Citrus Growers Form ACP Management Areas

Commercial Citrus Growers Form Local ACP Management Areas

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

Commercial citrus growers are banding together to prevent the spread of the citrus-deadly Huanglongbing (HLB) disease and the pest that spreads it—the Asian Citrus Pysllid (ACP). Beth Grafton-Cardwell, an IPM specialist and research entomologist at UC Riverside and Director of UC ANR Lindcove Research & Extension Center, said growers are forming ACP management areas to prevent ACP from spreading HLB.

Elizabeth E. Grafton-Cardwell

“ACP management areas are being formed by the citrus industry and community,” Grafton-Cardwell said. “They’re basically saying, ‘Let’s get together. Let’s form these groups of growers—25 to 35 growers in an area. Let’s work together as neighbors to treat across a large area and get more of the psyllids killed than if we each treated individually at different times.’”

HLB is a serious concern to growers, according to Grafton-Cardwell; the disease has already devastated the citrus industry in Florida. “We want to prevent that from happening here,” shel said.

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, ACP notices posted thus far in the first quarter of 2016 include the following areas:

COUNTY CITY

Fresno County	Fresno
Kern County	Bakersfield, Shafter, Wasco
Imperial County	Bard, Brawley area, Calipatria, Niland, Winterhaven, Zone 7
Los Angeles County	La Puente, San Gabriel
Riverside County	Hemet, Riverside, San Jacinto
San Bernardino County	Cadiz
San Diego County	De Luz, Escondido, Fallbrook, Ramona, San Diego
San Joaquin County	Stockton
Santa Barbara County	Areawide, Buellton, Casmalia, Garey, Orcutt, Santa Maria, Sisquoc
Santa Clara County	Milpitas, San Jose
Stanislaus County	Oakdale
Tulare County	Porterville, Strathmore

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:03:03-07:00March 17th, 2016|

REWARD for BEEHIVE THIEF CAPTURE

California State Beekeepers Association, Inc. (CSBA) has reported two new beehive theft alerts and will provide a reward for beehive thief capture:

The CSBA offers up to $10,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of persons responsible for stealing bees and/or beekeepers equipment. We take the issue of hive theft very seriously and are willing to generously reward those who help us stop this growing problem. Don’t hesitate to ask questions and check for brand numbers on frames, boxes, lids and pallets.

Additionally, the CSBA owners of stolen hives have given assurance that if a farmer reports he/she has stolen hives, they will allow the hives to stay for the remainder of the bloom. We do not want to punish farmers for doing the right thing by putting their crop at risk. We want all farmers to feel comfortable to report the hives without worrying about them being taken out from under them during a critical time.

Beehive Theft Alert 1

A beehive theft has occurred near Kern County within sight of I-5. The thieves are getting bolder and we all must be vigilant. The theft occurred around January 26-27th, 2016. The hives are branded with CA0330333H. This theft may or may not be related to the last major theft (see below).

Hive Description: All hives are 10 frames. The hives are made of a deep super with a 6 5/8 shallow on top. The hives are painted silver and have internal feeders and a mixture of wooden and plastic frames. The hives are on pallets with the entrances all facing the same direction. The lids, boxes and most of the frames are branded with CA0330333H. The bees are Italians with cordovan (light-colored and reddish) genetics. Pictures will soon follow.

If you are around any beehives you are unfamiliar with, don’t hesitate to look for brand numbers. Thieves often times switch the frames into different boxes to avoid being caught so be aware that the outside appearance of the hive may not match the description.

If you see any frames with the CA0330333H brand on them, they are from stolen hives and you should contact castatebeekeepers@hotmail.com immediately to report the information.

Beehive Theft Alert 2

240 hives were stolen near Colusa, CA around January 25-26th, 2016. All boxes, lids, frames and pallets are branded with 42-14. Please take a careful look at the picture and if you see hives that fit the description, don’t hesitate to check for brand numbers and call the Sheriff’s department. You can also email us at castatebeekeepers@hotmail.com and we can pass along the information for you. These hives could easily be anywhere in California by now. It is very likely that the hives will be destroyed after pollination season to cover up the crime. In the interest of saving these bees, it is critical we all do our part to locate these hives.

Description: All the hives are 10-frame double deeps. The boxes are branded on the top cleats. The pallets have metal on the corners. Some of the feed cans and boxes were taken as well. The feed cans are painted green and slightly rusty. The feed can boxes are branded too and most of them hold 8 cans (some may hold 4). The bees are Italian and have Cordovan genetics (most will appear light colored and/or slightly reddish).

Location: The hives were taken from 2 yards, both located north of Colusa on the east side of the river. One yard was about 2 miles from the river and the other about 3 miles from the river.

Thief Description: Based on the tracks, it looks like a bee forklift was used to move the hives. The trucks appear to have dual tires. It is suspected that either 2 big trucks or 3 smaller trucks were used to move the hives.

Please share this information with your club, almond grower and in your community. Hive theft is a growing problem and we all need to keep an eye out for each other. Thank you for helping in this effort.

(Photo Source: California State Beekeepers Association)

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:24:13-07:00February 4th, 2016|

Breaking News: New HLB Infected Tree in San Gabriel

Breaking News

Citrus Insider Reports New HLB Confirmed in San Gabriel

Today, two additional trees in have tested positive for Huanglongbing (HLB). The two trees, an orange and a kumquat, are on separate properties but are both within the core area in San Gabriel where 10 diseased trees were confirmed last summer. Given the close proximity, there will not be a quarantine expansion.

One of the HLB-positive trees has already been removed and California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) officials are in the process of contacting the other homeowner to schedule tree removal. Agriculture officials are working quickly in the area.

Citrus trees in San Gabriel had already been treated for the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) within the last few weeks as part of CDFA’s routine HLB response. ACP populations are closely monitored in areas where HLB has been detected and treatments occur if there is a noted increase in population size. Since trees have been recently protected, no additional treatments will take place at this time. Instead, CDFA will focus on sampling extensively in the area. Much of the area has already been sampled and CDFA’s lab has identified all samples from San Gabriel as high priority.

The Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program is working with the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner’s office and CDFA to develop a multilingual informational flyer to notify residents of the significance of these finds and potential implications to other citrus trees in the area. CDFA staff will distribute this information as they go door-to-door sampling and surveying.

More information will be shared as it is available. In the meantime, the citrus industry is encouraged to keep a critical eye on all plant material moving into or out of your groves and recommends taking the following steps so collectively, as a team, we can all save our citrus trees.

-Remove all leaves and stems

-Shake out picking bags

-Inspect harvesting equipment

-Educate fieldworkers

-Get on board with area-wide treatments

__________________

Additional Links:

Citrus Insider

Save Our Citrus

California Citrus Mutual

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:03:04-07:00February 3rd, 2016|

National Dairy Crisis—A Way Forward, Part 1

A Way Forward Out of National Dairy Crisis

First in a Series

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

The national dairy industry is in crisis right now. Milk Prices are at an all-time low due to oversupply and drastically lowered exports. The seesaw scenario has inventories up and prices down below production costs.

Tom Van Nortwick, owner and publisher of Agribusiness Publications based in Fresno, has published a dairy magazine for 35 years. He was closely involved with hundreds of dairy producers from 2009 through June 2014 in the organization and establishment of the National Dairy Producers Organization nationwide. The organization focuses on keeping dairies profitable especially when market conditions force down dairy pricing.

Tom Van Nortwick

Van Nortwick told California Ag Today, “The biggest problem our dairymen are facing today in California and across the country is that the price of milk, as set by the market and by supply and demand, is actually below the cost of production. So they are making a hundredweight of milk; it is on the market for sale; but the price that they are receiving for every hundredweight of milk is actually lower than what it costs them to make it. And that has been going on for most of 2015 and now we are heading into ’16 towards ’17, and there doesn’t seem to be a solution in play from anyone, anywhere.”

“The big question is how can this be sustainable for dairies, which, over the last 10 years, on average, have had milk prices below production costs?” Van Nortwick asked. “We are not sure,” he explained. “In fact, what we have seen is huge attrition in the dairy industry.”

“In September 2011, there were 110,00 dairy producers in America,” said Van Nortwick. “Today, there are 45,000-60,000 milk producers at some level in the country. We have had huge attrition as we have gone through nearly a decade of really high volatility and low prices. For the majority of the time, especially the last 7 years, it has been extremely difficult.”

“We had a wonderful 2014 when supply and demand were more in balance and there were no excesses,” Van Nortwick stated. “Our global milk sales were high, and yet that has now changed, driving the price of milk throughout 2015 to unsustainable [low] levels.”

Van Nortwick observed that survivors in the dairy industry, particularly in California, have been able to diversify into other crops for positive cash flow. “Whether it is nuts or almonds, of course we are going pillar to post with almonds in California anyways,” he remarked. “Someone the other day said, ‘Hey Tom, you might have to get used to the fact that California is more suited to produce these specialty crops than it is to produce feed for cows to turn into milk.’”

Van Nortwick contends there is a way for the dairy industry, not only in California, but nationally, to do something about these low prices. “The proposal we make is all about a way forward. Dairy producers in this country who have been in their barns over many years and have seen these conditions, have asked, ‘What if we did it this way?’”

“So when we formed the National Dairy Producer’s Organization nearly five years ago,” he elaborated, “incorporated in the contract with producers was a long list of recommendations that needed to be implemented. We have not yet been able to implement very many of these and there are good men who are continuing that effort,” he noted.
“But one of the things we wanted to talk about most,” Van Nortwick said, “was the Dairy Pricing Organization originating from Robin Berg, a dairy producer in Wisconsin, that gave specific ideas to what dairy producers could do. We proposed that price volatility could be removed from the marketplace by dairy producers being market-responsive with their milk production on the farm, relative to profitable demand in the marketplace. If you make too much milk, and it cannot be sold, the price for—not just that excess milk—but all milk, goes down.”

Nortwick further explained, “So picture a great big tank that we fill up every day, and everyday it goes down. But if we [over pour and] push milk out of the top of that tank and any of it spills over the side and onto the ground, then every bit of milk in the whole tank becomes less valuable.”

“So, we have to be market responsive,” he continued, “How much milk can we use at any given time? The big dilemma that has come about today, is that the high global demand we were enjoying in 2011, 2012, 2013, and even as far back as 2010, was double digit growth in every one of those four years. When the producers finally mitigated their excess milk production in 2013, dramatic price increases in 2014 resulted. Milk was at record levels during that nearly twelve month period of time.”

Van Nortwick cautioned, “Unfortunately what was ignored were warnings—ample signs available to us in the first quarter of 2014, even in the fourth quarter of 2013—that should have warned dairy producers, ‘We are losing; demand is falling. Don’t keep increasing the amount of milk you make every month.’”

Van Nortwick clarified this loss in demand was mostly due to global exports. “We have sustained, for the most part, all of our domestic demand,” he stated, “Those numbers have not changed at all.”

“But here is that tank of milk overflowing,” he illuminated, “and because our tank overflowed, the price of all of that domestic milk went down too! So even though we did not lose domestic consumption, we lost price because of excess milk production on the farm. The global market didn’t take it.”

“At the height of that boom, 17.5% of our total production was going global,” said Van Nortwick. “How much did global fall? It plummeted at least 50% when that bubble burst.”

“Since then, about half as much of our milk production in the United States is going global. What were the consequences? We had a 31-35% reduction in milk price nationwide for all milk—not just the excess milk that was going global—but all milk in America,” Van Nortwick noted.

Van Nortwick explained the dairy industry needs a sure approach to manage increased prices at a viable profit level. There must be a dramatic decrease of milk in the tank.

Van Nortwick offered several ways to tackle it, including a buyback program that donates milk products to churches and food banks across America. “Robin Berg, a dairy producer, came forward and said, ‘There are two ways to attack this: We can be market-responsive with milk production on the farm or we can go to the other end after it has been manufactured and sitting in storage, and the inventory is rising to the point where it is beginning to depress the price of milk paid to me (the producer). We could go in with dollars that we have set aside and saved, and we can remove that inventory, to help maintain a viable, profitable price for producers.”

Further describing the scenario, Van Nortwick said, “We have prevented milk from spilling on the floor because dumping is not a solution, it is a lose-lose plan. Get it manufactured and be ready on the other end.”

“Food insecurity is kind of the new insecurity,” he declared. “There are 49 million people in America who are underserved and have food deficiencies in their lives all the time.”

“What are we doing about it?” asked Van Nortwick. Feeding America, food banks and churches across this country have the infrastructure not only to take it in and house it, but also to immediately distribute it. Feeding America, a network of food banks, is leading the fight against hunger in communities nationwide and serves 46.5 million Americans in need.

Van Nortwick went on, “There is a sign on a little church in our neck of the woods, ‘Free Food-Saturday.’ So apparently, they are going to have a free distribution of food. That infrastructure is already in place! Give them the commodities they need to feed the 49 million people. Have it removed [from the market supply]. We will pay for it and donate it to them. They pick it up. They’ll even transport it. They will pay to move the products where they need to be distributed to the people who need the food.”

Feeding America is onboard and wants to do it, according to Van Nortwick. “Our people have met with their people who said they can take all that we can provide.”

Readers can learn more about Dairy Pricing and the goal of becoming more Market Responsive with their milk production on the farm by visiting www.dairypricing.org or www.my-dairyman.com.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:17:14-07:00February 1st, 2016|

USDA Pesticide Data Program Report Confirms Food Safety

USDA Pesticide Data Program Report Confirms Food Safety:

More than 99 percent of sampled food tested below allowable pesticide residue levels!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed again in its annual report that American consumers can focus on the nutritional benefits of conventional and organic produce without concern for pesticide residues. Over 99 percent of fresh and processed food available to consumers tested below allowable pesticide residue levels, as detailed in the 24^thPesticide Data Program (PDP) Annual Report released on January 11, 2016 by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Only .36 percent [0.36%] of the products sampled through the PDP had residues above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established tolerances, giving consumers plentiful options to meet their daily nutritional needs.

“Today’s consumers can choose from food produced with a variety of farming methods and necessary crop protection strategies and be confident that it will sustain and enrich their families’ lives,” stated Jay Vroom, president and CEO of CropLife America (CLA). “Across the nation, our growers continue to use the most advanced crop protection technology available to target specific crop threats. From precision agriculture to integrated pest management, farmers in the heartland, the plains, coastal areas and everywhere in between are pushing forward with the best ways to produce food for their communities and for the country.”

PDP researchers tested a total of 10,619 samples of fresh and processed fruit and vegetables (8,582 samples), oats (314 samples), rice (314 samples), infant formula (1,055 samples), and salmon (354 samples). To ensure the samples were representative of the U.S., researchers collected data in a variety of states throughout different times of the year. The findings support the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020, recently released by USDA and the U.S. Department of Health, which encourage consumers to eat more fruits and vegetables.

“With rapid advancements in computing technology, the space for developing new ways to fight agricultural threats is increasing exponentially,” stated Dr. Janet E. Collins, senior vice president of science and regulatory affairs at CLA. “Consumers have a number of options at the grocery store, thanks in large part to the work of the scientific community involved in research and development, the companies that are manufacturing products, and America’s farmers and ranchers. The 2014 PDP report demonstrates again that, with the sound science-based regulation of pesticides and commitment from the industry, farmers and other stakeholders, we can reach toward making sure that every American, no matter their wallet size or geographic location, can access healthy food.”

A 2012 report from CLA demonstrates that crop protection has made healthy food more financially accessible to the American consumer, providing a 47.92 percent savings in overall grocery bills for a family of four in the U.S.¹ In addition, increased agricultural production, due to advanced pesticides, has created an additional 1,040,661 jobs generating more than $33 billion in wages—all while decreasing the need for tillage operations, thereby reducing fossil fuel use by 558 million gallons per year.

Recent reports from the United Nations also show that an increasing number of people worldwide have gained access to healthy food. Over the past 25 years, the number of people worldwide who are hungry has declined from one billion to about 795 million, or about one person out of nine—which means that 2 billion people have avoided a “likely state of hunger” given the global population increase of 1.9 billion people since 1990-92.² Multiple factors have contributed to the decrease in global hunger, including the integration of family farmers and small holders in rural areas into well-functioning markets for food, inputs and labor.

The PDP was established in 1991 for the purpose of collecting data on pesticide residues found in food. Information collected by the PDP is sent to the EPA to help the agency conduct important dietary risk assessments. The USDA also uses this data in the development of integrated pest management objectives. Since the PDP program was initiated, 109 different commodities have undergone testing. A complete version of the 2014 Annual Summary is available at www.ams.usda.gov/pdp.

¹ CropLife America. The Contributions of Crop Protection Products to the United States Economy.

² Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Program. State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015.

Established in 1933, CropLife America (www.croplifeamerica.org) represents the developers, manufacturers, formulators and distributors of plant science solutions for agriculture and pest management in the United States. CropLife America’s member companies produce, sell and distribute virtually all the crop protection and biotechnology products used by American farmers. CLA can be found on Twitter at @CropLifeAmerica. CLA supports CropLife StewardshipFirst.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:03:05-07:00January 13th, 2016|

Almond Conference Announces AIM Strategy

Annual Almond Conference Announces AIM Strategy and Improved Leadership

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

Leadership was the recurring theme for the 3,000+ attendees over the three-day 43rd Annual Almond Conference, hosted by the Almond Board of California last week in Sacramento. “We are focused on the fact that the almond industry is accepting its responsibility to provide leadership for California agriculture and to use our treasure and talent to work on solutions for a lot of the problems that are very daunting,” said Richard Waycott, president and CEO of the Almond Board. “We have talked a lot about what is expected by consumers and by consumer product goods companies, which is our customer base,” Waycott noted.

At the conference, the Almond Board launched Accelerated Innovation Management (AIM), a major strategic effort designed to further increase the almond industry’s efficiency and sustainability, that features four major initiatives described by Waycott:

Water Management and Efficiency – A focus on accelerating almond farmer transition to more efficient irrigation scheduling and management practices to maximize the most crop per drop of water. This initiative, which builds on the 33 percent reduction in water used per pound of almonds achieved by the industry over the last 20 years, includes working with farmers to fine tune irrigation techniques and adopting more advanced water management technologies.

Sustainable Water Resources – First, an exploration of how to best leverage a unique strength of the California Almond industry—its acreage—to accelerate natural flood-year groundwater recharge of aquifers. Collectively, California’s aquifers are the state’s largest water storage system; water recharged through this program would benefit all Californians, not just farmers. Second, an investigation of opportunities to recycle water from multiple sources, such as municipal wastewater, as a way of increasing overall water availability for farmers and all Californians.

Air Quality – Investigation of various methods the almond industry can help meet the Central Valley’s exacting air quality standards. This initiative will scrutinize all components of almond farming that impact air quality and evaluate opportunities to decrease emissions. This initiative will identify alternatives, such as decreased fossil fuel use, that will result in cleaner air for all those who live in California’s Central Valley—farmers, their families, and surrounding communities.

22nd Century Agronomics – A recognition that we need to better understand and then adopt the technologies that will lead California farming into the 22nd century. The Almond Board of California will lead a comprehensive exploration of almond farming techniques, bringing an exploratory mindset to consider all options as to what innovations and technical “leap frogs” will be needed to sustainably farm in the future. Each component of almond farming will be considered, from land preparation and varietal development, to equipment and processing.

Link: Almond Board of California

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:27:01-07:00December 14th, 2015|

Joe Marchini, Mr. Radicchio

Joe Marchini Brings Radicchio to California

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

Joe Marchini, of J. Marchini Farms, was born in 1938 to Italian parents who farmed and packed tomatoes in Le Grand, Calif. Marchini has lived and worked in that locale for his whole life, exemplifying a high level of spirit and accomplishment.

His father, Florindo Marchini, brought his family over from Tuscany in 1920.” They settled in Le Grand because Florindo’s brother was already living there when Florindo first arrived. Before long, Florindo met a long time grower by the name of Carlo Giampaoli who invited Marchini to grow tomatoes and bell peppers with him. So Giampaoli took Florindo Marchini under his wing, and his brother as well, and established their farm, Giampaoli-Marchini Company. Together, they packaged tomatoes under the Live Oak brand because they actually packed the produce by hand in the shade of a live oak tree that still thrives there today!

Florindo’s son, Joe Marchini, was around seven when he began working at the packing shed stamping produce boxes. “I would sit on a box,” he said, “and as they came down the line, I used a little stamp pad to size tomatoes 6/6, 7/7, 7/8, 5/6, 4/4, 3/4. I only worked about 3-4 hours a day, and that was it. The older I got, the more I became involved in different things, from stamping, to packing, to wrapping tomatoes in cellophane paper and putting them in a box.”

The tomatoes were packed green and transported back east by train in ice cars. “They weren’t pink ones; no, they were dead green! They knew when to pick them, when the gel formed inside of the tomatoes,” Marchini said. “They could tell by the color and the shine of the tomatoes, and that’s what the pickers were supposed to pick. They were going to break soon. It took about a week, running day and night, to get to New York on steamer trains.”

“The early farming venture was comprised of 150 acres, which was a lot of acreage with horses,” said Marchini. “In the fall, we would travel to Gustine and cut tulles and bamboo for our tomato stakes.”

“My two brothers, Richard and Leonard Marchini, went to school with me. None of us could speak any English; we only spoke Italian,” Marchini said. So they all learned English in a small schoolhouse with two classrooms and one teacher.

“My dad grew tomatoes on that land for two years and then planted 40 acres of almond trees. The almonds were harvested green and then dried down by air.” Of course this was before mechanical shakers were used to harvest, so it was done with mallets and tarps. “It was very tough work,” noted Marchini, “and the price of almonds was less than 60 cents a pound.” Marchini credits Blue Diamond Growers, a cooperative he joined, with marketing the almonds so prices could increase.

Mr. Radicchio

Not satisfied with growing only tomatoes and almonds, Joe Marchini was always looking for something new to grow. In 1962 on a trip to Italy, Joe noticed fields of radicchio, a leafy Italian chicory and relative of endive, in the Venice area and found the crop was selling well in Italian grocery stores. He said, “I liked the crop and thought it would grow well in California, so I smuggled in little packages of seeds.”

Unfortunately, the seeds he brought back did not grow well. “Radicchio production wasn’t perfected and the source I had in Italy did not tell me what season the seeds were for.” Marchini’s radicchio would grow and form green leaves but not make a head. So Marchini went back to Italy, 40 miles southeast of Venice, to talk to growers, but no one would talk. “I certainly could not tell the guys that I was going back to the U.S. to grow the crop,” he said.

Marchini finally found a couple of growers to ship a 100-pound sack of seeds to San Francisco for him. “I picked up the bag, planted the seed and the same thing happened—it didn’t grow.” He called the Italian growers and asked how many different radicchio varieties they were growing. They told him eight varieties. “I asked them why they sent me only one variety, why they did not tell me when to plant the seed, and if they wanted me to buy more seed, they had better tell me what varieties to grow,” he said.

“Since I spoke Italian, the growers started to open up. Eventually, I brought them to the U.S., and we partnered up to grow radicchio. I even sent them to Mexico because they thought they could produce an earlier crop than in California,” Marchini said. After reaching mediocre success for about four years in Mexico, they moved back to California to work with Marchini, now without a partnership.

The company now productively farms in Mexico with the right seed. “We farm in Mexico for the winter crop in February, March and April. But before we started growing in Mexico, in the late 1970s, we started in Salinas and then in the San Joaquin Valley. The Italian growers knew what to plant and we got all the varieties in the right mode that would do well. The Italians wanted to be partners again and I declined it because I had kids coming up, but I told them that I would buy all the seeds from them, and they were making good money. So they ended up disclosing the secret in the whole deal of growing radicchio. So without them, and me speaking Italian, we would have never gotten started. We are still friends today and I’m still buying seed from them,” Marchini said.

Over the years, Marchini has worked with his son Jeff to plant the right seed at the right time. They learned which varieties could handle different climates, such as going into the heat, and coming out of the heat, and they emerged with 6 or 7 dependable varieties.

“So we plant six varieties in the fall, one week after the other. We can have radicchio in the San Joaquin Valley from November until March, and we harvest seven days a week.

His processors want radicchio 12 months out of the year, so Marchini’s company manages harvesting to fill the sales pipeline 12 months a year. “And we never run out of it,” he said.

Today, Marchini uses about 12 different labels, including his own image on the ‘Joe’s Premium Radicchio’ box, for the domestic market and select export markets. “We let global importers pick their own labels. J. Marchini ships all over the world now, including Italy, and has a large percentage of the market in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. “They love the color of radicchio in a blend,” he said.

J. Marchini deals with nearly every processor in California including Taylor Farms, Apio, Fresh Express, Dole, Earth Bound, and Ready Pac, year-round, with production from Kern to Merced counties and Mexico.

Managing all this production with Joe and his son Jeff (the third generation), are grandchildren Marc and Nic and Francesca (fourth generation), with the fifth generation coming along with Gabriella, Maximus and little Giuseppe, named after his great-grandfather Joe (Giuseppe). Marc and Francesca work in the sales and post-harvest side of the business. Nic works in the farming operation side of the business. Jeff oversees the company as a whole.

Overseeing production, and especially the harvest of the radicchio throughout the growing regions, including Mexico, is Alejandro Calderon, Joe Marchini’s right hand since day one. Jenny MacAfee, a key person in the sales department, has been on board for the last 20 years.

Today Marchini farms three main radicchio varieties: Castelfranco (white head with red polka dot specks), Treviso (elongated red with white ribs), and Palo Rosa (red head type with white veins). “We do a three-pack deal in the wintertime with all three varieties together, but we also grow many other varieties,” said Marchini.

J. Marchini Farms’ production operation, based in Watsonville, a great climate for radicchio in the summer months, includes 2,000 acres spread between the Central Valley, the Coastal areas and Mexico.

The Central Valley fall and winter nighttime temperatures are cool, and radicchio production, five lines down the row on 80-inch beds, is about 20,000 pounds per acre, with most of it on drip or sprinkler.

The operation also grows almonds, walnuts, fresh figs and other crops, “but radicchio has been a good ride,” said Marchini. “We have had ups and downs with the crop, but overall it has provided a good cash flow,” he said.

For the last three years, Joe Marchini has been dealing with Squamous Cell Carcinoma (the second most common form of skin cancer) and has undergone multiple surgeries and treatments. His love for his family and his incredible passion for farming keep him going.

_______________

J. Marchini Farms

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:27:06-07:00October 16th, 2015|

Chew on This Tour

Kyle Olguin and Sarah Weber on Chew On This Tour

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

To counter the abounding misconceptions surrounding agriculture, companies are fighting back through education. Kyle Olguin, assistant operations manager for Nutra Blend LLC, a company that specializes in manufacturing nutrients for the feed industry, said that Nutra Blend began a program called “Chew On This Tour” to educate consumers about common farming misconceptions.

For the tour, Olguin said, “we drive trucks around the country, trucks turned into movie theatres, and educate people on where their food comes from, the misconceptions about farming, what we [farmers] do in America, and how we have one of the safest food supplies in the world.”

Olguin said that the perception of agriculture among the masses is that Ag is unnecessary because of the existence of grocery stores.

“We are constantly being attacked by non-ag promoting groups that agriculture is bad,” Olguin said, “and now the perception is out there that agriculture doesn’t really provide anything good or that agriculture doesn’t really need to exist. We have grocery stores, and the general public does not understand the link between agriculture and farmers and those grocery stores.”

“So we decided to start a campaign, and we kicked it off in Oregon driving this truck around the U.S. and showing people one simple video.” Olguin said, “We ask people questions, like: How many eggs does a chicken lay? How many pounds of bacon do you get from one cow?”

Sarah Weber, a sales representative for Nutra Blend, said the next step for the program was to raise money for backpack programs linked with food banks.

“The second movement is ‘Drive to Feed Kids’,” Weber said, “a nonprofit program with our suppliers and vendors to work with our customers, in their own communities, to raise money for student backpack programs that are linked in with the food banks.”

Weber said, “Our third stage in this movement is the ‘Ivy League Farmer’,” Weber said, “which is a movie that has been produced and will air on network TV pending this fall. It is a reflection on a dairy farm and the positive influence the farm has on the community. It is a way for us to reach out to the public with an emotionally positive connection to educate them.”

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:28:06-07:00August 24th, 2015|

“My Job Depends on Ag” is Growing

Steve Malanca on the Future of “My Job Depends on Ag”

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

Three months ago, a grassroots effort to spread the word of agriculturalists began in the form of the movement, My Job Depends on Ag. The organization held its first meeting this week at Harris Ranch in Coalinga with 50 members in attendance to discuss the future of the group.

Steve Malanca, co-founder of the movement, said his hope for the organization is to educate the consumer, as well as to unite the ag community. Malanca also sells agriculture equipment for AGCO.

“We really feel that educating the non-ag community about who we are and where our food comes from is very important,” Malanca said.

“We want to unite the ag community so that we all are represented together,” Malanca continued. “We want to encompass everybody—the organic farmer, the commercial farmer, the trucking company, the logging industry. But everybody that’s involved in ag we want them to know that we all have a stake in this, and if we can all come together and be as one, I think that we’ll be able to hopefully give a message to the general public that we have a need for people knowing where their food comes from.”

Malanca hopes to host a My Job Depends on Ag Festival in the future. The group is considering Los Banos as a location for the potential festival due to its accessibility with an airport, several hotels and a nearby fairgrounds for the event.

“We’re considering a festival in order to bring everybody together,” Malanca said, “and we’re considering combining the Salinas Valley growers with the San Joaquin Valley growers in a town for example like Los Banos.”

“We want to, perhaps, have ag tours around the city of Los Banos,” Malanca suggested, “and have buses available for people who aren’t familiar with ag to take a ride and come see what kind of crops are grown and how they’re done.”

“An historical pavilion would be nice to show people the history of agriculture, and California—not just central California, but the entire state,” Malanca stated, “and we’d bring in some big time entertainment and food, of course. And we’d have a way for everybody to be proud of what they do and to show people where their food comes from.”

Malanca said he hoped the group’s decal could be an icon that symbolized the importance of agriculture.

“We’re grateful for the response we’ve had with our decals,” Malanca said. “We hope that little decal being shown on people’s vehicles and equipment will be a sign or a vision for people to see where they’re food comes from and know that we are a huge community and that we are good people. Ag is good, and ag is where you’re food comes from.”

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:28:08-07:00August 7th, 2015|

Grape Harvester Safety

Grape Harvester Worker Safety

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor, California Ag Today

Worker safety is top-of-mind for agriculture, and a special raisin and wine grape mechanical safety training event was held in the Fresno County town of Easton. Grape harvester safety suggestions were conveyed in both English and Spanish to more than 150 attendees.

Ryan Jacobsen, CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, one of the event sponsors, said, “It’s no secret, grapes are one of the top crops here is Fresno County. So this raisin and wine grape mechanical harvest safety training is really just to make sure that all of our employers and employees have a safe harvest.”

“They’re working with some machinery that is used only during the harvest time,” said Jacobsen, “which is only a six-week to eight-week period of time. So we just want to get more familiarized with safety as the upcoming season approaches.”

“Most importantly,” Jacobsen continued, “farmers and farmworkers are working a lot of long hours during the harvest season, and this is just a constant reminder that safety is the number one priority. It’s most important that our folks go home safe every evening,” Jacobsen said.

Clint Erling, and his employer, Kingsburg Cultivator, also known as KCI Equipment, which manufactures vineyard equipment such as mechanical raisin harvest machines and almond harvesting equipment, wants to make sure everybody’s safe and gets to go home at night. “Some of this equipment can be extremely dangerous,” Erling explained, “so we engineer guards for areas of the machine to increase worker safety, while maintaining the machine’s effectiveness in the field.”

Worker safety is important to Erling, even after the sale. “We go to the field and work with farmworkers during the harvest or on any projects they’ve got going on,” he said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:28:09-07:00July 23rd, 2015|

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