The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has announced the successful conclusion of LandFlex Phase 2, providing $16,775,162 in grants to support grower contracts within various Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) for the protection of rural at-risk water systems and advancements in groundwater sustainability. The awarded funds will be allocated to three GSAs as follows: Lower Tule Irrigation District GSA: Grant award …

The Almond Board of California Board of Directors selected Clarice Turner, an experienced global leader in consumer goods, food service and wine and spirits, as the next president and CEO. Turner is joining the Almond Board of California (ABC) after most recently serving as president of iconic Napa Valley winery Joseph Phelps Vineyards. She has also held CEO and senior executive positions …

The 2023 California Almond Objective Measurement Report published Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA-NASS) estimates that the crop harvested in 2023 will come in at 2.6 billion meat pounds, 1% percent above last year’s 2.57 billion pounds. The estimate is up 4 percent from USDA-NASS’s Subjective Forecast in May and comes after one of the wettest winters on …

Donnie Joe Huffman of Vacaville,  a legendary volunteer and civic leader,  champion of agriculture, and a dedicated philanthropist, passed away peacefully at his home on June 17, 2023, surrounded by family. He was 83, but as a Leap Year baby–born Feb. 29, 1940 in Thayer, Mo.– he was 20. A former governor of the Kiwanis Club, District 8, Donnie served as president …

Controlling for Varroa mites, the parasitic mites that feed on honey bees and serve as vectors for viral diseases like deformed wing virus (DWV), can help with improving honeybee populations and make bees less susceptible to harmful insecticides, according to a recent study published in Environmental Pollution. Foraging honey bees may be directly exposed to toxic insecticide sprays in the field or exposure may come …

A valuable industry assessment program has been streamlined to make it easier for almond growers to enter and update data. Changes to the CASP program – which now stands for the California Almond Stewardship Platform – were announced in December at The Almond Conference 2022 and came after feedback from some growers about the length of time it often took …

Jimi Valov, a man known as much for his generosity as his farming acumen, is Tulare County Farm Bureau’s Agriculturalist of the Year. Valov, of Tulare, is a grower of pistachios, almonds, alfalfa and grain on 1,800 acres spread throughout Tulare, Kings and Kern counties. Forty years ago, he was one of the first farmers to plant pistachio trees in …