BREAKING NEWS: First ACP Found In Monterey County

First ACP Found In Monterey County

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

An Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) has been found in Monterey County, thus expanding the ACP Quarantine in the state. This is breaking news as the ACP vectors or has the ability to carry a fatal citrus bacterial disease known as Huanlongbing (HLB) or citrus greening.

Save our citrus

“It was in a residential area of northeast Salinas,” said Bob Roach, assistant ag commissioner for Monterey County, “and it’s not really unexpected because, with the exception of Santa Cruz County, we are surrounded by other counties where ACP have been identified on the sticky traps.”

This ACP find was in a residential yard, just north of Salinas. “The most likely cause,” said Roach commented, “When you find it in a residential area, the likely source of the introduction is when people move plants around” from other regions where the psyllid is present.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) will begin the trapping next week,” Roach explained. “They flood the area with traps and then take care of the treatments.” CDFA will coordinate spray programs within 800 meters from the find. “They’re all set up for that,” said Roach.

Featured Image: Adult ACP (Source: The Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program)

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:03:01-07:00June 9th, 2016|

The Fight Against the Asian Citrus Psyllid

California Citrus Mutual on the Fight Against the Asian Citrus Psyllid and HLB

By Laurie Greene, Editor

On Saturday, June 4, 2016, Patrick Cavanaugh, California Ag Today’s farm news director, hosted iHeart Media’s Ag Life Weekend show on “Power Talk 96.7 FM Fresno and 1400 AM Visalia stations, sitting in for broadcaster Rich Rodriguez. Cavanaugh’s invited guests included Alyssa Houtby, director of public affairs, and Chris Stambach, director of industry relations for the Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual, to discuss the status of the state’s citrus industry amidst the ACP and HLB Infestation.

The Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP), certainly the number one pest for California citrus, can spread a bacterium known as Huanglongbing (HLB) that is fatal to citrus trees. As of 2016, 22 trees in the state have been infected with the fatal disease and had to be destroyed. The entire citrus industry of California has been and continues to be concerned that the ACP could take down the citrus industry, as it has in Florida.

Alyssa Houtby explained that the fight against ACP in California “is going well, we hope. The Florida citrus industry has been completely decimated by HLB; an estimated 90 percent of their acreage is infested with this disease.”

Asian Citrus Psyllid Evidence on New Growth (Source: California Ag Today)

“Here in California,” Houtby continued, “we saw it crop up in residential citrus before we saw it in commercial citrus. All of the HLB finds, to date, have been in the Los Angeles Basin.” Houtby said they are working diligently to keep the psyllid population down to decrease the exposure of trees to HLB.

The California citrus industry spends approximately $15 million annually on an ACP assessment program, which includes extensive public outreach. Part of the research entails trapping the pest, conducting survey work in the regions in question, applying treatments in residential areas, and managing a delimitation survey around the area of Los Angeles where the disease has populated.

“That means that we’re scouting very consistently,” explained Houtby, “looking for other trees with the disease and pulling those trees out as soon as we find them. We are doing everything we can here in California to keep the pest and disease from spreading—now that we have it,” she noted.

Alyssa Houtby, director of public affairs, California Citrus Mutual

“The California industry has always been one to use a proactive approach,” Houtby elaborated. “We saw what happened in Florida, and we realized really early on that we couldn’t stand by and wait for this disease to find us. We had to actively go look for it and find it—before it found commercial citrus—and we’ve done that.” Regarding the 22 trees in the state that have been destroyed thus far, Houtby said, “It could be a lot worse if we weren’t as proactive as we are.”

When locating a positive ACP find in a residential area, Houtby noted, generally speaking, homeowners have mostly been compliant. “There are pockets in this state where folks don’t like government coming in, knocking on their door and asking to spray their trees with pesticides. We understand that. It’s an opt-in/opt-out scenario here. We’re not forcing homeowners in most cases to treat their trees.”

Chris Stambach, director of industry relations for California Citrus Mutual

“But that’s a different situation if HLB is present,” she emphasized. “Then we do. We get a warrant, and we go in and treat the surrounding trees. If we’re treating in response to an ACP find, homeowners can opt out, but overwhelmingly, they don’t. They support our program. They understand that citrus is a part of the California heritage, they like their citrus trees, and they want to keep them in their yards. They understand that the alternative to not treating is that tree will eventually die if it becomes infected. We’ve worked really hard to communicate to the general public about the seriousness of this issue. We’re pleased with the results.” Houtby said.

Chris Stambach discussed the importance of homeowners having a general understanding of the ACP, so if they find something unusual in their citrus tree, they know to call the local ag commissioner.

Stambach detailed ACP and HLB specifications to increase homeowners’ understanding about their beloved citrus trees. “HLB is symptomatic, but it takes a long time for those symptoms to show up in the tree,” said Stambach. “You really have to know what you’re looking for because some fertilizer deficiency issues in the tree will mimic what HLB looks like.”

“Though the ACP is a really tiny little bug, there are some key signs the public can look for,” explained Stambach. “You want to look for that psyllid and the little tubules it excretes on the new flush of growth—pretty much right there at the end of the terminals where all that new growth comes in the springtime and in the fall. That’s key to California, because there are only certain times of the year when that ACP is actively feeding on the citrus tree.”

California has a real benefit over the Sunshine State, where they have to spray 12 times a year to keep the psyllids at bay. “It hasn’t been effective for [Florida],” noted Stambach. “We had a couple of growers out this last winter to our Citrus Showcase. They planted new trees, 4 years old, and although they spray 12 times a year, their orchards are 100% infected with HLB. That’s the devastation that this insidious disease can bring. It’s really difficult to get your hands around it because it takes so long to be able to detect it.”

Another benefit for California citrus, according to Houtby, is, “We have a lot of areas in the state where we don’t have to spray at all because we can use beneficial insects. That’s just the great part about farming in California.”

Asian Citrus Psyllic Yellow Trap 2 (Source: Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program)

Asian Citrus Psyllic Yellow Trap (Source: Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program)

Houtby and her team often look to Florida for ideas and recommendations on what has worked for them, what hasn’t and what citrus growers here can do to prevent the disease from taking hold of their citrus. She clarified that 90 percent of the Florida citrus market is used for juice production; whereas, California is a “fresh-oriented industry, meaning that over 90 percent of our product goes into the fresh market.”

Although California citrus looks for recommendations from Florida, “here in California, there are a lot of things that we can’t afford to do because of the [fresh] market that we’re serving,” said Houtby.” That is what we’re fighting so hard to maintain because we cannot sustain as long as Florida has; we don’t have the luxury of sending a bad-looking piece of fruit into the marketplace like Florida can, because they just juice it. Knowing that, we’re working really hard to never get to the point that Florida has reached.”

As if the dire situation in Florida couldn’t be any worse, they battled with “another deadly bacterial-based citrus disease, citrus canker, brought in from the far reaches of the world,” Stambach said. “That’s a concern we always have with importing citrus. When we import Argentine lemons, for example, we risk our domestic plant health by exposing orchards to a lot of plant diseases they have that we don’t. We want to keep those out of our country,” noted Stambach.

Abandoned citrus trees also pose problems for the industry; they can be sanctuaries for ACP. “If those trees are dead, that’s not a problem. They may look bad, but if they are not living, that’s not a problem. It’s when those trees aren’t cared for, aren’t sprayed in a normal routine, and there is a flush of new growth, the trees provide a sanctuary for the psyllids,” he said.

Abandoned Citrus

“And ACP are very good at finding citrus. They’ll target the perimeters of new growth on the very first citrus they find. Boom, they’re right on it,” he noted.

“Those abandoned groves create a real problem, particularly when they’re in close proximity to other commercial acreage or even homeowners,” he said. Neglected neighborhood citrus trees can become ACP sanctuaries. “ACPs will feed on them and move on to another tree, and feed there,” Stambach explained. “All that time, if an ACP is infected with the HLB bacteria, it will spread that disease, with a latency period of 2 to 5 years.”

Stambach and his team are working on a critical program in Southern California to remove abandoned citrus trees. “Sometimes it’s just getting a hold of the landowner and making them aware of the situation,” he said. “Our county ag commissioners are really key in contacting those people. We’ve had growers go in and spray their neighbor’s orchard to help them out. There are a lot of different ways to attack that problem.”

Compared to counties in the San Joaquin Valley, Riverside and Ventura Counties typically have a big-ag urban interface, which means there is a lot of acreage intermixed with home sites—small homes with citrus trees. Stambach said, “It’s not really commercial production, but it’s a significant amount of acreage with a number of trees that don’t get treated.”

“We’ve gotten some support from some of our partners in the chemical industry. Bayer CropScience has stepped up and worked with us to put together a program. We’re really happy. We’re working hard to take [ACP and HLB] out.” Stambach said.

“Fresno has even found ACPs in residential areas,” commented Houtby on the Central Valley situation. “ACPs are endemic in Southern California, but we’re still at a point in the Central Valley at which we can control these populations and knock them down really quickly when they arrive here.”

Houtby points to the Central Valley’s vulnerability when citrus plant material is moved over the grapevine or from the Central Coast. “We ask that homeowners, and the citrus industry as well, not move plant material out of Southern California into the Central Valley,” she stated. “The psyllid lives on that plant material and not on the fruit. If you’re going to buy a citrus tree, buy it at a local plant nursery or a local Home Depot or Lowe’s. Don’t buy it in Southern California and drive it to the Central San Joaquin Valley,” she urged.

“Our biggest task for homeowners is that they cooperate when the California Department of Food and Agriculture knocks on the door and wants to look at their trees,” Stambach said. “That is the best way you can help us win this battle against the ACP.”

Homeowners can learn how to protect their citrus trees at:

CaliforniaCitrusThreat.org

U.S. Department of Agriculture

California Department of Food and Agriculture

University of California Cooperative Extension

Contributors to this report include Patrick Cavanaugh and Emily McKay Johnson.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:05:56-07:00June 6th, 2016|

California Depends on National Dairy Month

National Dairy Month Encourages Americans to Eat More Cheese

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Across the country, National Dairy Month will be celebrated during the month of June to promote the consumption of dairy products. Though California is the number one dairy state, California dairy farmers have been experiencing a decline in dairy production amidst high labor costs, competition from other states and declining profit.

Founded in 1937 as National Milk Month with the goal of increasing milk consumption to stabilize the dairy surplus, the holiday was renamed National Dairy Month to encompass all dairy products.

Anja Raudabaugh, CEO of Western United Dairymen

Anja Raudabaugh, CEO of Western United Dairymen in Modesto, Calif., is hopeful that celebrating National Milk Month will educate more consumers about the health benefits of diary products, increase dairy consumption opportunities, open more markets and enable the lagging dairy industry in California to better compete with other states.

States such as South Dakota and Wisconsin have ramped up their milk production significantly, which has stressed California producers to even the gap. According to Raudabaugh, the term oversupply doesn’t necessarily apply to the dairy conditions in this state. She remarked, “We’re actually in a 17-month decline at the moment, which is the longest decline [in milk production] we have ever been in.”

The dairy industry has managed to be very competitive with wages, another stressor, but the high labor costs are hurting production companies. “As things get more and more competitive globally,” said Raudaubaugh, “we are going to continue to struggle to figure out how those margins play out.”

“The margin is going to continue to shrink, especially as wages get more and more competitive,” Raudaubaugh observed. “Being a worker on a dairy farm is certainly very wage-competitive throughout the agricultural industry. We cannot keep workers at anything less than about $16 or $15 an hour as it is, so it’s a good time to be a worker in the dairy industry. It’s a good craft and skill to have if you become a milker.”

Given Western United Dairymen’s mission to promote and administer programs and policies aimed at maintaining the longevity of the dairy industry on the West Coast, and as the milk industry struggles and continues to face tough times, Raudabaugh has a solution: “Eat more cheese.”

Enter: National Cheese Day every June 4! According to the California Milk Advisory Board website and California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) 2014 data, California is the #2 cheese producing state—right behind Wisconsin—and the #1 producer of Monterey Jack cheese. An amazing 43% of California’s cow’s milk is used to make California cheese, which is produced by more than 50 California cheesemakers.

Even beyond cheese, Raudabaugh said, “There is a tremendous amount of diversity in the way people have exposure to dairy products they don’t even know about. There are yogurts and sour creams, ice creams, and whey products.” She believes market sectors should understand more about the dairy products consumers are exposed to every day to increase not only more milk consumption, but higher-value dairy as well.

“The diversification of the product line is really what has kept us in business,” reflects Raudabaugh, “It’s what keeps us looking to the horizon and looking to the future optimistically, even in the face of some pretty bad milk prices right now.”

Remember California dairy producers, particularly, this month—National Dairy Month, and try a new dairy product. And discover a new cheese tomorrow, June 4, National Cheese Day!

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:17:13-07:00June 3rd, 2016|

CCA Exam Signup Open

California Certified Crop Advisor Exam Signup Open

Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs) in California and Arizona have the opportunity to register for the August 5, 2016 CCA Exam until June 24, 2016. The exam will be given in Sacramento, Tulare, Ventura and Yuma. Registration for the exam is available at: https://www.certifiedcropadviser.org/exams/registration.

More than 1,000 active CCAs in California and Arizona are playing an important role assisting growers with the efficient and environmentally sound use of fertilizer and crop management. Many California CCAs recently completed the University of California/California Department of Food and Agriculture Nutrient Management Training Course which qualified them to complete grower nitrogen management plans that are or will be required by the various California Regional Water Quality Boards.

“Crop consultants are encouraged to become CCA s to show that they have the commitment, education, expertise, and experience to make a difference in a client’s business,” said California CCA Chairman, Fred Strauss, Crop Production Services. “The CCA certification is largest, most recognized agriculturally-oriented program in North America. The CCA Exam Preparation Course, scheduled in Sacramento on June 24, will help candidates prepare for the test. Registration for the exam prep course is available at https://capcaed.com/june-24,-2016-ca-cca-exam-preparatory-workshop.

For more information on the California CCA program, go to: www.cacca.org, or contact Steve Beckley at (916)539-4107 or steve.beckley48@gmail.com for more information. The California CCA Program is also on Facebook.

California Ag Today2016-06-15T18:03:18-07:00May 18th, 2016|

FARMit Educates Farm Managers

FARMit Fills Educational Gaps in Farm Management

California Ag Today farm news director, Patrick Cavanaugh, learned about FARMit from expert Dan Whisenhunt, whose accomplishments include president and CEO at Agcom LLC, (An Agson Global, PVT, LTD Subsidiary); principal at Dan Whisenhunt Consulting, in Turlock; member of the Board of Directors for the California chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA); chair of the FARMit Education Committee (farm management); member of the Farm Management / Ag Consulting Education Committee on the national level of ASFMRA; and Accredited Agricultural Consultant (AAC) designee.

Dan Whisenhunt, member, board of directors for the California ASFMRA and chair, FARMit Committee

Dan Whisenhunt, member of Board of Directors for the California chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA) and chair of the FARMit Education Committee (farm management)

CalAgToday: What is the scope of FARMit?

Whisenhunt: FARMit is a 14 one-day course education package designed to fulfill the education gaps in California agriculture. We held some focus group meetings throughout the state to identify the education gap in farm management areas and then designed the courses to fulfill those gaps. Now, we are offering California agriculture in general; which teaches valuable soft-skills that can enrich a company’s culture and also improve employee performance.

CalAgToday: Can you give us an example of these gaps?

Whisenhunt: The education gaps are mostly in the farm management area—our main target. But we’re seeing those same education gaps in all areas of agriculture, from farm managers and leads in the field, to executive farm managers and lenders.

These courses are aimed at all of those markets to enrich [management] knowledge and enable them to be better employees for their company. The focus group meetings basically surveyed the attending farm managers to identify what education they think is lacking for their profession here in California. And really, nobody offers farm management education here in California, or across the country, other than the ASFMRA.

CalAgToday: Are the courses required to fulfill the farm manager education curriculum?

Whisenhunt: No, not unless you hold a certification, an accreditation, from ASFMRA. The accredited members, either farm managers or ag consultants, are required to have 30 hours of education every two years in their discipline. But, there are no requirements for farm managers, and this is a real advantage to those companies that choose to in their employees, particularly in the form of education, to enhance their employees’ effectiveness. They’re going to be able to better communicate with their coworkers, better communicate with their employees, do a better job—on the job, and ultimately, make more money for the company.

CalAgToday: ASFMRA is a national organization, so is FARMit national?

Whisenhunt: These classes were designed and developed by the California chapter, but we have offered them in other states. We’re getting requests.In fact, one of our members traveled to offer one of these classes to the Illinois chapter, and they’ve requested that we facilitate two more classes for them in July. And the Michigan chapter is requesting a class to be facilitated in September, so we’re offering these all over the country.

CalAgToday: That’s great.

Whisenhunt: Yes, our aim is to work with the national ASFMRA, based in Denver, to offer education to other chapters across the country, but this is primarily for the agriculture industry here in California.

CalAgToday: How do we find out more about FARMit?

Whisenhunt: You can go to our California Chapter ASFMRA website, or call our chapter office in Woodbridge CA, at 209-368-3672.

__________________________

The California Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, according to their website, was chartered in 1949 as an affiliate of the national organization. It is a non-profit mutual benefit corporation under California law.

Members of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers are uniquely qualified to meet the complex challenges of modern agriculture. ASFMRA is the nation’s premier organization of professionals who adhere to exceptionally high standards for education, ethics and performance in appraisal and management of agricultural properties, and consulting for agribusiness. The California Chapter is one of 38 chapters affiliated with the national organization.

California Ag Today2016-06-07T15:04:25-07:00May 17th, 2016|

LGBTQ+ Agriculture Summit

Cultivating Change: Building A Network of LGBTQ+ Agriculturists

June 8th – 11th, 2016 Kicks off the 2nd Annual Cultivating Change Summit In Sacramento

The Cultivating Change Foundation is hosting their 2nd annual Cultivating Change Summit designed to explore and empower the intersection of the agriculture industry and the LGBTQ+ community—Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Transgender and Questioning (and allies)—a group of people rarely represented in either of the communities of which they are a part, the agriculture community or the LGBTQ+ community, for the most unique professional development conference ever.

Participants can go to http://www.cultivatingchangefoundation.org and register to join this important conversation. The Summit is the first of its kind providing a safe space for LGBTQ+ agriculturalists and people who love and respect them to come together and connect through a shared experience. With over 200 participants from industry leaders to innovators uniting June 8th-11th, in Sacramento, the epicenter and capital of the number one agriculture producing state in the nation, with a common goal of amplifying and elevating this global conversation. This Summit will allow LGBTQ+ agriculturists of the past, present, and future to see that they are not alone and recognize the Ag industry needs all of us for a sustainable future.

“It is important that the community come together to share information and best practices, not only to ensure we all reach our full potential, but also to support one another as so many LGBTQ people across the country contribute daily to our rural and agriculture communities.” – Ashlee Davis, LGBT Rural Summit Series, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Over the three days, the Cultivating Change Summit will have 40 speakers, workshop presenters, and keynotes delivering content focused on four different areas: agricultural education, production agriculture, government and policy in agriculture, and urban agriculture. Some of the Summit’s distinguished guests include the California State Secretary of Agriculture, Karen Ross, and the President of California Farm Bureau, Paul Wenger. Representatives from the United States Department of Agriculture, Sacramento government officials, and individuals from global agricultural companies will be present.

The main summit events will take place at the Crest Theatre in Downtown Sacramento, 1013 K Street. The final day of the summit will include tours of Northern California’s Agriculture landscape and local agricultural operations.

“I’ve waited more than 20 years for someone to start the conversation. I believe in Cultivating Change! Let’s do this!” – Rob Larew, Staff Director, US House Committee on Agriculture.

About The Cultivating Change Foundation

Founded in 2015, the Cultivating Change Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, focuses on valuing and elevating minorities in agrarian communities through innovation, education, and advocacy.

Tickets are available for the Cultivating Change Summit and can be purchased through the website for $225. Special group ticket packages, sponsorship opportunities, and a detailed schedule are also available online. Visit www.cultivatingchangefoundation.org for more information.

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:24:03-07:00May 16th, 2016|

A Positive View of Agriculture

Use Buzzwords to Convey Positive View of Agriculture

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

While it may not always seem that consumers view agriculture favorably, David Spady, Americans for Prosperity of California state director, said agriculture is actually viewed positively, as demonstrated through the “So God Made a Farmer” Ram 2013 Super Bowl ad, an extended version of the “So God Made a Farmer” video based on the speech authored and narrated by legendary radio broadcaster Paul Harvey and produced by the truck manufacturer to commemorate Ram’s “Year of the Farmer.” Spady also included FarmersOnly, the online dating site, as portraying a positive view of agriculture, among other programs and outreach.

“How you present farming to the public is very important,” Spady said, “ to make sure you’re hitting those values that people do see in farming.”

Spady suggested one way farmers can maintain the value placed on agriculture is by using the buzzwords that anti-agricultural groups have used against agriculture—in favor of agriculture. “Sustainability has become a very common buzzword,” Spady said, “but it’s very important to project [sustainability] with the idea of farming because farming is sustainable—sustainable for not just our food production but also for the environment,” he affirmed.

“[Farmers] are really growing large-scale gardens, not just planting rows of crops. But, ultimately, that’s what people are doing even in their backyards. So, giving people an image they can relate to that has a values-connection is a really important message for projecting who farmers are.”

_________________

The mission Americans for Prosperity (AFP) California, as reported on their website, is:

to educate citizens about limited government, lower taxation, and free market principles
to advocate for public policies that champion the principles of entrepreneurship as well as regulatory and fiscal restraint.
to mobilize citizens to advocate for policies that cut red tape and increase opportunity and get the economy working for hard workers–not special interests.

What we do:

AFP mobilizes citizens to effectively make their voices heard in public policy campaigns.
We build coalitions of like-minded organizations in California fighting for the common cause of lower taxation and free market principles.
AFP California educates citizens about where their elected officials stand on our issues.
AFP combines state-of-the-art national capabilities with local on-the-ground armies to create Grassroots operations that win.
Through its Grassroots Training Schools, AFP Foundation has recruited and educated thousands of citizens on how to promote greater economic prosperity.

California Ag Today2016-06-03T10:01:25-07:00May 13th, 2016|

The Fight Against Food Misinformation

Kavin Senapathy: Correcting Food Misinformation and Alarmism

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

Kavin Senapathy, science communicator/advocate and contributor to Forbes Magazine, among others, is tightly focused on her goal to debunk miscommunication about human health, as well as genomic, food, and genetic engineering. Senapathy stated, “There is this culture of alarmism,” about food safety and food misinformation versus the science-based reality of our food safety management. “The alarmism and fear is so amplified, people don’t realize how very safe we are right now.”

Senapathy gets her facts from the source, “I speak to as many scientists as possible, and I know how to read and dissect a scientific paper. I know there is a very important difference between cherry picking from one study to support a bias, and looking at the weight of scientific evidence,” she said.

“I also talk to farmers and I’m learning more about the hands-on practices,” Senapathy said. “California farmers produce a wide variety of fruits and vegetables,” she said, “and we all should be eating more of them.”

“I think a lot of the fear and misinformation take away from the message of eating the right things,” continued Senapathy. “Thinking, ‘I should avoid MSG, I should avoid GMOs or xyz additive,’ really detracts from the most important message—that we should be eating less unhealthy things like sodium and saturated fat, and not too many calories,” noted Senapathy. “We should be eating lots of fruits and vegetables and whole grains.”

And though she lives in Wisconsin, Senapathy says she is amazed by how many fruits and vegetables are available, even in the wintertime. “I can go to the grocery store in February and come home with grapes, strawberries, bananas, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables,” Senapathy said. “You know, we should marvel at the bounty of this more often.”

She’s quick to thank farmers for feeding her family and those of everyone, everywhere. “We forget—with all the fear and misinformation in social media—that our food supply is more abundant and safer than it has ever been,” she noted. “We should all be appreciative and thankful for that.”

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:00:54-07:00May 12th, 2016|

Connecting with Consumers

AgChat Reaches Out to Consumers

By Laurie Greene, Editor

Jenny Schwiegert, AgChat Foundation chief executive director, spoke to Laurie Greene, California Ag Today editor, at the recent Bayer AgVocacy Forum about one of the biggest challenges to agricultural advocacy. “We’ve got excellent bloggers out there,” Schwiegert said, “however, the audience they [reach] tends to be other growers and ranchers. We do not want to be singing to the choir. We need to find other ways to connect with non-ag consumers.”

Schwiegert elaborated on some of the resources for non-ag readers posted on the AgChat website, “There’s a page under “Resources” that talks about different non-agricultural hashtags people can use when they tweet or use Instagram or Snapchat. We also have a post about people with whom we need to connect on Twitter who are not necessarily in the agricultural industry.”

Jenny Schiegert, AgChat chief executive director (Photo Source: LinkedIn)

To [farmers and Ag bloggers] who are trying to determine who their audience might be, Schwiegert advised, “There is more to you than just farming and ranching. You know, I like to do renovations at my home; I like photography; and I’m a baseball mom. When I began blogging, which I don’t do as much recently, my strategy was always to be incognito and not say, ‘Hey, this is what I do.’ I would only talk about farming.”

However, Schwiegert discovered that when she talked about those other topics that are not necessarily related to farming, her posts attracted a lot more of a mom-based or photographer-based audience. She suggested, “Find that spark, the other part of your life that is not related to farming and ranching, and explore and talk about it. Connect with other people [consumers] who have that same desire to have a hobby or whose kids are also in baseball, or whatever it might be.”

While connecting with people via a distinctly different interest can be constructive, Schwiegert held that consumers do trust and want to hear about agriculture from farmers and ranchers. She referred to a recent finding that while the majority of people do not know how to get in contact with a farmer, farmers are the people they want to talk to and get their information from.

“We have also experienced this on a personal basis,” Schwiegert shared. “While our operation is very small, we like to take people, and not necessarily adults. Sometimes we will bring our children’s friends out, show them the sheep, and take them to my in-laws’ dairy. My younger two sons have an egg business, so we’ll show them that too.”

“Ninety-nine percent of the time,” Schwiegert said, “someone will say, ‘Oh these are so much better than the store-bought, and the store-bought has been sitting on the shelves for months.’ That’s where I stop and say, ‘that is not necessarily true. Let me connect you with Katy who is in Iowa or let me connect you with Greg in Oregon, whose egg farm is producing 1.5M eggs a day.’”

“I like to connect people,” she explained, “to help them understand what modern agriculture is all about because we tend to have a [rustic] romantic, idealistic view of what a farm is, and that is what people want.” But, she contends, that may not match what farming really is in today’s world. “I think people really do want to talk to the farmers and ranchers,” said Schwiegert. “They just don’t know how to go about connecting with them.”

Schwiegert does not know if there is a definite ‘disconnect’ between this romantic view of the rustic farm scene with antiquated tools, and consumers who use the latest devices and apps. She said, “I am not sure how to re-connect that. For instance, why is it ok to use an antibiotic if you have pneumonia, but it is not ok to use it in chicken? And I’m not sure how we mend that because consumers are not trustworthy of statistics and science, so I guess that it is one of the million-dollar questions out there. You know, how is it OK for them to have a Fitbit, but our farmers can’t use GPS or auto-steer in their tractors or precision Ag drones?

“That is a huge disconnect, and we need to address it as an industry,” Schwiegert reflected. “I think a lot of people in agriculture are intimidated and scared to share their stories because there are folks out there who are ready to pounce. And especially if you have small children, you do not want to have those types of people on your property. So people are hesitant to share their stories.

“I have the same fears,” Schwiegert stated. “I don’t want people like that on my farm. But the more that we can share our stories out in public, using different methods—whether through social media or a farm-to-table type of event with a commodity group at a public location—the more likely we are to mend that disconnect.”

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:00:54-07:00May 3rd, 2016|

New FFA State Stars Honored

Halley Lauchland Wins FFA Star State Degree in Agriscience Award

By Charmayne Hefley, Assistant Editor

During the opening session of the 88^th California Future Farmers of America (FFA) State Convention in Fresno last Saturday night, four California FFA members were honored with the top Star Awards during an onstage ceremony. As reported by the California FFA Association in a press release, each of them excelled in one of four areas:

Andrea Thomas from the Colusa FFA chapter was named the California Star Farmer state winner in recognition of proven leadership skills for an aspiring young farmer. Thomas raises and maintains hogs, cattle and hay.

Halley Lauchland, 2016 FFA Star State Degree in Agribusiness Award winner

Halley Lauchland, 2016 FFA Star State Degree in Agriscience Award winner (Photo Credit: California FFA)

Nitin Gupta from the Tulare FFA chapter was named the California Star in Agribusiness state winner, the highest achievement for a person pursuing a career in agribusiness. Gupta started the business Simple Sand three years ago in which he collects, markets and distributes sand from his family’s ranch to local businesses.

Paul Barcellos, also from the Tulare FFA chapter, was named the California Star in Agricultural Placement state winner, the highest recognition in the state for a young person excelling in job placement in the agricultural industry. Barcellos works alongside his dad at Cain Trucking as a Foreman in the Composting and Air Pollution Control Operations in recycling agriculture products and preventing air pollution.

Halley Lauchland, a high school junior from the Lodi FFA chapter received the 2016 FFA Star State Degree in Agriscience Award, the highest achievement for a person pursuing a career in agriscience.

“My project was cane pruning for the control of Eutypa Dieback in winegrapes,” A fifth-generation winegrape grower, Lauchland told CalAgToday, “The disease is commonly found in cabernet franc finds.”

Lauchland conducted her research in part to help her family’s 18-year-old vines with the Eutypa Dieback disease, which she defined as “a fungal spore that enters the vine through pruning wounds. This will eventually kill the vine, causing the farmer to have to replant, which costs a lot of money and isn’t efficient.”

Lauchland tested cane pruning versus the commonly-used method of spur pruning to keep the disease at bay. “We tested two rows and found [cane pruning] was a more efficient way to do it, and it was going to save us more money in the long-run.” Spotting her research catching on in local vineyards, Lauchland said “It seems people are going to the cane prune.”

Lauchland’s research was published in the Lodi District Grape Growers Association Update last year as, “Lodi High School Student to Compete in State FFA Agriscience Fair with Eutypa Dieback Research Project.” Lauchland stated, “That helped put out the word, what this [method] does and how it helps farmers.”

Overjoyed to have been selected to win the Star in Agriscience award, Lauchland said, “Words can’t really describe how I feel right now.”

The California Future Farmers of America (FFA) State Convention was sponsored by PG&E and the J.G. Boswell Foundation, as a special project of the California FFA Foundation.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:00:55-07:00April 27th, 2016|

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