COVID-19 Sick Pay

By Manuel Cunha, Jr., Nisei Farmers League.

On January 25, 2022, the Governor’s office announced that Governor Newsom and legislative leaders, Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon reached a framework on extending supplemental paid sick leave through September 30, 2022. Many of our legislative representatives are not informed as to what is in the framework.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the framework includes up to 40 hours of paid leave for those that are sick or caring for an ill loved one and an additional 40 hours if proof of a positive test is provided. Up to 3 days of sick leave can be used to attend a vaccination appointment for themselves or a family member and to recover from any symptoms. In total, this would be 80 hours of COVID sick pay that is retroactive from January 1, 2022.

We understand that the Omicron variant has spread quickly among our communities. It has caused hospitals to approach capacity, placing our heroic health care workers under further stress. We must be doing everything we can to slow the spread of COVID to prevent further deaths.

If businesses are going to use this to help slow the spread of COVID then meaningful tax credits need to be provided to assist business in paying the supplemental paid sick leave. Businesses will pay at minimum $1,200 per employee who is eligible and needs to use the full 80 hours of COVID sick leave. From the prior supplemental COVID sick leave, we have seen that if available, employees will exercise their right to use it.

For example, a small farmer who has about 250 acres of tree fruit employs about 45 seasonal workers. They provide PPE to their workers, including providing extra to take home and did not question anyone when they claimed 80 hours of COVID sick pay under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in 2020 and again in 2021. They were able to absorb the COVID sick pay costs because the federal government provided a payroll tax credit that allowed them to get a credit for the full amount of COVID sick pay that was provided to their workers. The business credits proposed in the Governor’s office announcement would do nothing to offset the cost of the proposed COVID sick pay. This small grower would be solely responsible for paying $54,000 in sick pay wages. That amount does not even include the payroll taxes.

If the Governor and legislature are going to use businesses to help slow the spread of COVID and get people vaccinated, then use some of that $31 billion surplus to assist business, such as the small farmer, in providing COVID sick pay. With the supply chain and logistic issues, many farmers took a loss last year. Adding COVID sick pay without a credit is a financial burden that is unsustainable.

California Ag Today2022-02-01T08:38:54-08:00February 1st, 2022|

California Farmland Trust Protects 253 Acres of Almonds in East Merced County

By California Farmland Trust

California Farmland Trust is proud to announce the recent permanent protection of 253 acres of almonds in Merced County, owned by The Myers Irrevocable Flying M Ranch Trust.

Established in the 1950s, Flying M Ranch began farming and ranching in the area of Merced, plentiful with rich agricultural soils and riparian areas. As generations of the Myers family have taken over the operation, they have remained focused on their farming roots and ways to be leaders in facing agriculture’s most persistent challenges, including the preservation of vital natural resources.

This 253-acre property placed in an agricultural conservation easement (ACE) with CFT is one of the many conservation easements protecting the working landscapes of Flying M Ranch. Approximately 5,900 acres of grazing land on their farm has been preserved through other conservation organizations, and the Myers are actively pursuing another ACE with CFT.

“The idea of putting a conservation easement on the property was to keep the ranch in a perpetual state, and we like the idea of keeping it continuous,” said Wes Myers, Flying M Ranch Trust co-trustee. “CFT understands farming and ranching, which is why we chose to work with them on this project.”

Funding for this conservation project was provided through the Agricultural Land Mitigation Program (ALMP), which is administered by Department of Conservation (DOC) on behalf of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

“The growth pressure from the City of Merced and even surrounding communities like Planada, in combination with the Myers desire to be stewards of the land, are all contributing factors that make this farm a quality project for permanent protection,” said Chelsea Slaton, conservation director at CFT. “Given the resources and geographical features of this farm, protecting this property will help sustain long-term production of agricultural commodities for years to come, and we commend the Myers for their stewardship.”

CFT’s portfolio of protected farmland is most prevalent in Merced County and Flying M Ranch adds to these efforts. CFT has now protected 11,669 acres of farmland on 36 farms in Merced County.

California Ag Today2022-01-31T08:48:38-08:00January 31st, 2022|

USDA Announces Plenary Speakers for 2022 Agricultural Outlook Forum

Glenda Humiston to speak on market opportunities for climate smart agriculture

By Pamela Kan-Rice, UCANR

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plenary speakers for the 2022 Agricultural Outlook Forum, themed “New Paths to Sustainability and Productivity Growth” to be held virtually Feb. 24–25, 2022.

The opening plenary session will feature a fireside chat between Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Elizabeth Economy, senior advisor to the Secretary of Commerce. Secretary Vilsack and Economy will discuss U.S.-China agricultural trade relations and prospects for the Chinese agriculture market.

The Secretary’s discussion will be followed by a panel titled “Growing Market Opportunities for Climate Smart, Sustainable Agriculture Systems,” which will bring together sector leaders to discuss how climate smart, sustainable production practices can generate both environmental and economic returns, while still meeting the needs of consumers.

Speakers at the plenary panel include:

David Allen, VP of Sustainability at PepsiCo Foods;
Glenda Humiston, Vice President, Agriculture & Natural Resources at University of California;
Mike McCloskey, Co-Founder and CEO of Select Milk Producers;
Elena Rice, Chief Scientific Officer of Genus, PLC; and
Emily Skor, CEO, Growth Energy

“The Outlook Forum is USDA’s largest event of the year. Being asked by Secretary Vilsack to serve on the opening plenary panel is a significant honor,” said Humiston.

Also, during the Thursday morning session, USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer will unveil the Department’s 2022 outlook for U.S. commodity markets and trade and discuss the U.S. farm income situation.

Along with the plenary session, Forum attendees can choose from 30 sessions with more than 90 speakers. The concurrent track sessions and topics supporting this year’s theme are: climate mitigation and adaptation, supply chain resilience, commodity outlooks, frontiers in agricultural production and technology and U.S. trade and global markets.

Visit the Agricultural Outlook Forum website to register and read the program at a glance. Follow the conversation at #AgOutlook on USDA’s Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Registration to the 2022 Outlook Forum is free but required. Register at https://www.labroots.com/ms/virtual-event/usda-aof-2022.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

California Ag Today2022-01-27T10:59:05-08:00January 27th, 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|

UC Scientists Receive Big Climate-Smart Grant

UC ANR Scientists Receive $1.5M NIFA Grant For Climate-Smart Agriculture

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

To help California farmers and ranchers adjust to uncertain weather and climate events, the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture has awarded $1.5 million to a team of scientists led by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. The project is one of six projects funded by USDA NIFA’s $9 million investment to expand adoption of climate-smart practices.

“The Cooperative Extension system and the USDA Climate Hubs have unmatched capacity to reach agricultural, Tribal and underserved communities, as well as educators and students, and our nation’s farmers directly,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement announcing the grant recipients. “This partnership will strengthen climate research efforts and accelerate the development, adoption and application of science-based, climate-smart practices that benefit everyone.”

California has the largest and the most diverse agricultural economy in the nation, with revenue exceeding $50 billion, which is larger than the revenues of the other 10 Western states combined. Despite its size, the state is highly vulnerable to climate change.

“California farmers and ranchers need locally relevant climate information and adaptation resources,” said Tapan Pathak, UC Cooperative Extension specialist based at UC Merced and principal investigator for the grant. “Similarly, technical service providers are often ill-equipped to assist farmers and ranchers when asked questions about climate change, weather variability and local implications to implement those decisions.”

To train the next generation of workers to be climate-ready, colleges expose students to climate science and agricultural science separately, but often lack opportunities for the students to learn about the nexus of climate and agriculture.

Pathak plans to provide classes – along with opportunities for practical learning experiences – to farmers, ranchers, agricultural service providers and students.

“An overarching goal of this project is to develop robust multifaceted pathways to climate-smart agriculture by integrating Extension and participatory education program development and delivery to enhance agricultural resilience to climate change,” he said.

“To tackle this ambitious goal, we have a large team of multidisciplinary leading scientists and experts from local, state and federal agencies, the California Climate Hub and the University of California ready to work with diverse stakeholder groups.”

UC Cooperative Extension specialists Leslie Roche, Vikram Koundinya and Daniele Zaccaria at UC Davis; Mark Cooper, UC Davis professor; and Steven Ostoja of the USDA California Climate Hub, are co-principal investigators with Pathak.

They will begin with a needs assessment for all of their stakeholders, including socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Through three components, the project team will work to understand growers’ perception of climate change-related threats, build capacity for technical assistance providers to advance climate-smart agriculture research and delivery of science-based information, and educate community college and undergraduate university students.

Engaging with farmers and ranchers

With the help of community partners including the Community Alliance of Family Farmers and the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, the team will reach out to socially disadvantaged and limited-resource producers, including beginning and first-generation farmers and ranchers to attend regional workshops, led by instructors who are fluent in Spanish and Hmong.

Workshop content will address a broad range of topics including climate change trends and local impacts, drought planning strategies, optimization of agricultural productivity with limited resources and farm and ranch economic sustainability.

“California has so much diversity in terms of scale, crops, geography, micro-climates, market conditions and natural resource considerations that a one-size-fits-all approach will not work,” wrote Renata Brillinger, CalCAN executive director, in her letter supporting the project. “We support your plans to address the needs of producers though region-specific workshops.”

Five county-based UC Cooperative Extension academics will serve as regional leads for the farming workshops across broad geographic regions:

Andre Biscaro, UCCE irrigation and water resources advisor serving Ventura County
Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, UCCE small farms advisor for Fresno and Tulare counties
Surendra Dara, UCCE entomology and biologicals advisor serving San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties
Jairo Diaz, director of the UC Desert Research and Extension Center in Southern California
Jhalendra Rijal, UCCE integrated pest management advisor serving San Joaquin and Merced counties

Workshops for ranchers and rangeland managers will be coordinated by UCCE rangeland and livestock advisors in their respective regions:

Dan Macon, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor for Plumas, Nevada, Sutter and Yuba counties, will organize workshops for the Sierra Nevada mountains and foothill region
Grace Woodmansee, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor for Siskiyou County, will organize workshops in Northern California
Rebecca Ozeran, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor for Fresno and Madera counties, will organize workshops in Central California
Devii Rao, UCCE livestock and natural resources advisor for Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties, will organize workshops in the coastal region
Brooke Latack, UCCE livestock advisor for Imperial, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, will organize workshops in Southern California

Training technical service providers

The team will offer climate-smart agriculture trainings for technical service providers on how to prepare for key stressors in California agriculture such as floods, droughts, wildfires and heatwaves; effective climate communications; invasive pests and disease management under future climate; and weather and climate resources and decision support tools for managing risks.

One of the aims of this component is to encourage more coordinated efforts among different agencies to deliver climate change resources to their respective stakeholders, Pathak said.

California Cattlemen’s Association has expressed its support for the project.

“Given ranchers’ strong relationships with and reliance upon technical services providers – particularly those housed within the USDA and University of California – CCA also sees great value in the project’s goal of building capacity within those organizations to assist ranchers in addressing the challenges of climate change,” wrote Kirk Wilbur, CCA vice president of government affairs.

Nurturing future generations

For college students, there will be the UC Merced Summer Institute on Climate and Agriculture certificate course organized by Karina Diaz Rios, UC Cooperative Extension specialist based at UC Merced; the UC Davis credit-based course “Science and Society: Climate Change and Agriculture;” and a certificate course for community college students, which will be overseen by the Bay Area Community College Consortium of 28 colleges.

“We will join you in this exciting work and shared vision towards inclusive education in climate resilient agriculture,” wrote Nancy Gutierrez, statewide director of the Agriculture, Water, Environmental Tech sector of the California Community College System.

Students from the three courses will be selected for paid summer internships to engage in Cooperative Extension projects.

“Through climate-smart agriculture education, the workforce will be prepared to advance climate science and research efforts for future generations,” Pathak said.

California Ag Today2022-01-18T08:08:21-08:00January 18th, 2022|

Harris Farms, Inc. Announces New Chief Executive Officer

Mr. John C. Harris, Chairman of Harris Farms, Inc. Appoints Darren Filkins as CEO

By Suzanne Devereaux, Harris Farms

Harris Farms, Inc., a diversified farming and hospitality company founded in 1937, based near Coalinga, CA, announced that Darren Filkins has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. He will report directly to John C. Harris, the Chairman of Harris Farms, Inc. and the Harris Farms, Inc. Board of Directors. As CEO, Filkins, a graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, will oversee all of Harris’ operations, including the company’s farming, hospitality, and thoroughbred horse division.

“I am very pleased and excited that Darren is joining our team as CEO,” said John C. Harris, “Darren is a proven and enthusiastic leader who will inspire our wonderful employees and enable Harris Farms to capitalize on its many strategic opportunities.” As Chairman, Harris will be focused on oversight and strategic planning.

“I am deeply honored to be joining Harris Farms. Mr. Harris and his management team have created a very special company that prides itself on quality, respect for people, and the thoughtful stewardship of natural resources. Harris Farms will always provide the highest quality products, exemplary customer service, and a steadfast commitment to our employees and community. Each of our existing business divisions has compelling opportunities to capitalize upon and I look forward to pursuing exciting new ventures that will further accelerate our growth and utilize our diverse resources,” said Filkins.

Harris Farms, Inc. was founded in 1937 by John Harris’ parents, Jack and Teresa Harris, on the westside of the San Joaquin Valley. Over the decades, the company has dramatically expanded its agricultural operations which now encompasses several thousand acres spanning over three farming locations. The company has also grown to include the Inn at Harris Ranch, three dine-in restaurants, Express BBQ, FastTrack convenience store, and airport. The Harris Ranch Inn and Restaurant is a landmark that enables Harris’ agricultural businesses to interface with the traveling public, as well as a devoted local clientele. Opened in 1977, Harris Ranch Restaurant serves about 500,000 people per year and has won numerous culinary awards. Harris Farm’s thoroughbred horse division has been a leading training and breeding farm for decades and raised amongst others, Horses of the Year, California Chrome and Tiznow.

California Ag Today2022-01-13T15:59:16-08:00January 13th, 2022|

USDA Announces Additional Farm Service Agency and Rural Development State Directors

Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to appoint eight U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regional positions, including five Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Directors and three Rural Development (RD) State Directors.

“As we work to build a better America, we need talented and experienced staff working in our state offices,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “We are thrilled to welcome these dedicated individuals to USDA at such an important time in the Biden-Harris administration.”

FSA State Executive Directors oversee Farm Service Agency operations and agricultural policy implementation in the state. Each State Executive Director works with the State Committee to administer FSA programs and County office operations, develops and maintains stakeholder relationships with customers and other agencies and governments.

RD State Directors serve as the chief executive officer of Rural Development in the states and territories and are tasked with carrying out the mission of Rural Development to the benefit of everyone in rural America. In conjunction with the guidance and support of the National Office, State Directors are responsible for promoting the mission and strategic goals of Rural Development and provide key leadership to develop and support a productive, diverse, and inclusive state workforce.

Farm Service Agency:

Blong Xiong, FSA State Executive Director for California

Most recently, Blong Xiong served as the Executive Director for the Asian Business Institute & Resource Center. Elected in 2006, he served two terms as a Council Member for the City of Fresno, where he was the first elected Hmong Council Member in the State of California and the first Asian Council Member in the City of Fresno. Xiong has also served as the Deputy Director for The Fresno Center, formerly known as the Fresno Center for New Americans. Additionally, he sat on several commissions and boards: the Asian Pacific Islander Commission, the California Volunteer Commission, the Insurance Diversity Board and the Valley Small Business Development Corp. Xiong holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Marian College of Fond du Lac, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from National University.

Matt Gellings, FSA State Executive Director for Idaho

Matt Gellings has served on Idaho’s FSA State Committee for twelve years. He has served as chairman of the Leadership Idaho Agriculture Board of Trustees, the president of the Eastern Idaho Ag Hall of Fame, and the president of the Bonneville County Grain Producers Association. A fourth-generation farmer, Gellings produces alfalfa, wheat, malt barley and potatoes at his farm in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He has also maintained a cattle operation for 26 years.

Whitney Place, FSA State Executive Director for Minnesota

Whitney Place most recently served as the Assistant Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). She had worked for MDA since 2012 in the roles of Director of Legislative Affairs, Assistant to the Commissioner, and Project Coordinator for the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program. Place earned a B.S. in Applied Plant Science and an M.S. in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy from the University of Minnesota.

Heidi Secord, FSA State Executive Director for Pennsylvania

Heidi Secord has over 26 years of farming and regenerative agriculture experience as the owner of the Josie Porter Farm in northeastern Pennsylvania. She currently serves as a farmer member on the Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission, which she was appointed to by Governor Tom Wolf. Secord previously served as the State President for the Pennsylvania Farmers Union and sat on the National Farmers Union Board of Directors. She has engaged in agricultural policy committee work with multiple organizations, including PASA Sustainable Agriculture Board, Pennsylvania State Council of Farm Organizations (PSCFO), All Together Now Pennsylvania, and the Monroe County Conservation District. Earlier in her career, Secord served as a Peace Corps volunteer for three years in Mali and Lesotho. She graduated with a degree in Business Management from the University of Rhode Island.

Dr. Ronald Howell, Jr., FSA State Executive Director for Virginia

Most recently, Dr. Ronald Howell, Jr. served as the Director of Operations and Management in the College of Agriculture at Virginia State University. He previously served as the Special Assistant and Advisor for Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives to the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry in the Offices of Governors Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam. Howell received his B.S. in Agriculture Business and Economics from Virginia State University in 2009 and earned a master’s degree from Virginia Tech in Agricultural and Life Sciences in 2012. In 2021, he received his doctorate degree in P-20 Education and Community Leadership with a focus in Agriculture Education from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. Howell resides in Spring Grove, Virginia.

Rural Development:

Lakeisha Hood, RD State Director for Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Most recently, Lakeisha Hood served as the Director of the Division of Food, Nutrition and Wellness in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Prior to joining FDACS, she served as a legislative assistant in the Florida State Senate. A graduate of Alabama State University, Lakeisha obtained her Master of Education degree from Auburn University at Montgomery and has earned law degrees from North Carolina Central University School of Law and the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. Lakeisha currently resides in Tallahassee, Florida and is a licensed member of the State Bar of Georgia.

Rudy Soto, RD State Director for Idaho

Born and raised in Nampa, Idaho, Rudy Soto is a member of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation and the son of a farmworker. Most recently, he worked for Western Leaders Network, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization of local and tribal elected officials across the Interior West focused on protecting public lands, water and air. Soto previously served as a legislative staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives and covered energy, environment, agriculture, education, transportation, and tribal issues as part of his portfolio. He is a proud veteran of the United States Army National Guard and received his bachelor’s degree from Portland State University.

Helen Price Johnson, RD State Director for Washington

A third-generation small business owner, Helen Price Johnson concluded three terms on the Island County Commission in 2021. She is a past president of the Washington State Association of Counties, a two-term member of the South Whidbey School Board and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Whidbey Community Foundation. In these roles, she worked statewide advocating for small towns, small businesses and rural lands

Source: USDA

California Ag Today2022-01-14T09:49:25-08:00January 13th, 2022|

The Importance of California’s Agricultural Water Supplies

We cannot accommodate serious discussion on the demand side of water questions without working on the supply side

By Chris Scheuring, Special to CalMatters

Wendell Berry famously said that eating is an agricultural act. That makes all of us into farmers, and nowhere is that more true than in water terms.

For farming is irreducibly the process of mixing dirt, water and sunshine to bring forth from the ground what we need to eat. And no matter who you are, it’s true: somebody, somewhere, must devote a lot of water to the process of feeding you.

Some have been sidestepping this fact in the ongoing policy evolutions over the way we must capture, store and move water in California. Yet even the most ardent urban environmentalist finds herself at the local grocery store or the farmers’ market – filling her basket with California-grown nuts, fruits and vegetables.

Some of these crops can only be grown here, or in one of the few similar agricultural climates around the world, in an irrigation-based agricultural economy.

Take almonds, now and then the whipping-post of California water use: They cannot be grown in a place where it rains in the summer. Iowa, for example, is awfully cold in February – which is precisely when almonds need mild Mediterranean winter weather for their blossoms to be pollinated. Mediterranean crops need a Mediterranean climate, which usually means mild winters and hot, dry summers.

Beyond that, the case for California agriculture is made by our farming practices and their regulatory backdrop, whatever natural reticence California farmers may have about being regulated. We do it more efficiently here, and with more oversight, than in most alternative agricultural venues around the world. I would compare a California avocado favorably to an avocado anywhere else in the world, on those terms.

That’s why I have always thought that a subtle strain of NIMBYism runs through the retrograde ideas that some have about “reforming” agricultural water rights here and constraining the water projects that ultimately deliver food to the world. With nearly 8 billion people on the planet, pinching off California’s agricultural water supplies is a game of whack-a-mole which will cause the same water issues to arise elsewhere.

Without question, we must continue on our trajectory of making California farming more water-efficient. If you have been watching California agriculture for a generation, you already know that much of the landscape has transitioned from old-fashioned flood and sprinkler irrigation to more efficient drip and micro-sprinkler techniques – even in the case of row crops. We must continue this path; new technologies related to irrigation continue to be developed, including better monitoring of applied water and crop water use.

We must also recognize inherent conflicts between agricultural water use and the flora and fauna that are dependent upon our rivers and streams.

Gone are the days in California when a grizzly bear might paw a salmon out of the Suisun Marsh, but we can work together to find non-zero-sum water and habitat solutions that would take advantage of opportunities to protect and rehabilitate species of concern, where it can be done without disproportionate human impact. Again and again through public enactment, California has demonstrated its will to keep the environment in mind as we move forward.

Further, we must also carry forward processes to develop new water supplies for California’s farms and growing cities, whether those are storage facilities above ground or below ground, or stormwater capture and aquifer recharge, or desalination or recycling. In the face of a changing hydrology and the expected loss of snowpack, we simply cannot accommodate serious discussion on the demand side of water questions without working on the supply side. Otherwise, we are chasing a receding goalpost – and we will not get there.

Finally, remember that farming is not a question of “if,” but “where.” We’re going to eat – all of us around the world – and we’re going to farm in order to do so. So we should protect California’s agricultural water supplies, because the case for California water being used on California’s farms is strong.

Chris Scheuring is senior counsel for water policy at the California Farm Bureau. He is also a family farmer in Yolo County, growing walnuts, almonds and pistachios.

California Ag Today2022-01-11T10:05:19-08:00January 11th, 2022|

California Table Grape Growers Continue Path to Mechanization and Automation

California table grape growers, collectively through the California Table Grape Commission, are working to mechanize and automate operational functions, with a goal of reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of vineyard operations

By California Table Grape Commission

California table grape growers, collectively through the California Table Grape Commission, are working to mechanize and automate operational functions, with a goal of reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of vineyard operations.

One of the priorities is to minimize the movement of labor and maximize production per foot travelled. A time and motion study conducted on harvest activities helped the industry understand where and how much time is spent on picking and packing tasks. A second time and motion study on in-house packing is in the process of being completed; the goal is to understand how labor is distributed across tasks and facilities, and identify potential areas of mechanization and automation.

Another priority is to introduce automation to the harvesting of table grapes. This work is being done with the use of autonomous carts that aid in-vineyard movement of freshly harvested grapes. Other cart capabilities being tested include utilizing sensors to detect ripe berries and robotics to pick ripe berry clusters without damaging the fruit. Other sensor research and development includes crop mapping and estimation via cluster counting, berry size measurement, and berry color detection as well as remote monitoring for increased water use efficiency.

The commission is also researching mechanized tools to improve vineyard pruning efficiency including hand-held battery-powered pruners, and tractor-mounted mechanical pruners workable in table grape trellis systems. A related product review on global tools and technologies available for mechanical pruning of table grapes was recently completed.

The commission is considering other categories of innovation such as sensing and spot treating for pests and diseases, automated production and packing practices, and new vineyard infrastructure to facilitate automation and mechanization.

California Ag Today2022-01-06T10:39:20-08:00January 6th, 2022|

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|

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