WEATHER   Temperature highs ranged from the low 40s to low 70s in the mountains, mid 50s to low 80s along the coast, high 50s to mid 80s in the valley, and mid 50s to low 90s in the desert.  Temperature lows ranged from the low 30s to high 40s in the mountains, mid 30s to high 60s in the …

On March 29, 2019 the Department received a petition to terminate the Quota Implementation Plan (QIP). Per the procedures for handling petitions, the Department has performed a review of the petition signatures and has determined that the twenty five percent (25%) threshold has not been achieved. Therefore, the petition will not be referred to the Producer Review Board. In calculating …

Members of the California Women for Agriculture (CWA) walked the halls of California’s state capitol earlier this month to discuss current agriculture policies with legislative representatives. As part of the organization’s annual statewide meeting in Sacramento, the CWA also honored Assembly Member Susan Talamantes Eggman with its Cornucopia Award, celebrating her commitment to support California agriculture. “CWA has a proud …

  As California faces more frequent and severe droughts, agriculture, which relies on irrigation from surface water and groundwater, could become expensive and unsustainable. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, looked at using a “free” resource — rain water stored in the soil — and found that optimizing its use could go a long way to help meet demand …

Know a California farmer, rancher or forester who goes above and beyond in the care and management of natural resources? Nominate them for the 2019 California Leopold Conservation Award. Applications must be postmarked by July 15, 2019. Mail applications to: Leopold Conservation Award c/o Sustainable Conservation 98 Battery Street, Suite 302 San Francisco, CA 94111 Nominations may be submitted on …

Walnut production is most productive on deep-rooting uniform soils with good water-holding capacity. Such soils are also conducive to infestations of plant-parasitic nematodes. Currently, the key pest of concern in walnut plantings is root lesion nematode (Pratylenchus vulnus). In California, this nematode is wide-spread in walnut producing areas and is estimated to be present in almost 85% of walnut orchards. …

During the next several weeks, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct two major mid-year surveys, the June Agricultural Survey and the June Area Survey. The agency will survey over 3,100 farmers across California and Nevada, and nearly 30,000 across the U.S. to determine crop production and supply levels in 2019. “Due to the widespread and significant impact of …

Today USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced round two of support for farmers impacted by retaliatory tariffs and trade disruption in key export markets, specifically China. California almonds are included in the $16 billion trade mitigation package. The package will consist of $14.5 billion for the Market Facilitation Program (MFP), $1.4 billion for the Food Purchase and Distribution Program (FPDP) and …

Clean, transparent, fresh, sustainable. Environmentally friendly, animal humane, high quality, social activism. Those traits are all identified with organic, and in 2018 they all helped push organic sales to unprecedented levels. The U.S. organic market in 2018 broke through the $50 billion mark for the first time, with sales hitting a record $52.5 billion, up 6.3 percent from the previous …

WASHINGTON – Representative Josh Harder (CA-10) is leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers from across the country in an effort to ensure that Central Valley specialty crop growers aren’t again left out of a critical aid program provided to farmers harmed by Chinese tariffs. Although the ongoing trade war has cost the California walnut industry over $600 million, walnut farmers were …