BREAKING NEWS: First ACP Found In Monterey County

First ACP Found In Monterey County

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

An Asian Citrus Psyllid (ACP) has been found in Monterey County, thus expanding the ACP Quarantine in the state. This is breaking news as the ACP vectors or has the ability to carry a fatal citrus bacterial disease known as Huanlongbing (HLB) or citrus greening.

Save our citrus from citrus greening

Save our citrus

“It was in a residential area of northeast Salinas,” said Bob Roach, assistant ag commissioner for Monterey County, “and it’s not really unexpected because, with the exception of Santa Cruz County, we are surrounded by other counties where ACP have been identified on the sticky traps.”

This ACP find was in a residential yard, just north of Salinas. “The most likely cause,” said Roach commented, “When you find it in a residential area, the likely source of the introduction is when people move plants around” from other regions where the psyllid is present.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) will begin the trapping next week,” Roach explained. “They flood the area with traps and then take care of the treatments.” CDFA will coordinate spray programs within 800 meters from the find. “They’re all set up for that,” said Roach.

Featured Image: Adult ACP (Source:  The Citrus Pest & Disease Prevention Program)

2021-05-12T11:03:01-07:00June 9th, 2016|

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

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.

 

2021-05-12T11:06:00-07:00December 30th, 2015|

Thanks to California Ag!

Thanks to California Ag for Thanksgiving!

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

 

As Americans enjoy Thanksgiving dinner, let us recognize that farmers, especially California farmers, have made our bounty possible.

pumpkin free imageCalifornia is a big turkey producing state, always ranking in the top six nationally.

pumpkin free imageIn 1948, Sophie Cubbison, who was born in San Carlos, California and who graduated from California Polytechnical University in 1912, invented the Mrs. Cubbinson’s melba toast or cornbread stuffing most of us serve. (She even paid her way through college with the money she earned feeding farmworkers. Sourcewww.mrscubbisons.com)

pumpkin free imageWhat would Thanksgiving be without wonderful California wines and Martinelli’s (another great California company) great sparkling apple and grape beverages to celebrate our good fortune?

pumpkin free imageAnd all those amazing side dishes . . . the russet and red potatoes from Kern County; the sweet potatoes from Merced County; the many wonderful squash varieties including zucchini, yellow, acorn squash . . . are all produced by farmers and farmworkers in California.

pumpkin free imageGreen beans, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, radishes, and carrots will grace the tables across America, thanks to California producers in ped and other areas of the state.

Don’t forget gapumpkin free imagerlic, onions and mushrooms are all produced primarily in California!

California farmers produce it all, with the exception of cranberries!

Thanks Wisconsin!

(And New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, and parts of Canada)

pumpkin free imageYou can thank California egg producers for those tasty hardboiled deviled eggs on Grandma’s favorite serving dish.

pumpkin free imagePlus raisins, a great addition to dressings and other dishes, thanks to the raisin producers in Fresno, Madera and Merced Counties.

pumpkin free imageAnd of course walnuts, almonds and pistachios are big part of our savory stuffing recipes and our snacks.

pumpkin free imageApple cider and apple pie? California, among the top five states, produces a wide variety of apples.

pumpkin free imageWait! What about pumpkin pie? California farmers.

pumpkin free imageAnd the wonderful whipped cream? Thanks to the California dairy industry.

pumpkin free imageDid you know the turkey pop-up timer was invented in California? Yes, indeed. Back in the 1950s, the California Turkey Producers Advisory Board brainstormed to figure out how to prevent over-cooked turkeys, according to Leo Pearlstein, a Los Angeles pubic relations pro in the food industry, who was among the five original board members. One board member—a California turkey producer, as Pearlstein tells it—looked up at the ceiling, noticed the sprinklers and had a Eureka moment! He suddenly realized the ceiling sprinklers were triggered when heat melted a material inside the gizmo. For a complete explanation, see How Pop-Up Turkey Timers Work at home.howstuffworks.com/pop-up-timer1.htm.

From all of us here at California Ag Today,

Thanks to California Ag for serving us a delectable nutritious Thanksgiving!

2016-05-31T19:27:03-07:00November 24th, 2015|

Winegrape Rootstock Trials

Winegrape Rootstock Trials for Pest Resistance and Vine Productivity

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

Larry Bettiga, a viticulture farm advisor with UC Cooperative Extension, Monterey County, is working with county growers on winegrape rootstock trials to increase vine productivity.

“Several things have happened,” noted Bettiga,“we are replanting vineyards on former vineyard lands, where a build-up of soil pests already exists. Farmers used to grow a lot of beans and tomatoes in the Valley, so we’ve had a lot of root-knot nematode populations from past cropping patterns.”

“We’ve recently seen ring nematode populations developing at multiple vineyard sites,” Bettiga continued. “With the loss of more effective fumigants, and then the loss of post-plant-type nematicides, the use of nematode-resistant roots is becoming more critical to the success of replanting these vineyards. We have hopes that Andy Walker, a UC Davis viticulture professor and grape breeder, is going to supply us with some better options than we currently have.”

“We have a site where we are comparing five new rootstocks that were released from UC Davis with a number of our standard rootstocks. We are just starting that work, so obviously we have to look at them for several years to get a good feel for how those stalks will fit in comparison to what we are now using,” he noted.

2016-05-31T19:27:05-07:00October 30th, 2015|

Monterey County Rules Lettuce Market

Diversity Keeps Monterey County Going Strong

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

Monterey County Ag Commissioner Eric Lauritzen talked about the success of local farmers in setting new crop production records, “Despite the water and labor shortages, crop values were up in 11 commodities that exceeded $100 million and 26 that surpassed $10 million. So, the diversity of the economic engine here in Monterey County remains strong despite adversity.”Monterey County Ag Comm Logo

The overall agricultural value of Monterey County is nearly $4.5 billion. Lauritzen noted, “Commodity by commodity, among our top crops, we saw leaf-lettuce surpass strawberries as the number one commodity again. Strawberries are still over $709 million, and the lettuces combined were about $1.4 billion. It is pretty amazing to see those kinds of numbers coming out of one county.

In addition to water and labor shortages, Lauritzen noted, “We have dealt with the impact of food safety issues with spinach. And though production levels continue to climb back, they have not reached levels achieved since the E. Coli outbreak back in 2010. Anyway, we are still thrilled to see the numbers so strong and this speaks to the economic engine of the County.”

Other achievements include:

-$8.1 billion generated for the local economy, including:

-$5.7 billion in direct economic output, nearly 20% of the county’s total direct economic output.

-$2.4 billion in additional economic output in the form of expenditures by agriculture companies and their employees

-76,054 jobs in Monterey County, including:

-55,702 direct employees, or nearly one quarter of all jobs in the county

-20,352 additional jobs made possible through expenditures by agricultural companies and their employees

-investments in ambitious new technology.

2016-05-31T19:28:04-07:00September 15th, 2015|

Regulatory Agency and Farmworkers Negotiate Accord

A farmworker advocacy group and the agency that regulates pesticide use in Monterey County today announced the establishment of a farmworker advisory committee to advise the agency and to connect field workers to resources that the agency can use to help them. “The advisory committee gives us direct access to farmworker leaders; to their concerns and to their suggestions,” commented Eric Lauritzen, the Agricultural Commissioner of the County of Monterey.

“This gives us the opportunity to engage in positive, productive conversations that will help us fulfill our obligations to the farmworker community and to the agricultural industry in general.”

Farmworker leaders trained by the Center for Community Advocacy (CCA) will compose the advisory committee.

“CCA strives to develop leadership capacity among farmworkers at the neighborhood level,” explained Juan Uranga, CCA’s executive director and lead attorney. “We use CCA’s housing, health and poder popular programs to spot, recruit and engage neighborhood leaders throughout the Salinas and Pajaro valleys.

These leaders first improve conditions in their housing units and neighborhoods. We then create venues where these neighborhood leaders can use their collective power to strengthen their families and create positive change in their communities.”

Six of these CCA-trained neighborhood leaders will comprise the advisory committee.

“We are excited about creating this opportunity,” said one of the CCA neighborhood leaders. “We are pioneers and we hope we’ll be able to work together to help our brothers and sisters who work in the fields. We had a ‘meet and greet’ session with the Commissioner and his staff and we were impressed by their willingness to work with us.”

The Committee will advise the Commissioner’s Office on policies and practices as they impact field workers in Monterey County. The advisory committee and the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office will strive to improve protocols that protect farmworkers from pesticide exposure and other protocols within the Commissioner’s jurisdiction that protect the health and safety of farmworkers.

The partnership will also help disseminate information about resources and programs that the Commissioner’s Office can make available to the farmworker community.

The advisory committee comes after negotiations that led to a Statement of Purpose between CCA and the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office.

The Statement describes the following functions for the committee:

  1. To meet at regular intervals with the Commissioner and his/her staff to exchange information and ideas that will improve the safety of farmworkers.
  2. To help disseminate safety information from the Commissioner’s Office to the farmworker community, as the need arises
  3. To host annual community dialogues where farmworkers and the Commissioner’s Office meet to discuss the Commissioner’s jurisdiction over agricultural lands in Monterey County.
  4. To promote a more sustainable agricultural economy in Monterey County by protecting its most critical resource: farmworkers.

Discussions about forming the committee began several years ago when the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office and Poder Popular, then a program of the Community Foundation for Monterey County and since a CCA program, hosted a community forum.

Working through a rocky start, both the Commissioner’s Office and CCA saw the incredible potential in developing a working relationship. The two agencies had never worked together. Each had questions about the other’s willingness to work cooperatively.

The two agencies developed their relationship by working together on several projects including the AgKnowledge Program hosted by the Grower-Shipper Foundation and a series of small forums between the Commissioner’s Office and CCA-trained leaders. Now, both the Agricultural Commissioner’s office and CCA look forward to this joint effort.

2016-05-31T19:33:29-07:00August 25th, 2014|
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