47:56-07:00December 5th, 2009|

Bullish on the Almonds

Dave Baker Knows the Almond Industry

He’s worked at Blue Diamond for 35 years

When Dave Baker, who is a Blue Diamond Growers, director of member relations first began working for the cooperative in 1974—it was a record crop year with 230 million pounds!

Needless to say, that with his 35-year history with Blue Diamond, production has grown to levels totally unpredictable just a decade ago.

Baker oversees the 99-year-old cooperative’s enormous field department, and handles communications with growers including all grower programs. He and his staff also manage all the outside receiving—regarding trucking and shelling.

With 6.5 to 7 million pounds of almonds moving daily from point A to B and then to C there is a lot to be done to make sure it’s all in the right place.

“I have a staff of wonderful people,” said Baker from his Salida facility office. “At Blue Diamond Growers we have many departments, and solid teamwork goes into everything.”

When he first began at the cooperative he was a field supervisor taking care of growers in Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Contra Costa and Merced counties. He then became a field manager which led to his current role.

Baker was born in Sacramento, where his father was a manager of a farm operation producing hops and rice. When he was young, the family relocated to Merced county. He later graduated from California State University, Stanislaus with a geography degree.

With dramatically increase production throughout the 1980s and 1990s, there was always a big question as to how the industry would ever sell the crop. “I wondered it myself, but then dawned on me on how much the world was changing while watching NOVA on PBS television. On the program there was a satellite image of an urban area in Africa. In the 1980s, there was sparse lighting, and then in the late 1990s the same area was brilliant with light,” Baker said.

“And today you look at China and India with middle classes that are greater than population in the U.S,” he noted

He noted that the global almond market is huge and there is a home for California almonds–even for the emerging bearing crops from recent increases in plantings.

“There has been a gradual and steady increase in plantings the last five years. The increased production will meet the growth in consumption worldwide,” said Baker.

He said that the lower price cycles have a lower valley on the graph, so it’s easier for growers to recover. In the 80 and 90s the lower price cycles lasted longer. But today the increased population with the huge increased middle class is consuming a lot of almonds around the world. Needless to say Baker is bullish on the almond consuming future.

Baker and wife Janna recently celebrated their 41^st anniversary. They have two children and five grandchildren and live in the Modesto area, where they also farm Walnuts west of Salida near the Stanislaus river.

—-Patrick Cavanaugh

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:47:56-07:00November 20th, 2009|

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