Agriculture Detector K-9 on Duty!

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

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California Ag Today’s associate broadcaster Charmayne Hefley recently asked Soya, a mixed-breed agriculture detector K-9 (canine) with big responsibilities, and Samantha Tomlinson, Soya’s handler with the Fresno County Ag Commissioner’s office, what type of dog Soya is.

ST: We don’t know exactly what she is for sure, but we’re thinking about getting her DNA-tested someday. We’re thinking she’s a lab-border-collie.

Samantha Tomlinson, Soya and Charmayne Hefley

CAT: How long have you and Soya been together?

ST: We have been matched up since mid-July when we went through the training program in Georgia through the National Detector Dog Training Center.

CAT: What is Soya able to do for the Ag Commissioner’s office?

ST: Soya smells out parcels for potential plant material and she alerts us [to suspicious ones] by scratching. We check to see if [the material] has been properly certified and if it’s good to go.

CAT: What are some of her recent detections?

ST: She can detect a number of things. She was initially trained on five scents: mango, stone fruit, apple, guava, and citrus. From there, through scent association, she’s been able to find a number of additional agricultural materials, including avocados, blueberries, nuts, soil, cut flowers; anything that is plant material, Soya can find.

CAT: What region does Soya cover?

ST: Right now we’ve been covering only Fresno County because we still are in what we call the “acclimation phase,” as she’s still new. We’ve been working at FedEx and UPS, but we’ll broaden our horizons eventually and we’ll be in the post office, GSO, OnTrac, any service that ships parcels.”

CAT: How important is it for the agricultural industry to have dogs like Soya working for it?

ST: Well Soya and I are considered a “first line of defense” for California’s multi-billion dollar ag industry. She is in the facilities checking boxes sent from potentially quarantined areas from within the state and from outside the state for materials that may contain any pests or diseases that could prove detrimental to California agriculture.

CAT: People may not know when they’re shipping certain items—certain plant materials—from one county to the next that the destination county may have a quarantine in place. How do people properly ship plant material?

ST: Every county is actually different. If you are thinking of shipping some of your backyard fruits to your nephew or grandson, I would contact your local ag commissioner and make sure there are not any quarantines in place for both the county you’re shipping from and the county you’re shipping to. In these facilities, we look for boxes to be properly labeled with the growing origin and we inspect thye contents inside. Depending on what is inside, where it’s grown and where it’s going, we act accordingly.

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:24:13-07:00February 5th, 2016|

Biocontrols Conference & Expo

Biocontrols Conference & Expo, March 3-4, 2016, Monterey, California

Learn everything you need to know about agricultural biocontrols from the experts.

Join your peers, leading organizations and industry experts at the Biocontrols Conference & Expo for two days of hands-on education devoted solely to the use of biocontrols in agriculture presented by Meister Media Worldwide, a media solutions provider for worldwide specialized agriculture, in cooperation with the Biopesticides Industry Alliance (BPIA), and the California Association of Pest Control Advisers (CAPCA). The Biocontrols Conference offers educational sessions, continuing education credits (CEUs) for pest control advisers (PCAs), certified crop advisers (CCAs) and other state certification programs, and an expansive Expo with top suppliers of biocontrol products and related services.

New for 2016!

Two optional, concurrent add-ons on the last afternoon of the event (additional fees may apply):

1.Tour of two leading Monterey-area specialty-crop growing operations that use biocontrols as part of their integrated pest management programs:

-Biocontrols USA Tour

-Pacific Plug and Liner, Watsonville, CA

2.Hands-on workshop on the use of beneficial insects in a greenhouse environment

Agenda Sampling:

-8 Tips To Get The Most Out of Your Biocontrols Program

-A look at the most common active ingredients and how to handle them to get the best results, Lance Osborn, UF IFAS

-What’s Next In Biocontrol?

-Regulatory Update, Bob McNally, EPA

-Pipeline Update – what types of new products are coming?

-The Future Isn’t Biocontrol. It’s IPM

-Understand The Value of Biopesticides – Do they Pencil Out for You?

-How To Evaluate/Field Test a New Research Biopesticide

-Biopesticides and Beneficials: Make Them Work Together, Frank Sances, Pacific Ag

-Fruit and Tree Nuts: Hands-on, How-To Topics

-Using Green Lacewings in almond and pistachio, Brad Higbee, The Wonderful Co.

-Vegetables: Hands-on, How-To TopicsMycorrhizae: Why it Makes Sense in Strawberries, Johan Pienaar, Mycorrhizal Applications.

Monterey Bay, the conference location, is in close proximity to the heart of major California specialty-crop production: vegetables, fruits, and ornamentals in Monterey County and the Salinas Valley, and affords you the opportunity to tie-in a long weekend in the Monterey Bay area.

Meister Media Worldwide and its leading family of brands including American Vegetable Grower®, Western Fruit Grower® / American Fruit Grower® and Greenhouse Grower®, CropLife®,

Having celebrated its 15th anniversary in September 2015, BPIA is dedicated to fostering adoption of biopesticide technology through increased awareness about their effectiveness and full range of benefits to a progressive pest management program.

Dedicated to the professional development and enhancement of its members’ education and stewardship, the California Association of Pest Control Advisers (CAPCA) represents more than 75% of the nearly 4,000 California EPA licensed pest control advisers (PCAs) that provide pest management consultation for the production of food, fiber and ornamental industries of this state.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:05:58-07:00January 28th, 2016|

UC’s Karen Klonsky Retires

Karen Klonsky Retires, Gets Major Credit for CA Agricultural Cost and Return Studies

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor and Laurie Greene, Editor

This is an exclusive interview with Karen Klonsky, UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialist emeritus, in the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Her expertise has been farm management and production, sustainable agriculture and organic agriculture.

CAT: Congratulations on your recent retirement!

Klonsky: Thanks Patrick. I retired on July 1, 2015, after 34 years. I started at UC Davis in ’81, straight from graduate school.

CAT: What has been your primary research interest?

Klonsky: My primary research areas are sustainable and organic agriculture. I have approached these subjects from several dimensions, including the economic feasibility of alternative farming practices, the size and growth of organic production in California, and factors influencing the adoption of alternative farming systems.

CAT: Wow, what a great career! I understand your interest in alternative farming systems began with your dissertation work comparing alfalfa systems with integrated pest management.

Klonsky: I studied agricultural economics in graduate school and started working with a professor in my department who had a joint appointment in agricultural economics and entomology. And I just became very interested in that research area.

I worked with entomologists and researchers on a computer model of plants and alfalfa weevils, and their interaction, plus a management component. I studied the plant and bug components, then did the management part and imposed it on top and asked, ‘If you did this, how many bugs would die?’ The plant model showed how much the alfalfa would grow, and at what point you could cut the alfalfa and achieve the desired yield. I never actually did any fieldwork.”

CAT: Since 1983, you not only directed ongoing Cost and Return Studies, but the development of an entire archived library of Cost and Return Studies for the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. You recently completed studies on pistachios and walnuts, right?

Klonsky: Yes, both “Sample Costs to Establish and Produce English Walnuts In the Sacramento Valley, Micro sprinkler irrigated” and “Sample Costs to Establish and Produce Pistachios In the San Joaquin Valley-South, Low-Volume Irrigation.”

Our library contains studies about field, tree and vine crops and animal commodities. But since I retired, Dan Sumner, director, University of California Agricultural Issues Center and Frank H. Buck, Jr. Distinguished Professor for the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics has taken that over and I continue to be peripherally involved.

CAT: These cost studies have been recognized worldwide.

Klonsky: Yes, and it has been very gratifying work. We decided to put them online routinely, and we have had a million downloads per year. Around 2005, Pete Livingston, my staff research associate, got the idea of scanning in the older studies. All of the newer studies were in electronic file format, so posting was easy. However, most of the older studies were paper copies, so we got a grant to scan and add them to our new online archive.

CAT: What was the most interesting thing about doing those cost studies?

Klonsky: I loved doing those studies. I really learned a lot because all cost studies are done directly with farmers we met through county farm advisors. I really got to know what farmers were thinking about and what their options were.

CAT: So those were real costs, not university costs?

Klonsky: Those were not university costs. The farmers tell us what equipment they will use, and then we calculate the cost of using their equipment—the fuel used to operate the equipment and the repair costs—with an agriculture-engineering program.

CAT: Do you have a math background?

Klonsky: Yes, I got my bachelor’s at the University of Michigan in mathematics. It was very helpful.

CAT: And you also earned your Ph.D. at the University of Michigan?

Klonsky: Yes.

CAT: So did you grow up in Michigan?

Klonsky: No, I grew up in New York.

CAT: And you just had an interest in going to Michigan State University?

Klonsky: Well, I had an interest in agriculture because I had an uncle who farmed corn and vegetables in upstate New York. We would go up there and I thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world.

CAT: What were some of the highlights of your career?

Klonsky: For many, many years, I was involved in the long-term on-campus sustainable agriculture research on land that is now on Russell Ranch, but it started as Sustainable Ag Farming Systems. We looked at four different farming systems, organic, low input, high-input, and we did a lot of analyses with cover crops and rotations. It was great to work on that project.

CAT: And you worked with USDA on the trends of organic farms?

Klonsky: And then I worked quite a bit with Department of Food and Agriculture on using the registration data for their organic farmers to compile statistics about how many farmers they had, what they grew, and the number of acres they planted with each crop. They had this database, which started in 1992 I believe, but they weren’t using it. Now the most recent registration analysis is available for 2012.

CAT: Just to try to get more data on the organic movement and organic growth?

Klonsky: Yes, because there was no data at all about it. Now NASS (National Agriculture Statistics Service) conducts a nationwide Organic Census, in addition to the regular Census of Agriculture.

CAT: I understand you served as an editor of the Journal of American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA). What did that entail?

Klonsky: Yes. I did that for many years. ASFMRA is a national organization. The Journal of the ASFMRA comes out annually. As editor, I corresponded with the authors, assigned reviewers, and ultimately, accepted or rejected submissions, like any journal.

CAT: Did you travel a lot with your work and presentations?

Klonsky: You know, not so much, I went to Spain one time and France once for work. But I did travel around domestically to symposiums and conferences to speak on the economics of growing a lot of different crops, including many presentations at the EcoFarm Conference.

CAT: You worked and collaborated with some really interesting people.

Klonsky: Most of my important collaborations were conducting trials with people in other disciplines. For instance, at Russell Ranch, I was the only economist involved in the collaboration with plant pathologists and pomologists who ran trials to discover fumigation alternatives in the preplanting of trees.

Then I worked with people at UC Santa Cruz on alternatives for strawberry fumigation. Most of my work has been interdisciplinary.

CAT: California farming in general is huge, diverse industry. We produce 60% of the fruits and vegetables, and nearly 100 percent of the nut crops that people across the country consume. Any comments on that and on how valiant and resilient farmers are to get through year after year, particularly lately with the drought and the lack of water deliveries?

Klonsky: When I first started, there was a land price bubble, and there were a lot of bankruptcies because people had these land payments they just couldn’t pay.

It was kind of like the mortgage crisis that housing saw in 2008, agriculture saw in the early 80s.

CAT: So as you have been editor for the Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, you see land values going up and that keeps agriculture strong—the high land values, right?

Klonsky: Well, but it keeps it expensive. So now there is more and more leasing of land. As farmers retire from permanent crops, they have an orchard, but they don’t really want to sell it, so they lease it.

CAT: There you go. Keep it somehow in the family.

Klonsky: Yes, they try to keep ownership in the family. Or what we see also are these development leases where a young farmer can’t afford to buy the land, so they lease the land, but they pay for the trees to be planted.

CAT: So you are still coming to your office at UC Davis?

Klonsky: I am officially retired, but we have what we call a ‘partial recall’ where you can do things if you have funding. I have a project along with Rachel Goodhue, Professor, UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, funded through the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. The Department of Pesticide Regulations is required by law to do an economic analysis of all proposed new regulations. So that is what I am working on.

CAT: Give me a couple of examples. VOC regulations?

Klonsky: Yeah, we do VOC.

CAT: Are you looking at sustainable groundwater legislation?

Klonsky: No, just pesticide regulation. It is funded by the Mill tax on pesticides.

CAT: Did you work with a lot of graduate students at UC Davis?

Klonsky: Oh yeah, I worked with a lot of graduate students coming through. One of them was on different ways of pesticide management on eucalyptus trees. I said I went to Spain. On that trip, I spoke about growing eucalyptus for firewood.

CAT: That was an economic study, wasn’t it?

Klonsky: Yes it was. They grow it not for firewood, but for paper. But that never really caught on here.

CAT: Are you bullish on agriculture? Do you think Ag is going to continue thriving in California?

Klonsky: Oh, sure. Oh, sure. But I think that the water situation is definitely real, and I think agriculture already has definitely made tremendous strides in irrigation systems, especially the subsurface irrigation in vegetables, in particular processing tomatoes, which I worked on.

CAT: That was a huge improvement in growing tomatoes. And people didn’t think it was going to work, but it turned out to be fantastic.

Klonsky: Yeah, a really win-win on that one. And orchards are getting more efficient. If you look at the water per pound of crop produced, you see major improvements with water efficiency.

CAT: Absolutely. Of course, most plants transpire most of the water they take up through the roots, up through the leaves and the stomata cells. By the way, do you have any interesting stories regarding your career?

Klonsky: It’s not the highlight, but the weirdest thing of my career is I got an email from somebody in Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries from the United Arab Emirates. They wanted me to give a live presentation about Cooperative Extension in California and how it’s organized.

So I had to go to this office building in downtown Sacramento at 10:00 at night because of the time difference. I went into a conference room that had a special kind of projector so I could see them and they could see me. And on the monitor I see all these men walked in—they were all men—and half of them were in Western dress and half of them were wearing a Sheik-like headdress, with a band that sits on top and holds it on.

That was crazy, just being downtown after everybody is gone and the whole building was dark and quiet, except the one room that I was in.

CAT: How long was the presentation?

Klonsky: Gosh, maybe an hour.

CAT: You needed to do some research for that presentation?

Klonsky: Yeah, I had to do some research, I had to think about Cooperative Extension in a different way—the big picture.

CAT: Keep up the good work, and I hope you are enjoying retirement.

Klonsky: Yeah, I come in two days a week, so it is nice to see everybody. I still get a lot of emails, which I need to answer.

California Ag Today2016-08-18T13:54:40-07:00January 26th, 2016|

Ag Collaboration with the Netherlands

Karen Ross: Ag Collaboration with the Netherlands

By Charmayne Hefley, Associate Editor

One of the best ways to overcome the challenges that arise in farming, is ag collaboration with countries that have already found solutions to the issues we face.

Karen Ross, secretary, California Department of Food and Agriculture, led a delegation of Californians to the Netherlands last month, “for shared discussion on all of the ways we can collaborate on climate-smart agriculture,” Ross said, “including water-use efficiency and improved fertilizer use.”

“In particular, the Netherlands has a shared issue with us—nitrates in groundwater—and what we can do to improve our water management and fertilizer management to avoid that. They’re doing some interesting things with greenhouse technologies and salt-tolerant crops, so we saw some real opportunities. We had university people with us to do some trials here.”

Ross’s group was able to visit Wageningen UR (University & Research centre), Netherlands’ prominent agriculture university. She said between the University of California, Davis and the Dutch university, “we found ways that we can collaborate together to find the solutions that are not just about here in California,” Ross said. “If we can solve these problems on water-use efficiency, desalinating brackish water, and salt-tolerant crop issues in California, we will make a contribution to solving these problems on a global basis.”

Ross’s team also visited many farmers, primarily of specialty crops. Ross commented, “We saw some of their digester technology, which we know is one of the solutions for our dairies. We really want to advance that technology, make it affordable and provide value to our dairies.”

Patrick Cavanaugh2021-05-12T11:05:58-07:00January 22nd, 2016|

Social Media Minute—January 2016

SOCIAL MEDIA MINUTE—January 2016 Edition

Do you have a farm or ag business that’s not engaged on social media yet? We want YOU to be on top of your social media game! We’ll be sharing tips and pointers to help you get started or improve promotion of your ag-related company through social media.

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Step 1: Create a “Friend” Page or Log In

Today we’ll get you started with Facebook.

Definitions:

Friend Page – a personal page for you to make friends of your own and connect with others
Fan Page – a public page used to share updates for your farm, ranch, organization or company (these updates can be seen by everyone)

Step 1: Create a “Friend” Page or Log In

(1.1) First things first: Open your web browser and type facebook.com into the url bar at the top.

Before you can create what is known as a “fan” page for Facebook to post updates and promote your business, you are required to have a Facebook “friend” page.

Already have a “friend” page? Great! Go ahead, log into it and proceed with us. If not, continue with Step 1.2.

(1.2) Enter the required information and click “Sign Up.”

(1.3) Record your information and password in a secure place. Well now, that was easy enough!

Step 2: Create a “Fan” Page

This is the most important part! Once you’ve set up your “friend” page it will be time to develop a “fan” page. We’ll walk you step-by-step through the process.

First and foremost, across the top of your page, in the blue border, you’ll notice:

your name
a “home” button
a few other buttons.
a little arrow, all the way to the right.

(2.1) Click the little arrow.

The pop up menu that appears next should read, “Create Page” at the top. Don’t worry if it looks different than the sample page (at left) because this was previously created.

(2.2) Click on “Create Page” to continue creating your “fan” page.

Step 3: Select the Type of “Fan” Page

Step 3: Selecting the Type of “Fan” Page

At this point, you’ll be prompted to select the type of page. You have the following options:

For the purposes of this tutorial we are going to create a “Company, Organization or Institution” page. No matter what you choose, the overall appearance will generally be the same.

Definitions, for our purposes:

Local Business or Place – A location or business such as a bar, restaurant or retailer. This page allows you to define your business hours and price range of products sold. Ideal for fruit stands.
Company, Organization or Institution – Ideal for companies, businesses or organizations that don’t need to publicize work hours or prices to the public. Examples could include: CDFA, California Ag Today, Fresno County Farm Bureau.
Brand or Product – A specific product, service, organization or campaign you want to promote with trademark or distinctive name, aside from your corporate identity. This page could garner a lot of attention for a specific crop, such as Wonderful® Halos® California Mandarins or Cuties Mandarins.
Public Figure – A politician, community leader, reporter, or person of note within the community.
Entertainment – (not a likely choice)
Cause or Community – A page to rally for someone suffering from health issues, a family needing help after a tragic accident… Aka pages to rally to help those in the community in need of help.

(3.1) Click on the “Company, Organization or Institution” icon (or another category that works best for your business). You will be prompted for information.

In this case. we were asked to (3.2) “Choose a Category” and (3.3) enter the company name. For this tutorial, we selected “Farming/Agriculture” as our category and named our mythical company “Calagtoday’s Social Media Farm.”

(3.4) Select “Get Started.”

Step 4: Setting up your “Fan” Page

Now you will be directed to enter more information. The first page will ask you (4.1) to enter a brief sentence or two about your page. We described our mythical business as, “Calagtoday’s Social Media Farm page is about teaching people how to use social media to promote their ag businesses.”

Step 4: Setting up your “Fan” Page (cont.)

(4.2) We connected it to the californiaagtoday.com website in the next field, and (4.3) entered our Facebook web address or link as, “calagtodaySMfarm” for people to find our page.

(4.4) Once you’ve saved that information you’ll move on to selecting a profile picture.

All profile pictures have a 1:1 ratio, which means they are squares. Keep this in mind so you select a picture or logo that fits properly in your profile box. We took our basic graphic square “CalAgToday” logo and added “Social Media Farm” to it for use as our profile picture.

Our picture was on our computer, so (4.5) we selected “Upload From Computer” to get it onto Facebook.

Step 4: Setting up your “Fan” Page (cont.)

(4.6) Your next choice is whether or not you’d like to add your page to your “favorites”—making it easier to find your page on your Facebook home page instead of having to scroll. This becomes extremely useful as you join more Facebook groups and administrate more of your own pages.

Once you’ve made the decision on whether or not you want your page to be accessible in your “favorites” menu [Click on “Add to Favorites”] or not [Click “Skip”] you’ll be prompted (4.7) to narrow your audience. You can choose the location of the audience you’d like to target, the age range, gender and interests. We simply chose to our audience to be those who are interested in “agriculture,” but you can select additional audience interests.

(4.8) After you’ve completed all of these steps, click “Save.”

Step 5: The “Almost” Finished Page

Congratulations! You’ve completed the basic steps to create a “fan” page for your ag-related business.

For now, though, pause and admire your work. You’re on the way to advocating for agriculture. Facebook is the first step in the social media puzzle, yet it has the largest audience compared to all other social media pages.

We’ll cover the remaining steps required prior to posting content on your page in our next “Social Media Minute.”

Stay tuned . . .

Now, please go to our company’s real Facebook page, California Ag Today, and “like” us!

Patrick Cavanaugh2016-05-31T19:24:15-07:00January 21st, 2016|

New Dietary Guidelines for Healthy Eating

HHS and USDA Release New Dietary Guidelines to Encourage Healthy Eating Patterns to Prevent Chronic Diseases

Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia M. Burwell and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack TODAY released updated nutritional guidelines that encourage Americans to adopt a series of science-based recommendations to improve how they eat to reduce obesity and prevent chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is the nation’s trusted resource for evidence-based nutrition recommendations and serves to provide the general public, as well as policy makers and health professionals with the information they need to help the public make informed choices about their diets at home, school, work and in their communities.

The newly released 8th edition of the Dietary Guidelines reflects advancements in scientific understanding about healthy eating choices and health outcomes over a lifetime. This edition recognizes the importance of focusing not on individual nutrients or foods in isolation, but on the variety of what people eat and drink—healthy eating patterns as a whole—to bring about lasting improvements in individual and population health.

“The Dietary Guidelines for Americans is one of many important tools that help to support a healthier next generation of Americans,” said Secretary Vilsack. “The latest edition of the Dietary Guidelines provides individuals with the flexibility to make healthy food choices that are right for them and their families and take advantage of the diversity of products available, thanks to America’s farmers and ranchers.”

The specific recommendations fit into five overarching guidelines in the new edition:

1. Follow a healthy eating pattern across the lifespan. Eating patterns are the combination of foods and drinks that a person eats over time.

2. Focus on variety, nutrient-dense foods, and amount

3. Limit calories from added sugars and saturated fats, and reduce sodium intake

4. Shift to healthier food and beverage choices

5. Support healthy eating patterns for all

Healthy eating patterns include a variety of nutritious foods like vegetables, fruits, grains, low-fat and fat-free dairy, lean meats and other protein foods and oils, while limiting saturated fats, trans fats, added sugars and sodium. A healthy eating pattern is adaptable to a person’s taste preferences, traditions, culture and budget.

Importantly, the guidelines suggest Americans should consume:

1. A variety of vegetables, including dark green, red and orange, legumes (beans and peas), starchy and other vegetables

2. Fruits, especially whole fruits

3. Grains, at least half of which are whole grains

4. Fat-free or low-fat dairy, including milk, yogurt, cheese, and/or fortified soy beverages

5. A variety of protein foods, including seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), soy products, and nuts and seeds

6. Oils, including those from plants: canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, soybean, and sunflower. Oils also are naturally present in nuts, seeds, seafood, olives, and avocados.

Further, Americans should be encouraged to consume:

1. Less than 10 percent of calories per day from added sugars. ChooseMyPlate.gov provides more information about added sugars, which are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared. This does not include naturally occurring sugars such as those consumed as part of milk and fruits.

2. Less than 10 percent of calories per day from saturated fats. The Nutrition Facts label can be used to check for saturated fats. Foods that are high in saturated fat include butter, whole milk, meats that are not labeled as lean, and tropical oils such as coconut and palm oil.

3. Less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day of sodium for people over the age of 14 years and less for those younger. The Nutrition Facts label is a helpful tool to check for sodium, especially in processed foods like pizza, pasta dishes, sauces, and soups.

Based on a review of current scientific evidence on nutrition, the 2015 edition includes updated guidance on topics such as added sugars, sodium, and cholesterol and new information on caffeine. For example, the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines is the first edition to:

1. Recommend a quantitative limit to consume less than 10 percent of calories from added sugars.

2. Reaffirm guidance about the core building blocks of a healthy lifestyle that have remained consistent over the past several editions

3. Suggest there is still work to be done to encourage more Americans to follow the recommendations outlined in the Dietary Guidelines.

The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines continues the nation’s dependence on California agriculture, which includes more than 400 commodities. According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) in 2014, the state produced nearly half of US-grown fruits, nuts and vegetables. Across the nation, US consumers regularly purchase several crops produced solely in California.

California’s top-ten valued commodities (USDA/NASS Crop Year Report 2014):

* Milk — $9.4 billion

* Almonds — $5.9 billion

* Grapes — $5.2 billion

* Cattle, Calves — $3.7 billion

* Strawberries — $2.5 billion

* Lettuce — $2 billion

* Walnuts — $1.8 billion

* Tomatoes — $1.6 billion

* Pistachios — $1.6 billion

* Hay — $1.3 billion

The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is available at dietaryguidelines.gov.USDA has also released updates for consumers on ChooseMyPlate.gov, and new resources will soon be available on Health.gov from HHS that will help health professionals support their clients and patients in making healthy choices.

The Dietary Guidelines is required under the 1990 National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act, which states that every 5 years, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and of Agriculture (USDA) must jointly publish a report containing nutritional and dietary information and guidelines for the general public. The statute requires that the Dietary Guidelines be based on the preponderance of current scientific and medical knowledge.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:17:15-07:00January 7th, 2016|

CA Grown Campaign Builds Awareness

CA Grown Campaign Builds Awareness of the State’s Agricultural Bounty

By Kyle Buchoff, Assistant Editor

Denise Junqueiro, California Olive Committee director of programs and services and serves and CA Grown Campaign vice-chair, reported California Grown is really about building awareness of California-grown products. One of five Mediterranean climates in the world, California is a rare place where specialty crops that thrive in short, wet winters separated by a sunny and dry spring, summer, and fall, can be grown.

“We know people are curious,” said Junqueiro. “We know people want to know where their food comes from. We have an abundance of crops in our state, and we believe we grow these better than everyone else in the world. So we are trying to increase awareness—not only about our products—but about the farmers who grow them, because our farmers really care. Our efforts are about shining a light on all the bountiful fruits, vegetables and nuts we grow in California,” she noted.

_____________

California Grown, according to their website, gives farmers the platform to share their farm stories and to help consumers understand where their food comes from. Farmers present their food safety measures, choices in crop varieties, sustainable and creative packaging solutions to make serving dinner faster and more convenient, strong ties to the land and to their neighbors, pride in homegrown products and in their work; and support for the economy.

California Grown is supported by the state and federal governments, hundreds of growers, and all Californians. The group also collaborates with about 20 member partners in California agriculture to remind everyone to seek out and purchase agricultural products grown and produced in California.

_____________________________

Links

CA Grown Campaign

California Olive Committee

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:06:00-07:00December 30th, 2015|

Henry Gonzales, Ventura County Ag Commissioner

Ventura County Ag Commissioner Henry Gonzales Started as Fieldworker

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

California Ag Today interviewed Henry Gonzales, Ventura County Ag Commissioner, who has served in that post for 7 years. His unique story begins with his birth in Fresno and his work in the California fields at an early age.

Gonzales: My parents were migrant farmworkers, and back in the day, there was no day care for us, so they took us to the fields with them. I like to think I my career started in agriculture when I was old enough to pick up a plum and put it in their basket. We worked a lot in the Fresno area, but also in the San Jose area and Imperial County, following the crops as most migrant farmers do.

CalAgToday: You started working as a child, and what happened next? Did you and your family continue as a farmworkers?

Gonzales: We continued farm working for many years. We used to live in farm labor camps, whenever they were available. Sometimes we stayed with relatives or anywhere we could find. There were times when the only places we could find were the trees in the orchard, so sometimes we stayed there.

CalAgToday: So, when you were 13, you went off on your own?

Gonzales: Yes, when I was 13, I did what I thought I should do—work under my own social security card. I started working in the fields around Salinas. I was actually in the same lettuce harvesting crew with my grandfather who was 69 at the time.

CalAgToday: Well, Henry, walk me through it. How many years did you work with your grandfather?

Gonzales: I worked every summer and weekends since I was 13 through high school in the fields around Salinas.

This painting was done by Henry Gonzales’s mother depicting his early work in the fields.

CalAgToday: Tell me about high school.

Gonzales: I felt very strongly about completing high school because I know my parents did not. But you may find it interesting that when I was working in the fields around Salinas, I was a card-carrying member of the United Farm Workers (UFW).

CalAgToday: So the UFW recruited you early, or were you a supporter?

Gonzales: Well, it was a closed-shop situation; if you worked in that company, you were a member. So I believe I am the only ag commissioner who was once a card-carrying member of the UFW.

CalAgToday: And why is that significant to you, Henry?

Gonzales: As you know, in agriculture, farmworkers are, almost literally, the backbone of the industry. They are the ones doing all the heavy lifting. So, having that background really provides me with a broader perspective because I can understand farming from the ground level up. Coupled with my Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural science, my field work experience has given me a well-rounded background for agriculture.

I started working for the Monterey County Ag Commissioner’s office over 30 years ago. All Ag Commissioners start at the bottom of the organization, so I began as an agricultural inspector-biologist and worked my way up to deputy, chief deputy, and then seven years ago, I became Ag Commissioner here in Ventura County.

CalAgToday: So suddenly a job became available in Ventura County?

Gonzales: That was kind of interesting. I was in Monterey County with a great job, a great boss, and I could do pretty much what I wanted. But I got a call from Ventura County inviting me to apply for their ag commissioner position. I checked with my wife, and she said ‘Sure, why not? Try it!’ I did, and as they say, the rest is history.

I applied and got the position. I was reappointed here three years ago, and I am hoping to do at least one more term after my current term is over. I think all my years working for the Monterey County Ag Commissioner’s office, my degree in Ag Science, and my master’s in public administration, coupled with my childhood years working in the field really gives me a broad background in agriculture, especially as it exists in Ventura County and in the state of California.

CalAgToday: How did you have time to get a masters degree in public administration?

Gonzales: Well, while I was working for Monterey County, I spent a lot of sleepless nights and weekends in order to earn that degree from Golden Gate University’s satellite office in Monterey.

CalAgToday: When you look back, you have come so far from your beginnings as a farmworker, and you have seen so much. How do you put all of that together?

Gonzales: My experience has provided me with the broadest perspective, so when I deal with a challenging issue, I can see it from all vantage points, and that is very helpful to me in doing my job.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:06:00-07:00December 30th, 2015|

More Rain, More Fungi, More Use for Multiuse Fungicides

With More Rain, More Fungi, More Use for Multiuse Fungicides

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

With spring rains, many vegetables, tree fruits, grapes and nuts succumb to fungi pressure. However, during the past few years, only trivial amounts of spring rain have moistened California’s soil and lulled farmers to abandon their vigilant watch for fungi proliferation. But now, the strong likelihood of El niño-driven wet weather this spring could catch growers off-guard.

“We have an El niño coming that has already been tagged, ‘Too big to fail,’ which will bring a lot of rain. So it’s really important for folks to think about switching gears this year on their pest management mindset. With more rain, comes more fungi disease. We always see really high pressure disease years with rain,” said Kate Walker a technical services representative with BASF Corporation on the Central Coast, who advises use of a multiuse fungicide product already on hand.

Anthracnose in Strawberries, UC Statewide IPM Project

Anthracnose in Strawberries (Source: UC Statewide IPM Project

Strawberries, in particular, are vulverable to fungi. “We have heard from our strawberry growers,” said Walker, “that these fungal diseases are always present in California, but they vary significantly in their severity year-to-year depending on the weather,” noted Walker.

“One major disease that accompanies higher moisture, Anthracnose, often called leaf, shoot, or twig blight,” Walker explained, “results from infection caused by the fungus Colletotrichum. I’ve heard some growers have not experienced Anthracnose issues in 10 years,” said Walker. “As it emerges and becomes more problematic in strawberries, farmers really need to know which types of fungicides to use to manage this and other diseases.”

“It is very important for farmers and PCAs to walk through and scout their fields for disease,” Walker said, “and when they identify one, to become very aggressive with their fungicide management program. So, as representatives for BASF, we are lucky to have multiuse fungicide products available to control these diseases, such as Merivon Fungicide.”

Walker noted Merivon has two modes of action, “so it is very broad-spectrum. Typically we position Merivon in California for use on powdery mildew and Botrytis, but what we seldom talk to growers about is its utility for Anthracnose. We see a lot more Anthracnose in Florida and on the East Coast due to the increased rains; whereas, it usually doesn’t come through every year in California. So it is good to for farmers and PCSs to know that the product with which they are familiar for use in Botrytis, is also very effective with other issues, like Anthracnose.”

Walker offered, “Another very common disease that flourishes with increased rain, Rhizopus, occurs post-harvest, after the berries are picked up from the field. Again, Merivon has utility for Rhizopus as well, so growers don’t have to change or reinvent their program to manage these diseases.”

Walker said, “Rhizopus is an airborne bread mold. It is very common in the air and in the soil, so anytime a fruit or a nut is exposed to the spores blowing in the wind, it is vulnerable to infection with this disease.”

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:27:02-07:00December 4th, 2015|

Pistachio Crop Insurance Due Dec. 31

Pistachio Crop Insurance Recommended for 2016

Upcoming Deadline is Dec.31

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

Due to the warm winter weather this year, many California Pistachio growers’ crop yields were only slightly more than half of what was expected. And despite having an existing risk management insurance program, which helped a lot of growers, others who did not have pistachio crop insurance will have to shoulder all their losses.

James Otto, a senior risk specialist with the USDA Risk Management Agency at the Davis Regional Office, commented, “A lot of growers did not take it due to risk management reasons, they were unaware of it, or their agents did not inform them of the availability of pistachio crop insurance.”

And for growers considering purchasing insurance for next season, Otto urges them to be aware of the upcoming December 31, 2015 deadline. “Growers have to sign up for the insurance by that date,” he said. “Signing up can be complicated in that growers must agree to take insurance for two consecutive years, and they also must agree to what coverage level and price percentage to take. Growers are locked in for a two-year policy, but each year stands on its own.”

Pistachios

Payments are based on average yields and the coverage the grower elects. Otto said, “There are some fundamental basics. You have to determine what your average yield is; if it is 2,000 pounds per acre, growers have to select a coverage level (50%, 65%, 70%…),” which is used to adjust the insurance premium rates. Given their chosen coverage level, if their production for the year drops below this level, growers would be compensated for the shortfall by the insurance policy.

“So, for example,” he said, if a grower’s average yield is 3,000 lbs., and he has taken a 65% coverage level—which is roughly 2,000 pounds, if his average yield for this year is 1200 lbs., the result is an 800-pound shortage. The grower gets paid an indemnity of 800 pounds, times an established price.”

Richard Matoian, director, American Pistachio Growers based in Fresno, said pistachio growers should definitely consider risk management insurance, “We think all growers should consider crop insurance, even at the most minimal level—which is what they call “cat” or “catastrophic”—as a risk management tool for operations. In a year like this year in which we had historically low yields on a per-acre basis, crop insurance for many growers is going to be their savior to keep them going.”

Interestingly, Otto explained, Nick Jerkovich, an insurance broker with All Crop Insurance Services, in the Fresno County town of Kerman, Calif., came up with the idea. Otto said, “Back in 2009, Nick mentioned there were a lot of pistachio trees in the ground that did not have a crop insurance program.” It was recommended to Nick to get a petition signed by multiple growers and gather acreage data.

“So Nick, on his own dime, calculated roughly 75-80% of the acreage in the value, submitted that to an administrator, and got the ball rolling.” Otto said Jerkovich’s proaction suggested, “Hey, there is interest! There is interest from the grassroots.” Otto continued, “Based on that initial letter, Risk Management Agency contracted out to have the program developed. It is interesting to see what one individual person achieve!”

California Ag Today2016-05-31T19:27:03-07:00November 25th, 2015|

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