New Board of Directors Elected at Almond Board

Almond Board of California 2021 Election Results

The Almond Board of California (ABC) has released election results for the Board of Directors positions whose terms of office begin August 1, 2021. As a governing body for the industry, the ABC Board of Directors is comprised of five handler and five grower representatives who set policy and recommend budgets in several major areas, including production research, public relations and advertising, nutrition research, statistical reporting, quality control and food safety.

The names of the following nominees have been submitted to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for selection:

Independent Grower

Member Position One (one-year term):

Paul Ewing, Los Banos

Alternate Position One:

Brandon Rebiero, Modesto

Member Position Three (three-year term):

Joe Gardiner, Earlimart

Alternate Position Three:

Chris Bettencourt, Westley

Independent Handler

Member Position Two (three-year term):

Bob Silveira, Williams

Alternate Position Two:

Dexter Long, Ballico

Member Position Three (one-year term):

Darren Rigg, Le Grand

Alternate Position Three:

Chad DeRose, McFarland

Cooperative Grower

Member Position Two (three-year term):

Christine Gemperle, Ceres

Alternate Position Two:

Kent Stenderup, Bakersfield

In addition, Lisa Giannini, Hickman, has been named to fill the Cooperative Grower Alternate Position One role.

California Ag Today2021-06-01T16:32:57-07:00June 1st, 2021|

Food Safety Constantly Improves

LGMA Taking Steps to Improve Food Safety

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network

The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement Board continues its efforts to assure safe leafy greens and confidence in food safety programs. Yesterday we reported on their endorsement of new pre-harvest testing guidance. CEO Tim York says this is just one step to continue improving overall food safety and avoiding future outbreaks.

“You know, this is just the first step in what we’re tackling that is the risk mitigation. Evaluating risks on their farm, whether it’s the adjacent land that we’ve talked about with cattle, whether it’s water, whether it’s soil, whether it’s the environment, harvest practices,” said York. “All those things we’re providing industry guidance on and working on metrics to help ensure and tighten up food safety requirements. Because we don’t want any more outbreaks. We don’t want any more sick consumers.”

“We don’t want any more impact on the industry. And so we have to accelerate what it is we’re doing address broader issues than just cattle, but starting somewhere, again because of FDA report started with cattle. But a number of different areas are under our purview that we’re working very quickly on within our technical committees to accelerate the guidance and accelerate the adoption of practices that would mitigate pathogen presence,” noted York

Learn more about these continued efforts on their website: https://lgma.ca.gov/.

California Ag Today2021-05-28T11:58:35-07:00May 28th, 2021|

Register For The 2021 Citrus Webinars

2021 Citrus Webinar Series Coming Up

The Citrus Research Board (CRB), in coordination with the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM), is rolling out a new CRB Webinar Series geared toward citrus growers and industry professionals.

The series will kick-off on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, with Dr. Greg Douhan, Area Citrus Advisor for Cooperative Extension Tulare County, providing an update to the industry. He will be followed by Mandy Zito, Deputy Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer for Fresno County Department of Agriculture, who will cover laws and regulations pertaining to pesticides, pest control operations, and worker safety that have gone into effect since 2017.

This webinar is currently pending approval for 1-hour of “Laws and Regulations” continuing education units from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) and Certified Crop Advisors (CCA).

On Tuesday, June 8, 2021, Sonia Rios, Area Subtropical Horticulture Advisor for Cooperative Extension Riverside County, will provide an update to the industry. She will be followed by Monique Rivera, Extension Specialist from UC Riverside, who will cover various topics in citrus IPM. She will cover basic California red scale biology and information about selecting insecticides for organic and conventional treatment for Asian citrus psyllid as well as ants and thrips.

This webinar is currently pending approval for 1-hour of “Other” continuing education units from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) and Certified Crop Advisors (CCA).

To qualify for continuing education units, please use the following list of instructions:

Register and login separately with your own email address
Participate in the entire hour webinar session
Respond to the polls/knowledge checks as they come up
(If the polls do not work properly on your device, use chat to submit your answers.)
Respond to the final survey at the end of the webinar session – please include your name, license number and email address

California Ag Today2021-05-27T18:59:47-07:00May 27th, 2021|

Microbe Power in Soils

CSUMB Professor Wins Award for Innovative Soil Research

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network

A professor at Cal State Monterey Bay was recently awarded a New Innovator in Food & Agriculture Research Award to continue work on understanding the microbial makeup of healthy Soils. JP Dundore-Arias says his research is studying the effects of cropping systems on plant growth by understanding what promotes beneficial soil biology.

Dundore-Arias… “It’s more like probiotics, the same way that when you take antibiotics, your doctor will tell you to finish your antibiotics. But the antibiotics are not going to be as specific,” said JP Dundore-Arias.

“They’re also going to get rid of a bunch of other good microbes that are in your gut. So you can try to replenish those healthy microbial communities in your gut. So the same way, that is what we’re trying to see, what is present in the soils where the disease happens or takes place very, very badly,” he said.

“And growers are really struggling to make something out of that or to have a successful production in those fields. Versus other soils where the disease doesn’t happen. So if we can compare the communities in both soils, can we find something in the good soils that maybe we could bring to the more depleted soils and trying to help or facilitate the establishment of just good microbial communities again,” said Dundore-Arias.

The $450,000 award is provided by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research.

California Ag Today2021-05-25T19:22:49-07:00May 25th, 2021|

Westlands Praises Gov. Newsom on Drought Declaration

Westlands Water District Applauds Governor Newsom’s Drought Declaration, Investment in Water Infrastructure Repairs

Urges Collaborative Approach to Mitigate Drought Impacts

In response to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s expansion of the drought emergency to include the Central Valley, Tom Birmingham, Westlands Water District general manager, today issued the following statement:

“The realities of a changing climate mean California must prepare for longer, hotter droughts that can only be effectively mitigated through collaborative approaches that focus equally on our state’s economic and environmental sustainability. We applaud Governor Newsom’s action to mitigate the impacts of a second year of drought in the Central Valley, which has already manifested itself in fallowed fields and lost jobs due to lack of water.

In particular, his move to streamline water transfers and provide $200 million in funding for critical water infrastructure repairs as outlined in Senator Hurtado’s Senate Bill 559 will both help local communities manage drought impacts in the short term and improve drought resiliency by maximizing the beneficial use of every drop of water in the long term. Westlands appreciates the leadership of both Governor Newsom and Senator Hurtado in championing these critical water infrastructure repair investments, and we look forward to continuing to work with local, state and federal leaders to develop collaborative, holistic solutions to more effectively address the impacts of drought on our most vulnerable communities.”

Subsidence has caused the Central Valley Project canals, which carry water to Westlands and other water agencies, to lose up to 30% of their conveyance capacity over time. This lost conveyance capacity results in less water available at higher costs for farms, communities, and wildlife. Westlands is among a broad coalition of water agencies supporting Senate Bill 559 (Hurtado), S. 1179 (Feinstein), and H.R. 2552 (Costa) companion state and federal legislation designed to address this issue. Governor Newsom’s commitment of $200 million represents approximately one-quarter of the state funding outlined in SB 559.

The immediate challenge facing State agencies that are responsible for ensuring competing demands are met is achieving a reasonable balance among all competing beneficial uses. The State agencies must consider all demands being made on the limited water supplies available and the values involved with the beneficial uses of water – including economic and social values. Governor Newsom’s drought emergency declaration will provide State agencies with the tools needed to achieve that balance, and it is Westlands’ hope that the water needs of people and the economy will not be made subordinate to the needs of the environment.

Past studies indicate that statewide economic losses as a result of California’s 2014-2016 drought totaled $3.8 billion, with thousands of jobs lost in the Central Valley alone and many rural drinking water wells running dry. Earlier this year, Westlands urged Governor Newsom to help mitigate the impacts of a 5% water allocation from the Central Valley Project, which is currently not available for delivery. Over the last 10 years, Westlands and other South-of-Delta agricultural service and water repayments contractors have received a 100% allocation of water only once and have received a 0% allocation two times.

California Ag Today2021-05-24T17:59:33-07:00May 24th, 2021|

Winegrape Crush Waste Studied

Upcycling Winegrape Waste

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network

Somewhere in the neighborhood of ⅓ of the food we produce gets wasted. Wine is no different. One-third of the grapes used to make wine are not utilized for human consumption after crush. Researchers at the University of California, Davis are trying to change this by studying how to take bioactive compounds from that waste like oligosaccharides and phenolics, and turn them into food ingredients.

“Some products are already on the market for this grape marc. Some small companies have grape marc extracts, which are mostly touted for the phenolic properties and not for the oligosaccharides,” said Amanda Sinrod a graduate student researcher and master’s candidate.

“A company branched off of Sonomaceuticals, who we work with called Vine to Bar, actually has a chocolate line where they incorporate this marc into the chocolate,” she said. “And without changing the texture, or really significantly the chocolate flavor, they’re not only able to increase things like the fiber of the chocolate and the phenolics to make it healthier, but they’re also adding these oligosaccharides just by naturally incorporating the grape marc,” Sinrod noted. “Because of the natural sugars in the grape marc, they’re actually able to add less sugar to the bar, making it healthier. So it’s just beginning. Hopefully, this will take off soon,” she said.

Sinrod said more research is needed in this area, but she is hopeful that this waste stream can be utilized for both health and sustainability.

California Ag Today2021-06-08T17:13:22-07:00May 21st, 2021|

Help Is Needed to Support Exporters

Western Growers, Industry Allies Urge Federal Action on Export Crisis at West Coast Ports

By Tracey Chow Government Affairs Specialist, Western Growers Association

Recently, Western Growers and nearly 300 allied agriculture and forest products companies and associations sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, urging his immediate intervention to support U.S. exporters and ensure their access to overseas markets.

Since fall of 2020, U.S. agricultural exporters have faced extreme challenges getting their products onto ships and out to foreign buyers, including record-breaking congestion and delays at ports, carriers’ persistent failure to provide accurate notice of arrival/departure and cargo loading times, excessive imposition of financial penalties and other fees, and skyrocketing freight rate costs. The group letter urges the Department of Transportation to consider its existing powers and determine how it can assist with the transportation needs of U.S. ag exporters in overcoming the current challenges in shipping goods and products.

Foreign markets are critical to Western Growers members, and we have been proactively monitoring the ongoing situation and elevating the issue with the state and federal governments. We continue to press for action from the Administration, as well as Congress, to engage the marine transport supply chain – particularly the shipping lines and terminals – to find solutions and relief.

**If your business is having problems with exporting – including high detention/demurrage or other questionable fees, excessive delays or cancellations, and carrier unresponsiveness – please contact Tracey Chow (tchow@wga.com, 202-704-7312)

California Ag Today2021-05-18T18:13:46-07:00May 18th, 2021|

California Ag Policy Update

CA Ag Day Event Highlights Concerns in State

By Tim Hammerich, with the Ag Information Network

Here are a few agricultural policy updates affecting our state’s farmers and ranchers, courtesy of the California Farm Bureau Federation.

Drought concerns surfaced frequently during the California Farm Bureau Capitol AG Day event, held via video conference Tuesday. Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson expressed disappointment with the slow progress of projects funded through a 2014 water bond, and urged movement on voluntary river-flow agreements intended to head off further water cuts. The conference featured discussions with legislative and administration leaders on a variety of topics.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an agricultural immigration bill last week. The Farm Workforce Modernization Act addresses both current and future workforce needs for agricultural employers and employees. The California Farm Bureau and hundreds of other farm organizations have announced support for the bill. It would update agricultural visa programs and accommodate immigrant agricultural employees already in the country

The pandemic has brought shifts in meat demand, as people stock freezers with meat. Ranchers who sell whole animals directly to customers say a change in law could help them fulfill that demand. A bill in the state Legislature would allow more ranchers to process small numbers of animals on the farm for direct sale. Cattle ranchers may already do so. The bill would expand that option to include sheep, goats and potentially swine.

California Ag Today2021-05-17T18:20:09-07:00May 17th, 2021|

Water Projects Proposed To Help Farmers

Potential Funding to Accelerate Water Projects

By Tim Hammerich, with the Ag Information Network

With more California farmers facing significant water cutbacks, public officials have responded with legislation to address the state’s recurring water shortages. A plan in the state Legislature would allocate $2 billion to accelerate a variety of water projects and programs. At the federal level, the new legislation would restore canal capacity. Farm and water groups have also pressed to add water projects to a federal infrastructure package.

Two concurrent efforts aim to help farmers and ranchers ensure their properties in fire-prone areas. Legislation sponsored by the California Farm Bureau would authorize the state’s insurer of last resort, the California FAIR Plan, to underwrite coverage for commercial farms and ranches that can’t find it on the open market. At the same time, Nationwide has begun offering supplemental insurance for farmers who qualify for FAIR Plan coverage.

Dairy farmers will watch carefully as restaurants and other food-service facilities reopen. More than half of some dairy foods are typically consumed away from home. Dairy product sales to foodservice have increased and retail sales remain strong, but economists say future buying habits will be unpredictable as pandemic restrictions ease. With milk production expected to increase, analysts say food-service demand will be particularly important.

Source: California Farm Bureau

California Ag Today2021-05-15T21:41:39-07:00May 15th, 2021|

Prop 12 Problems

Prop 12 a ‘Tough Situation’ for the Pork Industry

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network

Proposition 12 was passed by referendum back in 2018 and is scheduled to come into effect in 2022. There’s still a lot of uncertainty about how the law, which establishes new standards for confinement of specified farm animals, will be executed. Christine McCracken is executive director and protein analyst at Rabobank.

“The industry is kind of put into, you know, this difficult position of being faced with a rule that will make a lot of the pork that we raise here in the U.S. ineligible for sale in California without some pretty major legal consequences and financial consequences,” said McCracken.

The controversy is surrounding the fact that the law requiring certain growing conditions applies to all pork sold in California, regardless of where it is raised.

“It’s a tough position to be in for everyone: the retailer obviously, and not knowing whether or not they’ll have a lot of pork to sell. It’s tough for the processor, you know, with the potential of not having the visibility to encourage those changes and not knowing whether or not they’ll have enough pigs to process for California,” said McCracken.

“And for the producer, you know, they obviously have the added risk of not having markets for their pigs. So it’s, it’s a tough kind of industry situation at the moment,” noted McCracken.

Industry groups have filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the measure.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T18:14:16-07:00May 12th, 2021|