Farm Credit: Water for Food is Critical

Cultivate California Educates Residents About Farms’ Need For Water

Exceptional drought conditions mean Farm Credit’s support is crucial, as reminding people about link between water and their food is more important than ever

California is in the middle of one of its worst droughts on record. The federal government reports that showed that nearly half of the state – including the entire Central Valley – is in an exceptional drought as of mid-October. Overall, 2021 has been the ninth driest year in California since accurate records began being kept 127 years ago. Shasta Lake, the state’s largest reservoir, is at 23% of capacity and Lake Oroville, the second-largest reservoir, is at 22% of capacity.

No one knows how long these dry conditions will last, but the most recent drought lasted for 376 weeks, from December 2011 to March 2019. And the National Weather Service currently forecasts that drought conditions are likely to continue in California as a weak La Niña effect will likely see storms diverted to the Pacific Northwest this winter. And all of that is bad news for California agriculture.

Which is why Cultivate California’s program aimed at educating Californians about the connection between consumers, the food they love and the water needed to grow it is so important as its messaging reaches 16 million people a year.

Mike Wade, the program’s executive director, said getting out early this year with messaging about water was essential to counter messaging from other groups.

“Californians continue to get inundated with negative messages about farming,” Wade said. “The Cultivate California program was designed to help bolster the natural support people have for agriculture and farms and to continue providing them with facts and information about the connection between their food and the water supply.”

The need to counter misinformation about farmers’ use of water is why Farm Credit has been one of the program’s largest donors since 2018, said Curt Hudnutt, president and CEO of American AgCredit.

American AgCredit, along with CoBank, Colusa-Glenn Farm Credit, Farm Credit West, Fresno Madera Farm Credit, Golden State Farm Credit and Yosemite Farm Credit, collectively contribute $100,000 a year to help Cultivate California inform Californians. The organizations are part of the nationwide Farm Credit System – the largest provider of credit to U.S. agriculture.

“This year, many California farms had just 5% of their water supply this year to grow our food,” Hudnutt said. “Cultivate California is one of the most successful groups we have to educate people about the impacts the drought has on our food supply, and the need to improve our water storage to protect all of us in future droughts, and we are proud to help support them in their efforts.”

Wade said one important message this year is that farmers and irrigation districts need to have flexibility to transfer water supplies to areas in greater need without burdensome red tape. And he said improving the state’s water supply system is crucial.

“We need to look long-term, which we should have done after the last drought,” he said. “Eighteen trillion gallons of water fell in February 2019 when the last drought ended, but we didn’t have the facilities to capture it and recharge our groundwater so we would have more supply available now. Hopefully our leaders will act so next time a drought occurs we will be better prepared.”

Rob Faris, President and CEO, Golden State Farm Credit, said it’s essential that more Californians are exposed to one of Cultivate California’s key messages – that the state’s farmers are producing more food but using much less water.

“The value of the state’s farm production increased by 38% between 1980 and 2015 while our farmers used 14% less water,” Faris said. “Farmers continually invest in irrigation technology, such as new drip and micro-irrigation systems, soil moisture monitoring, remote sensing, and computerized irrigation controls. Today, nearly half of our 8.4 million acres of irrigated farmland use drip, micro or subsurface irrigation, and more savings are on the way. Farm Credit is committed to help our members finance these improvements.”

Wade said Farm Credit’s support has been invaluable.

“The support we get from Farm Credit is amazing and critically important,” he said. “It has helped attract other supporters as well, and the support and leadership we get from Farm Credit has been instrumental in helping this program succeed.”

2021-11-09T17:50:30-08:00November 9th, 2021|

Drought Causes Cattle Sell 0ff

Drought Forces Ranchers to Make Tough Decisions about Selling Cattle

 

By Russell Nemetz with the Ag Information Network

 

As the drought continues across the West, ranchers are having to make tough herd management decisions because of the lack of water and pasture for their livestock.

“What they’re telling me is that they’re spending time at the kitchen table trying to decide how much feed they’re able to gather up so how many cows they’re going to be able to hang onto,” said Larry Schnell, owner of Stockman’s Livestock Exchange in Dickinson, ND and Livestock Marketing Association president. “Plus, when they’re going to sell calves. They’re also deciding if they are going to try and background their calves or sell them right off the cow a month or two early. A lot of important decisions to be made right now.”

He says for those having to sell their cattle, at least the market remains in pretty good shape.

“There’s no question about it,” said Schnell. “The calves and yearlings especially are looking like a really good market. Hopefully, we don’t get a mass selling over the course of a month. If we can spread that marketing out, I think this market can stay very strong. It might even just continue to get stronger. We all know that due to this drought and the size of it, in the next couple of years this market is going to be strong.”

CattleFax analysts agree. In fact, they’re forecasting all classes of cattle to be higher in 2022.

“Feeder cattle and calf prices, another $20/cwt higher,” said Randy Blach, CattleFax CEO. “I think that will be a good estimate for those markets. I think there’s a very good chance we’ll see feeder cattle prices trade up closer to a $1.80 next summer going into the fall. And calf prices could easily trade well above two dollars as we get into the peak next year. So, it’s long overdue. Again, this was delayed. And everybody needs to remember this.”

Consumer beef demand is also expected to remain solid in 2022 with expected export growth fueling high prices for ranchers and their cattle.

2021-08-20T18:18:44-07:00August 20th, 2021|

Drought Resources for Ranchers

Thinking Long-Term During Droughts

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network

 

Rangeland livestock producers in California are some of the first people to experience the impacts of drought conditions. The University of California Cooperative Extension has developed several drought planning tools for ranchers. Dan Macon is the livestock and natural resources adviser covering Placer, Nevada, Sutter, and Yuba counties.

“Kind of the theme that runs throughout drought strategies for ranchers is that we’ve got to figure out some way to balance the demand that we have for forage with the supply that mother nature gives us. And so those tools are either to try to reduce our numbers or reduce our forage demand through a variety of strategies or to buy in forage, to lease new ground, to buy hay. Those are really the overriding strategies that people have available to them,” said Macon.

Macon said many ranchers have had to thin their herds to adjust to the dry conditions. A livestock producer himself, he urged fellow ranchers to try to think long term.

“Think about your financial resilience in the face of drought, how you’re going to maintain your genetic base, and really how you’re going to protect the ecological base of your ranch. It’s easy to get into that kind of negative, ‘everything is bad’ perspective, and I would really challenge folks to think about what their ranch will be like when this is over,” said Macon.

The drought resources for ranchers can be found on the UCANR website.

2021-08-14T11:16:42-07:00August 14th, 2021|

Valadao: Introduces Amendment to Help with Drought

Congressman David G. Valadao Introduces Three Amendments to Alleviate California Drought

 

Congressman David G. Valadao introduced recently three amendments to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which funds various federal agencies. Each of which would make strides toward alleviating the devastating California drought. The House Committee on Appropriations is responsible for appropriating funding for most of the functions of the federal government.

Congressman Valadao’s first amendment would extend California water storage provisions of the WIIN Act — Subtitle J — for one year. Certain provisions of the WIIN Act are set to expire soon, or have already expired, creating an urgent need for specific extensions. The amendment would also extend the authorization of appropriations for water storage projects that the Secretary of the Interior finds feasible. This language complements the RENEW WIIN Act and NEED Water Act that the congressman introduced earlier this year.

california drought

The WIIN Act, which President Obama signed into law in 2016, directed the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce to develop a new operations plan of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, which was completed in February 2020. The resulting biological opinions (BiOps) provide flexibility and guidance to make use of California’s water to the fullest extent and avoid waste of this precious resource. The second amendment would codify the BiOps. These BiOps were independently peer-reviewed and informed by the most accurate, best available science. The corresponding operations plans for the Central Valley Project and State Water Project employs this science and data to ensure greater water reliability and availability for communities and farms across California, while continuing to protect at-risk species.

 

Congressman Valadao’s third amendment would provide funding to restore the conveyance capacity of canal infrastructure facilities to move flood flows to groundwater recharge areas in order to help farmers comply with new state laws related to groundwater pumping. Major San Joaquin Valley canals would benefit from this program.

 

House Appropriations Committee Democrats voted down all three amendments.

 

“When I meet with my constituents, the same issue arises: the desperate need for water. Today I introduced three amendments to address California’s crumbling water infrastructure, storage issues, and lack of operational flexibility for communities and farmers. Farmers across the Central Valley are being forced to tear up their crops to conserve water—crops that would have fed families across the United States and across the world. Communities in my district’s wells are drying up, if they aren’t already dry,” said Congressman Valadao. “Once again, my colleagues across the aisle refuse to acknowledge the fact that we have a crisis on our hands. I am incredibly disappointed that the Majority rejected my amendments — real people need our help, and it’s clear the Democrats are unwilling to provide it. I will not stop fighting to bring a solution to the Central Valley.”

 

2021-07-23T14:24:45-07:00July 23rd, 2021|

Drought Assistance Sought for Central Valley

State Senator Hurtado and Congressman Valadao Urge Gov. Newsom For Help in Drought for Central Valley Counties

 

 Today, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) and Congressman David G. Valadao (R-Hanford) released the following statements regarding a letter they sent to Governor Gavin Newsom and the Federal Drought Task Force to ensure that the south Central Valley will be considered in drought decisions:

“California is one state of many, including countries around the world, that is experiencing a drought unlike any other,” said Senator Hurtado. “Farmers of the Central Valley are world leaders and have been at the forefront of the fight against climate change. Support for our farmers equals support for our food—we may not be able to avoid this water crisis, but we can work to avoid a food crisis. There is no room for partisan politics in addressing this enormous challenge. Congressman Valadao, myself, and the Valley Delegation have been working tirelessly to address the needs of our constituents, farmers and farmworkers. We will continue to do so.”

“Central Valley farmers are doing everything they can to mitigate this crisis, and we need you to do everything you can to help them,” said Congressman Valadao. “Senator Hurtado and I understand the challenges both state and federal officials currently face in allocating extremely limited water supplies to meet all the demands of the state. There is no doubt that the agriculture industry can, should, and currently is playing a role in reducing water use during these difficult times. Not only have many farmers in our districts implemented more modern technology and irrigation practices to efficiently use water, but farmers across our districts have already fallowed fields and prematurely ripped out permanent crops in an effort to reduce water use further. We strongly urge you to think about our Central Valley farmers when making critical decisions on drought mitigation.”

Pipe without waterThis legislative session, Senator Hurtado has introduced Senate Bill 559–the State Water Resiliency Act of 2021. Senate Bill 559 will allocate $785 million to repairing vital water delivery systems that provide drinking water to communities throughout California and water to sustain the state’s leading agricultural economy. The funds would go to fixing the Friant-Kern Canal, the Delta-Mendota Canal and major portions of the California Aqueduct, all of which have degraded and are losing water as a result of subsidence – the actual shrinking of land.

The Senator is also a co-author of the Water Innovation Act of 2021, which will create the Office of Water Innovation at the California Water Commission-furthering new technologies and other approaches within the water sector. The Senator has also introduced Senate Bill 464, which will expand the eligibility for state funded food benefits to undocumented immigrants, ensuring all residents can access food assistance. Senator Hurtado’s SB 108, which will declare it to be state policy that all people have access to sufficient, healthy food.

2021-07-19T12:47:36-07:00July 19th, 2021|

Tomato Roots Studied for Drought Resilient

Drought-Resilient Tomatoes – Part One

By Tim Hammerich with the Ag Information Network

The key to drought resilience in crops like tomatoes most likely lies in the roots, which are hard to study because they are of course underground. Siobhan Brady and a team of researchers at UC Davis have been working on creating a molecular atlas of tomato roots, where plants first detect the effects of drought and other environmental threats.

“We wanted to be able to first try to understand what is happening in the individual cells within those roots underground. And then to use that as a platform to try to understand similarities and differences in other root cells of other species,” said Brady.

Among many discoveries in this research, Brady and his team have been able to better understand how the exodermis helps make plants more drought resilient.

“It hadn’t really been molecularly characterized before, but it produces this barrier. And that barrier is thought to be really important for protecting the root when there isn’t enough water. In the ground. So it kind of forms a barrier to keep that water in. And so now we have the genes that we think are controlling that, and so we can study that process more and hopefully be able to breed more drought-resilient tomatoes,” noted Brady.

 

2021-06-28T18:33:53-07:00June 28th, 2021|

Newsom Gets Letter Regarding Drought

David G. Valadao and  State Senator Melissa Hurtado Contact Governor Newsom

This week, Congressman David G. Valadao and California State Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) sent Governor Newsom a letter to ensure that Fresno, Kings, Kern, and Tulare counties, whose jobs depend directly on farms, are given full consideration when contemplating actions to mitigate the negative impacts of a second year of a critically severe and dangerous drought. President Biden’s Interagency Working Group was copied on the letter.

“Central Valley farmers are doing everything they can to mitigate this crisis, and we need you to do everything you can to help them,” said Congressman Valadao. “Senator Hurtado and I understand the challenges both state and federal officials currently face in allocating extremely limited water supplies to meet all the demands of the state. There is no doubt that the agriculture industry can, should, and currently is playing a role in reducing water use during these difficult times. Not only have many farmers in our districts implemented more modern technology and irrigation practices to efficiently use water, but farmers across our districts have already fallowed fields and prematurely ripped out permanent crops in an effort to reduce water use further. We strongly urge you to think about our Central Valley farmers when making critical decisions on drought mitigation.”

“California is one state of many, including countries around the world, that is experiencing a drought unlike any other,” said Senator Hurtado. “Farmers of the Central Valley are world leaders and have been at the forefront of the fight against climate change. Support for our farmers equals support for our food—we may not be able to avoid this water crisis, but we can work to avoid a food crisis. There is no room for partisan politics in addressing this enormous challenge. Congressman Valadao, myself, and the Valley Delegation have been working tirelessly to address the needs of our constituents, farmers and farmworkers. We will continue to do so.”

2021-06-17T10:44:30-07:00June 14th, 2021|

UC and Israel Sign Agricultural Research Agreement

California and Israel Face Similar Challenges

By Pam Kan-Rice, UC ANR News

From left, Ermias Kebreab, Eli Feinerman, and Mark Bell sign the agreement for Israel and California scientists to collaborate more on water-related research and education.

Pledging to work together to solve water scarcity issues, Israel’s Agricultural Research Organization signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and UC Davis recently. The signing ceremony kicked off the 2018 Future of Water for Irrigation in California and Israel Workshop at the UC ANR building in Davis.

“Israel and California agriculture face similar challenges, including drought and climate change,” said Doug Parker, director of UC ANR’s California Institute for Water Resources. “In the memorandum of understanding, Israel’s Agricultural Research Organization, UC Davis and UC ANR pledge to work together more on research involving water, irrigation, technology and related topics that are important to both water-deficit countries.”

The agreement will enhance collaboration on research and extension for natural resources management in agriculture, with an emphasis on soil, irrigation and water resources, horticulture, food security and food safety.

“It’s a huge pleasure for us to sign an MOU with the world leaders in agricultural research like UC Davis and UC ANR,” said Eli Feinerman, director of Agricultural Research Organization of Israel. “When good people, smart people collaborate, the sky is the limit.”

Feinerman, Mark Bell (UC ANR vice provost) and Ermias Kebreab (UC Davis professor and associate vice provost of academic programs and global affairs) represented their respective institutions for the signing. Karen Ross (California Department of Food and Agriculture secretary) and Shlomi Kofman (Israel’s consul general to the Pacific Northwest) joined in celebrating the partnership.

“The important thing is to keep working together and develop additional frameworks that can bring the people of California and Israel together as researchers,” Kofman said. “But also to work together to make the world a better place.”

Ross said, “It’s so important for us to find ways and create forums to work together because water is the issue in this century and will continue to be.”

She explained that earlier this year, the World Bank and United Nations reported that 40 percent of the world population is living with water scarcity. 

“Over 700,000 people are at risk of relocation due to water scarcity,” Ross said. “We’re already seeing the refugee issues that are starting to happen because of drought, food insecurity and the lack of water.”

Ross touted the progress stemming from CDFA’s Healthy Soils Program to promote healthy soils on California’s farmlands and ranchlands and SWEEP, the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program, which has provided California farmers $62.7 million in grants for irrigation systems that reduce greenhouse gases and save water on agricultural operations.

“We need the answers of best practices that come from academia, through demonstration projects so that our farmers know what will really work,” Ross said.

As Parker opened the water workshop, sponsored by the U.S./Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development (BARD) Program, Israel Agricultural Research Organization and UC ANR, he told the scientists, “The goal of this workshop is really to be creating new partnerships, meeting new people, networking and finding ways to work together in California with Israel, in Israel, with other parts of the world as well.”

Drawing on current events, Bell told the attendees, “If you look at the World Cup, it’s about effort, it’s about teamwork, it’s about diversity of skills, and I think that’s what this event does. It brings together those things.”

2021-05-12T11:05:10-07:00July 24th, 2018|

Food Narrative Should Trump Fish

Reframing Farming with a Food Narrative

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Peterangelo Vallis is California Ag Today’s Ambassador for Agriculture. He’s also the executive director of the San Joaquin Valley Wine Growers Association. He spoke recently on the need for increased water conservation by growers and cities in a multi-year drought. He also noted the need for a food narrative.

“That’s what we have done. We had to do that over the last few years. I mean, it’s not uncommon for there to be a wet year in the middle of a multi-year drought,” Vallis said. “Let’s face it. We’re clearly in a multi-year drought, and fortunately, there are water supplies, so it’s probably not going to be as bad this year as it was a couple years ago, but that’s not going to feel great especially with permanent crop agriculture. You got make sure you have a consistent supply of water going year-round at a time.”

Vallis said the Delta area water situation needs to be reframed with a food narrative.

“Let’s stop blaming a small fish and let’s start putting the blame where it really belongs with the inability for all of us to come together and come up with some sort of solution,” Vallis said.

“I mean fish is a nice scapegoat, and it’s a great talking point, but it clearly hasn’t been doing better with water restrictions to growers. The problem is that we haven’t been framing the conversation in a way that really puts us in the best light, and we’ve got to do that because nobody is going to say that fish is more important than farmers,” Vallis said. “Realistically when someone insinuates that, they just look silly because everybody knows that we need to eat and we need to be able to provide food for people.”

“What the problem is when we start adding things to the conversation, yawn on facts and we start appealing to emotion. Everybody can figure out something that’s more important than something else. It’s just a form of what needs to happen in a normal society,” he said.

2018-02-19T16:50:27-08:00February 19th, 2018|

Fine Tuning Almond Irrigation

New technology helps farmers use water to maximum effectiveness

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

At the recent big Almond Conference in Sacramento, there were a lot of discussions on water use in almonds. And while growers are doing a great job in conserving, there’s always ways to improve, according to Larry Schwankl, UC Cooperative Extension Irrigation Specialist Emeritus. He shared with California Ag Today the take-home points of his talk in front of several hundred growers.

larry_schwankl

Irrigation Specialist Larry Schwankl

“We have been researching, ‘How much do growers need to irrigate?’ We want to make sure that their irrigation system are effective and that they know how long to operate it and then ways of checking to make sure that they’re doing a good job and utilizing soil moisture sensors and devices,” Schwankl said.

Schwankl also suggested that growers use pressure bomb to accurately measure the pressure of water inside a leaf. When used, it’s possible to measure the approximate water status of plant tissues.

In using a pressure bomb, the stem of a leaf is placed in a sealed chamber, and pressurized gas is added to the chamber slowly. The device has been calibrated to indicate whether or not that leaf is stressed for water.

“We can predict how much water the tree’s going to need, and we can predict how much an irrigation system is going to put on, but there’s errors in all predictions,” Schwankl said.   “We need to go back and check and make sure that we’re staying on target. That’s where knowing the soil moisture and the plant water status really helps.”

2016-12-19T13:53:18-08:00December 19th, 2016|
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