New UCANR Extension Specialist Coming

UC ANR to recruit 16 new UC Cooperative Extension Specialists

By Pam Kan-Rice, UCANR Assistant Director, News and Information Outreach

University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources will be recruiting 16 new UC Cooperative Extension Specialists over the next 12 months. This is in addition to the five UCCE Specialist positions released for recruitment last fall and two co-funded UCCE Specialist positions since May 2021 – one in partnership with UC Merced and another with UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

To date, 106 UCCE Specialist and Advisor positions have been released since spring 2021, thanks to increased 2021-22 state funding. The positions are located in communities across California.

“We are positioned to make an even bigger difference in the lives of Californians by having so many more boots on the ground,” said Glenda Humiston, UC vice president for agriculture and natural resources.

UCCE Specialists perform research on campus with other campus-based academics and in the field with UCCE Advisors, who work directly with farmers, families and other Californians.

Currently UC ANR has UCCE Specialists located on six campuses – UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced – at UC ANR’s research and extension centers and in county offices.

“We are excited to strengthen partnerships with additional UC campuses by placing UCCE Specialists at UC Irvine and UCLA for the first time,” Humiston said. “We are also adding a position in UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.”

The new UC Cooperative Extension Specialist positions are listed below:

Agricultural Toxicology Specialist, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Molecular Biosciences and CAES Department of Environmental Toxicology
Agroecology Specialist, UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Department of Environmental Studies
Climate Resilience and Labor Specialist, UC Berkeley School of Public Health
Dairy Cattle Production Health and Management Economics Specialist, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Teaching & Research (located in Tulare County)
Diseases of Nursery Greenhouse and Native Crops Specialist, UC Davis Department of Plant Pathology
Economics of Diversity and Equity Specialist, UC Berkeley Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics
Economics of Food Supply Chains Specialist, UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Engineered Wood Products and Design Specialist, UC Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Food Crop Safety Specialist, UC Riverside Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology
Nutrition and Health Equity Specialist, UC Davis CAES Department of Nutrition
Regenerative Agriculture Specialist, UC Merced Department of Life and Environmental Sciences
Soil Health Specialist, UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources
Subtropical Fruit Crop IPM Specialist, UC Riverside Department of Entomology
Urban Water Quality, Health and Justice Specialist, UC Irvine Department of Civil and Environment Engineering
Water Equity and Adaptation Policy Specialist, UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
Weed Science Specialist, UC Riverside CNAS Department of Botany and Plant Sciences

The full list of UCCE positions released is posted on the 2021-22 Release of UCCE Positions web page. More about the process is available on the 2021 Call for Positions web page.

All UC ANR jobs open for recruitment can be found at https://ucanr.edu/About/Jobs.

California Ag Today2022-05-02T15:00:43-07:00May 2nd, 2022|

Today’s World is Full of Uncertainties. Your Food Supply Shouldn’t be One of Them

By Mike Wade, California Farm Water Coalition

The war in Ukraine and all the global unrest it is causing has focused American’s attention on just how uncertain a world we inhabit.

Inflation was already wreaking havoc on family budgets and now gas prices are also skyrocketing.

Which is exactly why our government should be doing everything it can to reduce reliance on foreign sources for our basic needs, especially food.

Unfortunately, that is the exact opposite of what is happening.

Through out-of-balance regulatory policies and a failure to prioritize western farming, our government is putting our safe, affordable, domestic food supply at risk.

Over 80% of our country’s fruits, nuts and vegetables are grown west of the Rockies and simply cannot be moved elsewhere. Without that supply, Americans will see shortages at the store, even higher prices, be forced to rely more heavily on increasingly unstable foreign sources, or all of these at the same time.

Learn More

When you make a salad, have fruit for breakfast, eat a hamburger with cheese, or put tomato sauce and garlic on a pizza, odds are that at least some of those products came from California.

But without a reliable water supply, that farmland simply cannot produce what our country needs.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

In some western states, the government is holding on to existing water supply, rather than release it to farms to grow food. In California, we must move more quickly to build and repair infrastructure that will help us store more water in wet years for use in dry ones like this one. And in general, water policy has become unbalanced in ways that penalize the farms trying to produce our food supply.

California farmers are doing their part and have reduced water use by double digits since 1980. Throughout the West, farms are also important in the battle against climate change because crop production helps remove carbon dioxide from the air. If things continue the way they are, our government is essentially creating deserts instead of food production, which will only perpetuate the cycles of drought and wildfires we’d like to avoid.

Food price increases in 2022 are now expected to exceed those observed in 2020 and 2021. Without changes in water policy, it will continue to get worse.

It has never been more important that U.S. consumers insist on domestically grown food in our stores.

California Ag Today2022-04-21T15:58:13-07:00April 21st, 2022|

California Agricultural Mediation Program Helps Farmers

As Farming Population Ages, New Partnership Offers Support and Tips for Transition Planning

Nearly 40 percent of producers in California are over the age of 65 according to the most recent U.S. Census of Agriculture, slightly higher than the national average. The stability of California agriculture, the backbone of U.S. food production, is largely dependent on the successful change of hands to the next generation.

As a result, many non-profits are instituting holistic succession planning programs to help farm families with the transition process. In California, California FarmLink offers a 12-month long program, The Regenerator: A Year of Farm Succession Planning, which addresses all aspects of transition, including tax and estate planning, business structure and valuation, as well as financing strategies.

California FarmLink recently partnered with the California Agricultural Mediation Program (CALAMP) to set the stage for productive farm transition conversations and help participating families with any communication related issues. CALAMP is a nonprofit organization that provides free mediation and facilitation to those working in agriculture.

CALAMP and California FarmLink offer these five tips for successful farm transition planning, an often overlooked but critical part of farm operations.

Have a Champion & Prioritize the Discussion
Have someone at the farm who is dedicated to moving the process forward. Often transition conversations are put on the back burner because people get too caught up in the day-to-day.

Recognize Each Other’s Point of View
It’s common for family members and stakeholders to have different visions for the future. It’s important to listen and recognize each other’s point of view as valid, whether you agree or not.

Understand the Financial Picture
The next generation should have access to the finances for the best chance of success. For example, unknowns can cause issues and prevent a successful transfer.

Write Down Your Rough Draft for Transition of Assets and Management
Write down your vision or ideas to ensure everyone is on the same page. This draft will help you finalize it with a professional.

Get Help as Needed from a Facilitator
A facilitator or mediator with experience in family coaching and succession planning helps create a sense of fairness. They’ll help set the agenda at family meetings, ensure nothing is missed, and help reluctant participants become more involved.

“We provide free mediation services on a variety of issues facing farmers, including farm transitions.” said Matt Strassberg, CALAMP Program Director. “CALAMP’s services helped many families reach agreements about how to manage the farm going forward.”

CALAMP offers both on-site mediation sessions and teleconferencing sessions so that everyone has access to this service no matter where in California they live.

“Farm transition discussions don’t have to be limited to only family members. Some may want to involve long-term employees in future ownership or young farmers outside the business,” Strassberg said.

For more information on FarmLink’s program, visit: https://www.californiafarmlink.org/succession. Or email Liya Schwartzman at liya@cafarmlink.org.

For more information or to sign up for free mediation with CALAMP visit www.CALAMP.org where you can fill out an online request form. Or email Jenna Muller at jennam@emcenter.org or Mary Campbell at maryc@emcenter.org.

California Ag Today2022-02-03T09:12:41-08:00February 3rd, 2022|

EPA Looking At Pesticide AIs on Effect on ESA

EPA Announces Endangered Species Act Protection Policy for New Pesticides

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking action to further the Agency’s compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when evaluating and registering new pesticide active ingredients (AIs).

Before EPA registers any new conventional AI, the Agency will evaluate the potential effects of the AI on federally threatened or endangered (listed) species, and their designated critical habitats, and initiate ESA consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (the Services).

Prior to this action, there was a litany of resource-intensive litigation against EPA for registering new AIs prior to assessing potential effects on listed species. EPA’s new policy should reduce these types of cases against the Agency and improve the legal defensibility of new AIs, which often have lower human health and ecological risks than older pesticides.

Under this new approach, if EPA finds through its analyses that a new conventional pesticide AI is likely to adversely affect listed species or their designated critical habitats, EPA will initiate formal consultation with the Services before granting a new AI registration. As part of its analysis and under its existing authorities, EPA will consider the likelihood that the registration action may jeopardize the continued existence of listed species or adversely modify their designated critical habitat and provide its findings to the Services.

To determine or predict the potential effects of a pesticide on these species and habitats, EPA will use appropriate ecological assessment principles and apply what it has learned from past effects determinations and the Services’ biological opinions.

If EPA determines that jeopardy or adverse modification is likely, the Agency will only make a registration decision on the new AI after requiring registrants to implement mitigation measures that EPA determines would likely prevent jeopardy or adverse modification.

If EPA finds that a new AI is likely to adversely affect listed species or their critical habitat, but that jeopardy/adverse modification is not likely, it may nonetheless require registrants to include mitigation measures on their registration and product labeling to minimize the effects of incidental take to listed species that could result from use of a pesticide.

California Ag Today2022-01-27T10:51:53-08:00January 27th, 2022|

Current and Former FFA Officers Tour CA Ag

FFA Members Explore Agriculture in California During January

Earlier this month, 46 current and former state FFA officers visited California and learned about the various types of agriculture the state offers.

Members flew into California and toured various agribusinesses — from the largest U.S. producer of caviar to a fourth-generation ranch practicing responsible carbon farming and more. They also talked with Karen Ross; California Secretary of Agriculture, Dorene D’Adamo; the vice-chair of the California Water Board, Matthew Allen; vice president of state government affairs at Western Growers.

During the second week of the tour, members visited berry farms, nurseries, a horse ranch, and a feedlot; experienced whale watching; and explored the Muir National Forest. They spoke with a variety of agriculture experts, learned about practices they could take home to their communities, and visited the Mark Richardson Career Technical Education Center & Agricultural Farm in Santa Maria.

The experience was made possible thanks to FFA sponsors John Deere and Bunge.

FFA members who participated in the experience include: Alyssa Andrews and William Blankenship of Arkansas; Jillian Johnson, Carter Howell, Julia Heijkoop, Kelly Alexander, Barrett Young and Tyler Brannan of Florida; Madison Stevenson and Kesley Holdgrafer of Iowa; Cassandra Moody, Claire Shelton and Katherine Hebdon of Idaho; Julia Hamblen of Indiana; Ashley Chandler and Rachel Sebesta of Kansas; Kyle Schulze of Maryland; Olivia Coffey and Adele Battel of Michigan; Nicol Koziolek of Minnesota; Joceyln Dvorak of Missouri; Regan Hand of Mississippi; Bailey Robinson, Emma Kuss, Madison Stracke and Victoria Ference of Nebraska; Emily Sadlon, Abigail Goodenough, and Johnathan Finney of New Jersey; Aubrey Schwartz, Jacob Zajkowski, John Dippold, Katherine Price, Kylie Baldwin, Isabel D’Aquisto-Butler and Justin Sharp of Oregon; Hunter Eide of South Dakota; Ryder Mortenson of South Dakota and Samantha Olson of South Dakota; Charles Moser; Samuel Leach; Ellie Vance; Jackson Lohr, Lauren Rhodes and Emma Jackson of Virginia.

The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 735,000 student members as part of 8,817 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

California Ag Today2022-01-24T09:11:42-08:00January 24th, 2022|

Tree Nut Consumption Is Good For Health

At One Time, Tree Nut Consumption Not Recommended by Doctors

Do you remember when consuming nuts was not good for you? The medical industry had it all wrong!

“It was a journey that took about 20 years. And we started down it, not really knowing, like most research how it is going to turn out,” noted Richard Waycott President and CEO of the Almond Board of California. “Fortunately, the focus both for walnuts and almonds was on cholesterol and heart health, and we were able to have redundant trials, clinical trials, published in the papers that revealed that, yes, indeed increasing almond consumption does help with cholesterol,” he said.

And that it reduced the bad cholesterol and increased the good cholesterol.

“That was our first stake in the ground, and we’ve built on that,” noted Waycott.

Investing in good health research, is a major priority with the Almond Board. “Clinical trials are not cheap. They cost upwards of $3 million a year, and they usually take multiple years to accomplish and then you got to get published. That’s definitely a foundation of the Almond Board’s work,” said Waycott.

And in further evidence, according to the largest study of its kind, people who ate a daily handful of nuts were 20% less likely to die from any cause over a 30-year period, than those who didn’t consume nuts.

California Ag Today2022-01-19T13:06:04-08:00January 19th, 2022|

CA Minimum Wage Jan 1 is $15

New Minimum Wage Starting Jan. 1 2022

By Teresa McQueen, Western Growers Corporate Counsel

Effective Jan. 1, 2022, the minimum wage in California will increase to $15 per hour for large employers with 26 or more employees; it will increase to $14 for small employers with fewer than 25 employees.

The amount for small employers will increase again on Jan. 1, 2023 to $15 per hour.

State law requires that California workers be paid the minimum wage; in addition, some cities and counties have a local minimum wage that his higher than the state rate. Employers should keep this rule in mind: When faced with conflicting employment law standards, an employer must follow the standard that is most beneficial to the employee. Review the UC Berkeley Labor Center’s detailed list of local minimum wage ordinances for additional guidance.

Agricultural employers in California should also be mindful of the continued phase-in of agricultural overtime provisions. In 2016, California initiated a plan to phase-in agricultural overtime to the same basis used in most other California industries. The multi-year phase-in schedule continues in 2022 for large employers (26 or more employees).

As of Jan. 1, 2022, a large employer must pay overtime of 1.5 times the employees’ regular rate of pay for any hours worked over 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week. This is the last phase-in for large employers. Click here for important information on calculating the regular rate of pay.

Employers are required to post information on wages, hours and working conditions at a worksite area accessible to employees. In addition, employers must ensure that the wage rate is displayed on the employee’s pay stub and that employees are paid at least the minimum wage even when employees are paid at the piece rate.

Updated wage and hour notice posters (Spanish and English) can be found on the Department of Labor Standards and Enforcement website.

California Ag Today2021-12-31T10:15:48-08:00December 31st, 2021|

A Better Dairy Digester

Dairy Digesters Have Struggled

A digester that can turn manure from dairy cattle into renewable fuel is not a new concept, but over the years very few have lasted. Daryl Maas of Maas Energy Works is a part of a collaboration in Tulare County California that have developed a model to make it work.

“Up until 10 years ago, even five years ago, a lot of digesters had struggled in California and elsewhere. They didn’t have a strong revenue model. They were often under capitalized or not maintained well. Just the technology was overly complex, but a covered lagoon in Tulare county California is about the simplest digester you can imagine,” said Maas.

These covered lagoons are located on site and over a dozen dairies and the biogas is connected to Calgren Renewable Fuels via pipeline.

“As a practical matter in California what we do is we build a large tarp, a gas tight tarp over a pond of manure,” said Maas. “So if you can imagine several acres of liquid manure sitting there, which is something we imagine all the time here, we love these topics. If you were to put a gas tight seal over the top of it, the bacteria in that manure, they think there’s still in a cow. They continue breaking down the little bits of calories and releasing methane gas, which we can capture. And then we’ve got a collection of biomethane, which is mostly methane gas, which is the same energy as natural gas.”

California Ag Today2021-12-28T12:16:35-08:00December 28th, 2021|

CDFA Celebrates 30 Years with USDA Pesticide Data Program

CDFA Food Safety Scientists Celebrate 30 Years of Continuous Growth Partnering With USDA Pesticide Data Program

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) joins the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Agricultural Marketing Service Pesticide Data Program (PDP). CDFA’s Center for Analytical Chemistry (CAC) Food Safety group has partnered with PDP since its inception in 1991.

PDP is a federal partnership with nine states that monitors pesticide residues in the U.S. food supply. PDP data helps demonstrate the high quality of the U.S. food supply — analyses show that pesticide residues are lower than the limits established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in nearly all food samples (typically >99%).

The partnership between the agencies started with a screening list of 28 pesticide compounds. It has since expanded the scope to detect and quantify more than 515 compounds.

Partnering in this project has helped the CAC Food Safety program model its quality system framework into one that generates the highest-quality data for enforcement and regulatory purposes. Innovation was fostered through CAC scientists applying novel analytical methods and custom-made software to automate data processing and review.

“These endeavors opened doors to continuous technical improvement and enabled us to significantly increase our capability to generate high-quality, defensible data in a fast-turnaround work environment,” said CAC Environmental Program Manager Tiffany Tu. “The benefit gained from collaborating with other agencies in the pesticide analysis field in impactful scientific projects helped further our goal of being in the forefront of the pesticide analysis arena, which also ensures CAC Food Safety program’s relevance in our mission of promoting and protecting California agriculture.”

California Ag Today2021-12-15T10:46:09-08:00December 15th, 2021|

Important COVID Prevention at Almond Industry Conference

Almond Industry Conf. Offers Before-You-Go-Tips

Big Event will he at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center

It’s almost here! The Almond Conference is just around the corner and we are looking forward to gathering in-person with our friends and colleagues in the almond industry. When the Board of Directors made the decision to move forward with an in-person conference at our meeting in June, we knew it would be a challenge given State of California restrictions on large indoor gatherings. We knew there was a risk in moving forward with planning when we could get the rug pulled out from under us at any time, but we felt the benefits of meeting in person outweighed the risks and voted unanimously to move forward.

Now here we less than one week out and we are full speed ahead! More than 3,000 industry members have pre-registered to join us in downtown Sacramento on Dec. 7-9. A record number of exhibitors will be arriving this weekend to set up for the largest trade show The Almond Conference has ever assembled. And staff have put together a tremendous lineup of educational sessions, keynote speakers and world-class entertainment!

In order to meet in person we must meet the State requirements for “mega events” (more than 1,000 people indoors). This includes requiring attendees to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test taken within 72 hours of arriving in Sacramento. This is a State of California requirement, not an Almond Conference policy (these are the same restrictions that are in place to attend a Kings game at the Golden One Center). We understand this is an inconvenience and have tried to make it as easy as possible to provide this information so we can hold the event in person. See below for more information.

Also, at this time, the County of Sacramento requires masks be worn indoors in public spaces, including the Convention Center. Sacramento County’s Public Health Department will end their indoor mask requirement if the count reaches 5 or fewer cases per 100,000. We’re watching the numbers closely and currently Sacramento is on a downward trend at around 10 cases per 100,000. We are hoping the downward trend continues as we know many of you would prefer not to wear masks in the facility. We will update you if the County lifts the requirement. If not, you will need a mask to enter the Convention Center.

We appreciate everyone’s understanding and assistance as we navigate the various State and Local requirements to hold The Almond Conference in person. We hope you’ll agree that the opportunity to meet in person is worth it! Thank you for your patience and we’re looking forward to seeing you next week in Sacramento.

California Ag Today2021-12-01T16:48:11-08:00December 1st, 2021|