Ag Alert Nov. 3, 2021

Ag Alert is the newspaper of the California Farm Bureau Federation, reaching Farm Bureau agricultural and collegiate members. Agricultural members are owners and decision-makers on California farms and ranches. The California Farm Bureau Federation is a non-governmental, non-profit, voluntary membership organization whose purpose is to protect and promote agricultural interests throughout the state of California and to find solutions to the problems of the farm, the farm home and the rural community. Farm Bureau is California's largest farm organization, comprised of 53 county Farm Bureaus. Farm Bureau strives to protect and improve the ability of farmers and ranchers engaged in production agriculture to provide a reliable supply of food and fiber through responsible stewardship of California's resources.

Avocado harvest Output remains consistent despite temperature swings

No longer a niche Organic produce booms into the mainstream

Page 3

Page 7

www.cfbf.com • www.agalert.com NOVEMBER 3, 2021

Vegetables ®

s p e c i a l r e p o r t

ByChing Lee As someonewho opened a newmobile slaughter operation in Sonoma County earlier this year, John Fagundes has an- swered a cry for help. The former carpenter saidhedecided to start thebusiness after seeingnews stories last year about meat shortages and pro- cessingplantsoverwhelmedwithranchers needing to turn their livestock into meat they could sell. “This wasn’t even an idea pre-COVID,” he saidof hisnewbusiness. “I didminimal market research, andI just said, ‘Hey, there is a definite demand here, and somebody needs to do this.’” Even though ranchers for years have raised flags about their struggles to get meat processed, it was the pandemic that brought urgency. Outbreaks of COVID-19 forcedplant shutdowns at someof thena- tion’s major meatpackers, leading to sup- ply-chain disruptions and empty meat cases at grocery stores. People tooknotice. With a cattle background and experi- ence raising cow-calf pairs, Fagundes said itwasalwayshisdreamtowork inthecattle business—“I justnever thought itwas this.” Considering some of the past failed at- tempts to open new slaughter facilities in the state, Fagundes is already ahead of the gamewith howquickly he set up shop: He ordered themobile unit in June 2020, it ar- rivedinDecember,andheopenedinMarch. Meanwhile, agroupof ranchers inthere- gionlastyear formedtheBayAreaRanchers Cooperative, or BAR-C, to raisemoney to start their ownmobile slaughter operation. Theirunit—parkedonaranchinwestMarin County—was slated to open inMay, but it ran intodelayswithequipment, federal in- spections and power hookups. Co-op di- rectors say they nowexpect to open in late November or earlyDecember. BAR-C came in response to the loss of Marin Sun Farms, the North Bay’s last federal ly inspected slaughter- house, which ended services last year to producers that don’t sell to the company’s See MEAT, Page 15 Mobile meat processing aids small ranchers

Flows to increase; water districts cry foul Stanislaus County farmer and nursery owner David Van Klaveren of Modesto walks near a holding pond that stores water for irrigation that is reused across the family’s wholesale nursery. He farms with water from Modesto Irrigation District, which is one of several districts that would be impacted by the state’s plan to increase flows by 30% to 50% along the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers.

ByChristine Souza The Newsom administration has in- formed regional water districts that it will move forwardwith a plan to increase flows from San Joaquin River tributaries in an action that may create more water uncertainty for farmers. A n o t i c e f r om t h e Ca l i f o r n i a Natural Resources Agency and state

Environmental Protection Agency rep- resents a departure from the state’s ear- lier willingness to consider voluntary agreements with water districts, which includes aspects other than just flow in- creases. That departure means that the regulatory regime, adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board in 2018, will nowmove forward.

This first phase of the state’s Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan requires dis- tricts along the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers to leave 30% to 50%of “un- impaired flows” in the San Joaquin River tributaries in an effort to help fish. Districts, farmers and residents of the affected region have protested the plan,

See WATER, Page 14

n e w s p a p e r

Comment.......................................2 From the Fields........................ 4-5 Vegetables....................................7 Classifieds........................... 17-19 Inside

Published by

Restore the California promise by securing our water future

California’swater history flows acrossmy farmin theNorth State communityofOroville. Acanal carved in theearly 1990s passesbeneathmyolivegroves. Itwas anextensionof original conveyance systems inspiredby gold seekers, who fashioned oneof California’s earliestwater delivery systems in the 1890s on the Feather River, nearmy home. Those systems were later built upon as the lure of gold gave way to the great agricultural promise of California. That promise—and the availability of water—lureda local farming pioneer from Illinois to Northern California. Freda Ehmann became the acclaimed “Mother of the California Ripe Olive Industry” and continues to inspiremy farm’smission to carry onher traditions in producing California olives. Now, aspresident of theCaliforniaFarmBureau, I amfight- ing to uphold and restore the promise of sustainable water delivery in my state. After two years of severe drought, our farmers and ranchers are suffering. They’re fallowing crops and thinning herds because of extremewater shortages. That isn’t surprising in a state in which surface water sup- plies from the critical Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta were effectivelycut off inAugust for 10,300water-rightsholdersand 4,500 Central Valley farms. And yet, given California’s history of water engineering and innovation, it’s shocking. Those early canals led to the concept of a statewide water development project. The effort culminated in the creationof the StateWater Project, a systemof reservoirs, hydroelectric power facilities, canals and pipelines that deliver water to 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. It would complement the largerCentral ValleyProject, a federal system of dams and reservoirs that in normal years delivers water to one-third of the agricultural land inCalifornia. These projects were the essence of the California promise: to continue innovating to support our growing Golden State communities and our prospering farming and ranching sec- tors. That included supporting entrepreneurialismwhile also safeguarding the environment. But thensomehowCalifornia lost itsway. Evenafterahistor- icdrought in1976-77, thestatecouldn’t seemtomuster itsspirit of innovation for continuing to grow its water infrastructure withnewstorage facilities andupgradedconveyance systems. These days, our once world-renowned water system is aging and ill-equipped for California’s 21st-centurywater needs. The results are painful for California agriculture. That’s clear from the American FarmBureau Federation’s drought survey this past summer, which included responses from480 California farmers and ranchers.

According to the California survey numbers, 25% of our growers said they were highly or extremely likely to plowun- der crops due to fears of inadequate futurewater deliveries for irrigation, and 41% said they were likely or extremely likely to remove orchard trees. Our ranchers weren’t faring any better. More than half of those surveyed said it was likely or extremely likely that they would thin their herds and flocks. Nearly two-thirds said they would pull animals from rangeland because of insufficient forage due todrought. It’snot entirely fair to sayCalifornia lost itswater vision. But sadly, California can’t get out of its ownway. In 2014, 67% of California voters approved a potentially landmark water bond measure, Proposition 1. The Water Quality Supply and InfrastructureAct allocated$7.1billion in bonds formodernizingourwater systemwithvastlyexpanded surfaceandgroundwater storage, upgradedconveyance, pub- licwater systemimprovements and investments inecosystem protection and restoration. Yet not awater’s dropof infrastructurehas beenbuilt since. Litigation, infighting and a lack of political will have blunted the progress California voters demanded. Recently, apowerful stormbrought awelcome—though far short of drought-busting—deluge toNorthernCalifornia.Had it been built by now, the signature project of Proposition 1— the proposed Sites Reservoir near Sacramento—could have capturedmuch of that rainwater. But our farmers and ranchers are not giving up. The California FarmBureauhas continued to fight for federal and state water infrastructure improvements, andwe were heart- enedby the recent allocationof $80billion in federal funds for planning and engineering for the Sites Reservoir. It’s true that water projects take time. In my community, the Oroville Dam—amajor storage facility of the StateWater Project—tookmore thaneight years tobuildafter its approval in a 1960water bond. Still, wemust retain the fierce urgency of our forebearers, including farmer settlers who saw the promise of California and worked to build water storage and conveyance for future generations. We are indeed still farming in California. Our agricultural communities are evolving in the face of epic challenges. But we will not rest until we secure our water future, fulfilling our obligations to the farmers and ranchers who will followus in the years ahead.

President’s Message

Jamie Johansson

VOL. 48, NO. 40

November 3, 2021

AG ALERT ® weekly newspaper is an official publication of the CALIFORNIA FARM BUREAU

www.agalert.com www.cfbf.com

@cafarmbureau @cafarmbureau @cafarmbureau

@calfarmbureau

Board of Directors (District 1) Al Stehly; (2) Andy Wilson; (3) Terry Munz; (4) KevinMerrill; (5) Jenny Holtermann; (6) Joey Airoso; (7) Donny Rollin; (8) Richard Bianchi; (9) Tom Rogers; (10) JanGarrod; (11) JoeMartinez; (12) Paul Sanguinetti; (13) Ron Peterson; (14) Ken Mitchell ; (15) David Barhydt; (16) Garrett Driver; (17) Domenic Carinalli; (18) David Rosenthal; (19) TomStewart; (20) JimMorris; (21) Blake Alexandre; (Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee Chair) Lindsey Mebane. Advisory Members Ronnie Leimgruber, Chair, CFB Rural Health Department; Glenda Humiston, University of California Cooperative Extension. Letters to the editor: Send to agalert@cfbf.com or Ag Alert, Attn: Editor, 2600 River Plaza Drive, Sacramento, CA 95833. Include name, address, phone number, email address; 250-word limit.

Melanie Duval- Chief Marketing Officer Peter Hecht- Chief Editor, Publications Christine Souza- Assistant Editor Ching Lee- Assistant Editor Kevin Hecteman- Assistant Editor Karin Bakotich- Design Services Manager

ADVERTISING: Chris Tedesco- Manager, Marketing and Business Development (916) 561-5656 Classifieds: (916) 561-5570 2600 River Plaza Dr., Sacramento, CA 95833. Represented in the East and Midwest by J.L. Farmakis, Inc. Eastern office: Bill Farmakis 48 Topfield Rd., Wilton, CT 06897 (203) 834-8832; Fax: (203) 834-8825. Midwest office: Russ Parker , P.O. Box 7, Albia, IA 52531 (641) 946-7646, Bob Brunker , 8209 NW 81st Ct., Kansas City, MO 64152 (816) 746-8814, Jennifer Saylor , 8426 N. Winfield Ave., Kansas City, MO 64153 (816) 912-2804, Laura Rustmann , 901 Lands End Cir, St. Charles MO 63304, (636) 238-8548. AG ALERT (issn 0161-5408) is published weekly except weeks of Memorial Day, July 4, Thanksgiving,

Christmas; and with exceptions, by the California Farm Bureau, 2600 River Plaza Dr., Sacramento CA 95833 (telephone: (916) 561-5570) . Periodicals postage paid at Sacramento, California. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to AG ALERT, 2600 River Plaza Dr., Sacramento, CA 95833. The California Farm Bureau does not assume responsibility for statements by advertisers or for products adver t ised in AG ALERT nor does the Federation assume responsibility for statements or expressions of opinion other than in editorials or in articles showing authorship by an officer, director, or employee of the California Farm Bureau Federation or its affiliates. No alcohol, tobacco or political ad-

Jessica Cook- Graphic Artist Paula Erath- Graphic Artist

Kindel Boyd- Advertising Operations Assistant GENERAL INFORMATION: (916) 561-5570 agalert@cfbf.com

vertising will be accepted. Jamie Johansson , President

Shannon Douglass , First Vice President Shaun Crook , Second Vice President

Printed on Recycled Paper

BPA Business PublicationMember

2 Ag Alert November 3, 2021

Avocado harvest close to projection as La Niña looms

do because of the widespread unstable weather, specifically the temperatures.” The consistently inconsistent weath- er may have dented 2022 production, Wolk said. “The flowers that we had in the spring, whichwouldbe the fruit fornext year—be- causeof that unstableweather, the flowers fell on the ground,”Wolk said, noting that the weather may havemade it difficult for bees to fly and flowers toopen. “Theynev- er got pollinated.” Even so, Wolk was quick to emphasize that overall, he expects the 2022 crop to

surpass the 2021 total. Ventura County, the top avocado-pro- ducing county in California, saw no ma- jor weather disasters this season, said Ben Faber, a University of California CooperativeExtensionfarmadvisorbased in Ventura. Santa Ana winds and mild tempera- turesprevailed lastweek. “This isnothing,” Faber said. “The last twoyearspreviously,we’vehad those heat waves” inmid-to-late summer,

Davis professor named to USDA advisory panel AUniversityof California,Davis, profes- sorhasbeenselectedforaU.S.Department of Agriculture advisory panel. Paul Gepts, who is a distinguished pro- fessor of plant sciences, is one of four ap- pointees totheNationalGeneticResources Advisory Council. The panel advises U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the National GeneticsProgram,whichworks touseand conservegenetic resources for agriculture. The advisory council is a subcommittee of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board. Since 2012, Gepts has led the UCDavis bean breeding program and has been in charge of producing new varieties of lima beans, garbanzos and common beans for the California grain legume industry. Gepts is currently conducting USDA research projects on drought and heat tolerance for beans. He is alsoworking on bean disease studies for the African Bean Consortium, for which he serves as scien- tific coordinator. He is associate editor for two journals: Frontiers in Plant Science and Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. In addi- tion, Gepts is a member of the California Dry BeanAdvisory Board. ByKevinHecteman A largely drama-free avocado-growing season has all but ended, with the crop close tomeetingmidseason projections. As of last week, the 2020-2021 season— whichstartedNov. 1, 2020—hadseen263.5 million pounds of fruit come off the trees, according to figures from the California Avocado Commission. That’s just below the 265 million pounds forecast in the commission’s April survey of growers and handlers. Bycontrast, the2019-2020grow- ing season—which ran into the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic—ended with 375.5 million pounds, according to com- mission figures. InnorthernSanDiegoCounty,Fallbrook- based grove manager Charley Wolk said this year’s crop and next year’s are feeling theeffectsof inconsistentweatherearlier in 2021.Somegroves intheareahadnofruit to harvest, he said. “We didn’t have a freeze or anything,” Wolk said. “We just had weather that was not conducive to growing avocados.” That included runs of five to 10 days with be- low-average temperatures, followed by three or four days of above-average days, followed bymore below-average days. “It kept doing that through the spring and the pollination season,” Wolk said. “(With) the fruit that was for this year, that unstable weather plus some windstorms knocked all the fruit on the ground.”

He said the extent of wind damage de- pended onwhichway groves were facing; avocado farms facing west fared better than their eastern-facing counterparts. Thewide temperatureswingsprevented the trees fromgetting into a rhythm. “The trees were confused,” Wolk said. “They didn’t know if it was springtime or winter. The trees didn’t know what to

See AVOCADOS, Page 16

PROTECT YOUR PASSION TO

COUNTRYCHOICE ® INSURANCE FOR YOUR SMALL FARM OR RANCH

Protecting what you’ve worked so hard to build starts with CountryChoice ® , insurance for your small farm or ranch from the No. 1 farm insurer in the U.S. 1 Do you have enough coverage? Your homeowners policy is important, but if you live on a small farm or ranch, you may need more protection. CountryChoice wraps your home and farm coverages into one policy that covers items such as a barn or outbuilding, farm equipment and livestock. Farm Bureau ® insurance benefits Farm Bureau members may be eligible for discounts on Nationwide ® farm insurance and other insurance products. Ask your Nationwide agent for more information.

For a free insurance review or to learn more about Nationwide’s farm insurance, talk to your local agent. To find an agent near you, go to FarmAgentFinder.com.

1 By direct written premium, AM Best (2018). The Farm Bureau, FB, and the FB National logo are trademarks of the American Farm Bureau Federation and are used with permission under license by Nationwide. Nationwide and the Nationwide N and Eagle are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. CountryChoice is a service mark of Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance Company. © 2020 Nationwide GPO-0486CA.1 (12/20)

November 3, 2021 Ag Alert 3

Jerry Maltby ColusaCounty rice farmer and feedlot operator

Organic rice this year is a good price, but the weed problem was as bad as I’ve ever seen it. The yields were way down compared to previous years.

The only saving grace was the price is up. With organic, there’s really nothing you can do other than deep water. Even that didn’t work this year. We’ve been putting up a lot of organic and conventional rice straw for cattle feed. I’ve sold quite a bit of it already and have more to sell. It’s a good market. We only bale what comes through the harvester. It makes it a more-palatable feed for the cattle. Hay prices are really prohibitive for the commer- cial cattlemen. They have to use alternatives just to try to get by. Hopefully, we’ll continue to get some rains to get some feed in the hills, as well as water in the reservoirs. One man’s problem is another man’s salvation. We’re at about 90% capacity right now in our feedlot. We still have room for cattle. Because of the byproducts we feed, we can keep them here until the grass starts in the hills, but it’s going to be a while before that happens. I can actually feed them cheaper than (ranchers) can, simply because we have different byproducts. We can mix the feed, whereas most of the com- mercial cattlemen can’t. The Charolais bull market has been good. We still have more to sell, but the commercial prices of our cattle are still below where they should be. When you have packer con- centration, as we do, they’re controlling the price. Some of those packers are making $800 to $1,000 a head on their carcasses and only owning them for a matter of days, while the feedlot and the commercial cattle- men are getting no benefit from the high beef market in the retail stores. The dichotomy is unbelievable, with some of the highest mar- ket prices we’ve seen in the stores and some of the lowest prices we’ve seen for the cattle. That’s why we need more packing plants. Even the government is putting up money now to have small- and medium-sized plants built, because they can see what happened when they had a fire last year in one of the plants, and you only have a small amount of packing plants. There’s no place else to go to have (cattle) harvested. We need more packing plants in California. The trouble is most of the California cattle don’t stay in California. Harris (Ranch) is still there and doing a wonderful job, but there’s just not enough big feedlots, and the reason there’s no feedlots here is because there’s no pack- ing plants.

December 4-5 December 5-8

YF&R State Conference Annual Meeting

Hyatt Regency Orange County Details and Registration: bit.ly/3Ad3mFU #farmbureaumakingitpossible

4 Ag Alert November 3, 2021

Joe Valente San JoaquinCountywinegrape and tree-crop farmer The rain that we did get in the

to get around to everything because of the shorter bloom. We are now doing all of the postharvest activities. We got a pre-irrigation of about 2 inches here, so that is good. I’m putting on compost, potash and some other fertilizer. We spread out the potash to give the trees some nourishment, and then the compost will pick up the remainder, plus add a lot of other nutrients. We’ve been doing the compost as a program to help everything out. On the young trees, we’re doing 6 tons per acre of compost as part of the Healthy Soils program, which is in the second of a three-year program to give them organic matter. The trees are doing well. We are doing some pruning. We had a hedger come in and open up the centers of the older trees because so much was get- ting beat up from checking sprinklers. We opened that up and shredded it. We had our own guys come in and do light pruning

a younger vineyard or older vineyard. It fluctuated from variety, but overall, it was probably average. Because we did have no rain during harvest other than toward the end, the quality was really good. I think everyone in agriculture is looking at cost and looking at availability of the sup- plies we need. Some of the tractor parts and PVC pipe for irrigation—I’m not saying there’s a shortage, but it takes a while to get some of these products or parts that we need. Darrell Cordova Stanislaus County nut grower We’re all done

nation mode and now growth. We’ve seen grass growth here that we’ve never seen before. The unseasonably warm conditions coupled with the early heavy amount of rain have been really good. Fortunately, in our local water district, they were able to get the (Department of Water Resources) curtailment lifted and capture quite a bit of additional water for next year’s irrigation season, which is defi- nitely a positive for our producers. Here in Placer and Nevada counties, we’re so reliant on that predictable amount of water without having the reductions, ei- ther mandatory or voluntary. Both have big impacts to our farmers and ranchers. We’re set up in a lot better place for next spring. There’s still a lot of winter to go. Our long-range forecast is still bleak, and as a cattle rancher specifically, we don’t need a pile of rainfall to grow grass. It’s more about the timing of those rainfall events. We’re starting to see these com- pounded issues of drought that are magni- fied by years and years of dry. Now springs aren’t running like they should. We had that 10-inch rainfall, and normally that should make creeks and streams run for quite some time. They ran for about 36 hours. Most ranchers over the past 12 to 18 months just weren’t having a lot of fun. We are seeing depressed cattle markets on the live side and increased supply cost. Coupled that with droughts, production loss and the mental toll that COVID takes on any normal person, it’s been tough. But this rain provided a real shot in the arm, almost like there’s a bounce in producers’ steps.

Lodi area, it’s an average of about 6 inches. But most all the grapes in the

Lodi area were harvested. It’s typically just cabernet that’s left now. As far as the walnuts, they were trying the best they could to get everything harvested. The almonds in the Lodi area pretty well got all picked up. It was a big rush before the rain to get everything down. On the winegrapes, there was no issue with sugars. It was just a matter of trying to schedule and coordinate everything between the field and the wineries. With us, the labor was OK. We had enough for what we needed. As far as the trucking that we dealt with, everything seemed to be fine. It’s not to say that there was not a shortage, but everything seemed to work out. Typically this time of year, we may be going in and disking and cleaning up the fields after harvest, but with the amount of rain we’ve had this year, I don’t see that happening. We’ll probably start pre-pruning once we get a frost in the Lodi area and the leaves fall off. Some of the winter herbicides will be going on. As far as the grapes, the yields were near average; it depended whether it was

with harvesting the almonds, and we just barely made it with walnuts. We had a quarter inch of rain that slowed us down a little bit. Luckily, we had a

on the baby trees. Joe Fischer Placer County rancher

dry day the next day and some wind. That dried things out enough to where we were able to get everything in. The next day, we had 2 inches of rain. The walnut crop will probably be down a little bit. The Monterey and nonpareil almond va- rieties will be down a little bit from last year, but not severely. Almond varieties tend to be alternate bearing anyway, where they have one good year and are down the next. The crop was kind of spotty out there too. It varied from tree to tree. Weather during bloom wasn’t too bad. We had bees flying, but we had a short bloom. Everything came on at once. I think it was hard for the bees

We started off in the fall with a bleak outlook: little residual feed to go back to, little drinking water for cattle. Over the past week or 10 days in Northern

Farm Bureau members receive $ 500 BONUS CASH * ON ELIGIBLE NEW MAVERICK, RANGER, F-150 OR SUPER DUTY ® Farm Bureau members receive $ 500 BONUS CASH * ON ELIGIBLE NEW MAVERICK, RANGER, F-150 OR SUPER DUTY ®

California—Auburn, specifically—we record- ed nearly 10 inches of rainfall over a three- day span, which put grass into full-germi-

We are proud to offer exclusive savings to Farm Bureau ® members and be the off icial truck of the Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers. We are proud to offer exclusive savings to Farm Bureau ® members and be the off icial truck of the Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers and Ranchers.

FORD SUPER DUTY ®

FORD F-150

FORD RANGER ®

FORD MAVERICK

FORD SUPER DUTY ®

FORD F-150

FORD RANGER ®

FORD MAVERICK

Computer-generated image with avai lable features shown.

*Farm Bureau Bonus Cash is exclusively for active Farm Bureau members who are residents of the United States. $500 Bonus Cash on the purchase or lease of an eligible new 2020/2021/2022 Ford Maverick, Ranger, F-150 or Super Duty. ® This incentive is not available on F-150 Lightning, F-150 Raptor, F-600, F-650 and F-750 Super Duty ® . This offer may not be used in conjunction with most other Ford Motor Company private incentives or AXZD-Plans. Some customer and purchase eligibility restrictions apply. Must be a Farm Bureau member for 30 consecutive days prior to purchase or lease and take new retail delivery from an authorized Ford Dealer’s stock by January 3, 2022. Visit FordFarmBureauAdvantage.com or see your authorized Ford Dealer for qualifications and complete details. Note to dealer: Claim in VINCENT using #37860. *Farm Bureau Bonus Cash is exclusively for active Farm Bureau members who are residents of the United States. $500 Bonus Cash on the purchase or lease of an eligible new 2020/2021/2022 Ford Maverick, Ranger, F-150 or Super Duty. ® This incentive is not available on F-150 Lightning, F-150 Raptor, F-600, F-650 and F-750 Super Duty ® . This offer may not be used in conjunction with most other Ford Motor Company private incentives or AXZD-Plans. Some customer and purchase eligibility restrictions apply. Must be a Farm Bureau member for 30 consecutive days prior to purchase or lease and take new retail delivery from an authorized Ford Dealer’s stock by January 3, 2022. Visit FordFarmBureauAdvantage.com or see your authorized Ford Dealer for qualifications and complete details. Note to dealer: Claim in VINCENT using #37860. Don’t miss out on this offer. Visit FordFarmBureauAdvantage.com today! Don’t miss out on this offer. Visit FordFarmBureauAdvantage.com today!

Official National Sponsor:

AUBURN AUBURN FORD 530-823-6591 www.auburnford.net CONCORD FUTURE FORD OF CONCORD 888-735-7302 www.futurefordofconcord.com CORNING CORNING FORD 530-824-5434 www.corningford.com

EUREKA HARPER MOTORS 707-443-7311 www.harpermotors.com GRIDLEY GRIDLEY COUNTRY FORD 530-846-4724 www.gridleyfordsite.com HEALDSBURG W.C. SANDERSON FORD 707-433-3318 www.wcsandersonford.com

MADERA MADERA FORD 559-674-6771 www.maderaford.com MORGAN HILL THE FORD STORE 833-548-4419 www.fordstoremorganhill.com PORTERVILLE PORTERVILLE FORD 559-784-6000 www.portervilleford.net "Priority Pricing on Ordered Vehicles"

REDDING CROWN FORD 530-241-4321 www.crownmotorsredding.com ROSEVILLE FUTURE FORD LINCOLN 866-415-4719 www.futureford.com SACRAMENTO DOWNTOWN FORD SALES 916-442-6931 www.dtfords.com

SACRAMENTO FUTURE FORD 888-327-4030 www.futurefordofsacramento.com SANTA ROSA HANSEL FORD 707-623-1426 www.hanselford.com STOCKTON BIG VALLEY FORD LINCOLN 209-870-4400 www.bigvalleyford.biz

2021-FD-FB-Q3-GenAd-7x4.6.indd 1

6/29/21 4:03 PM

2021-FD-FB-Q3-GenAd-7x4.6.indd 1

6/29/21 4:03 PM

TULARE WILL TIESIERA FORD, INC. 559-688-7471 www.willtiesieraford.com

November 3, 2021 Ag Alert 5

Study: pesticide residues higher in imported foods Levels of pesticide residue in the U.S. food supply generally complywith federal tolerances, according to findings fromthe U.S. Food andDrug Administration. seafoods, 97.5%of the40samplesanalyzed contained no pesticide residue, with 2.5% within tolerance. No samples contained violative residue.

Specifically, under the domestic fruits category, no residue was found in 12.6% of the 389 samples analyzed, while 87.2 % showed residue levels within the federal tolerance. One sample contained residue levels that violatedU.S. standards. For domestic vegetables, FDA foundno residue in41.9%of the506 samples; 55.9% waswithin tolerance; and11 samples con- tained violative residue.

found no violative residue. Of the imported fruit analyzed, no res- idue was detected in 43% of the 889 sam- ples,with48.6%withintolerance.Violative residuewas found in 75 samples, or 8.4%. Under imported vegetables, 44.7% of the 658 samples had detectable residue, 43.3%was within tolerance, and 12%had violative residue.

In food products consisting largely of nuts, seeds, oils, honeyandspices, no resi- duewas found in72.5%of the131samples. Another 25.2%was within tolerance, and three samples containedviolative residue. For imports, FDA found 71 samples of grain,or18.9%, containedviolativeresidue, withricecomprisingmostof theviolations. Inthesamecategory, 53.2%of the376sam- ples analyzedhadnodetectable residue. In the category for import fish, shellfish and seafood, 93.9% of the 132 samples had no detectable residue, with 5.3% within tolerance. One sample contained violative residue. FDA analyzed one egg sample and through the Specialty Crop Block Grant Programto support farmers growing spe- cialty crops, including fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and nursery crops. The funding, author i zed by the 2018 Farm Bill ($72.9 million) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 ($97 million), will provide noncompeti- tive grant funding to the departments of agriculture in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the fiveU.S. territories. The56grant recipients fundsub-awards forresearch,agriculturalextensionactivities andprograms to increasedemand for agri- cultural goods of value to farmers in their respective state or territory. Additionally, for stimulus funding, states were encour- aged to prioritize projects that respond to COVID-19 impacts. Thismay includeproj- ects to assist farmemployees and projects to fund farmers, foodbusinesses andother relevantentitiestorespondtorisksandsup- ply chaindisruptions. Some of the projects to be funded through the California Department of Food and Agriculture include education- al and training workshops for on-farm water and energy automation; farming practices in Sonoma County to mitigate impacts of Californiawildfires; workplace safety for postharvest treenut hulling and

In a report released last month, the FDA summarized results of its pesticide monitoring program for fiscal year 2019. It looked at domestic and imported foods for humans and animals. In total, FDAan- alyzed 4,692 samples, of which 4,327were foods forhumansand365wereforanimals. Of thehuman foodsamples, FDA found that 98.7% of domestic and 89.1% of im- ported foods were compliant with feder- al standards. No detectable residue was found in 42.4%of the domestic and 49.4% of the import samples. FDA collected 1,258 domestic human food samples from 45 states and Puerto Rico. It also analyzed 3,069 imported food samples from84 countries. “For many commodity groups, the vio- lation rate was higher for the import sam- ples,” FDA reported. Forexample, 18.9%of import grainsam- pleswereviolativecomparedto0.9%ofU.S. grainsamples, accordingtoFDA. Similarly, 8.4%of import fruit sampleswereviolative, while 0.3%of domestic fruit samples were violative. FDA found 12% of import vege- table samples were violative, compared to 2.2% for domestic samples. In other food products, theviolationratewas4.5%for im- port samplescomparedto2.3%for theU.S.

In the domestic grains category, no residue was detected in 58.6% of the 111 samples analyzed. Some 40.5%was with- in tolerance, and one sample contained violative residue. AnalysisofU.S.milk, dairyproducts and eggs found that 91.4% of the 81 samples contained no pesticide residue, with 8.6% In other import food products, 76.3% of the 198 samples had no residue detect- ed, and 19.2%was within tolerance. FDA found nine samples had violative residue. Of the 365 animal food samples FDA analyzed, 98.4%of domestic and 95.4%of imports were compliant. No pesticide res- idues were found in 40.9%of the domestic and43.7%of theimportedanimal foodsam- ples,accordingtothereport.FDAexamined 127domesticand238 import samples. USDA offers grants for specialty crops within tolerance. Nonewere violative. For domestic fish, shellfish and other

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will distribute more than $243 million in grants to support specialty crops, includ- ing fruits, vegetables, tree nuts and nurs- ery crops through two USDA programs: the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and the Specialty Crop Research Initiative grants program. USDA is investing $169.9 mi l l ion

processing; promoting pollinator-plant awareness, access and habitat expansion to benefit the state’s nurseries; and mar- ketingprograms for figs, prunes, peaches, pears andwines produced in the state. USDA also announced an investment of nearly $74 million to 21 award recipi- ents through its Specialty Crop Research Initiative grants program. USDA said re- search program investments address crit- ical challenges facing conventional and organic food and agricultural production systems across the specialty crop industry. Theprogram’spriority-focusareas include improving crop characteristics; managing threats frompests and diseases; improv- ingproductionefficiency, profitabilityand technological innovation; andmitigating food-safety hazards. AmongtheprojectsaretwoinCalifornia. A University of California, Berkeley, re- searcher is looking intopreventingpatho- gencontamination inwater in lettucepro- duction, and a UC Davis team is working onclimate sustainable lettuceproduction. ResearchersatUCRiversidewill assess the threat posed by thewoolly apple aphid. The grant program favors multistate, multi-institutional or trans-disciplinary projects and includesways to share results withproducers and the public.

2022 Hard RedWheat Grain Grain or Silage Silage CA’s #1 RedWheat Sold! Silage or Grain HardWhiteWheat Summit 515 Sienna Cal Rojo Octane GROWING SEASON

Varieties Bred in California tomeet the needs of California Forage and Grain Producers.

Patwin 515 Patwin 515 HP

Grain or Silage

DurumWheat Fortissimo Volante Desert KingHP Desert Gold Tiburon

Contact a dealer near you or 559.448.8800

-Reduce Toxins, pH, Scale, Corrosion, Iron Bacteria -Increase Life & GPM -24/7 Well Treatment -Nitrogen Management “The solution to your water problems.”

Barley Ishi UC 937

Our patented, computerized technology changes the molecular structure of water, soil, and tissue.

(559) 645-1462 www.waterchangers.com

6 Ag Alert November 3, 2021

C A L I F O R N I A

Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®

Mixed leaf lettuce grows in a sprawling Central Coast field formerly cultivated by Earthbound Farm. The company started with backyard berries, then built national demand for its organic salads.

Organic produce demand outgrows niche markets ByBob Johnson

in the U.S. and Canada, with large growers such as Driscoll’s, Tanimura & Antle, Taylor Farms, JV Smith andBraga Fresh. Twiceayear, at conferencesheldinMonterey, thegroupbrings togethermore than1,500 representatives fromthese firms andmany others. At its conference last month, delayed from July, Organic Produce Network officials detailed the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on produce sales. In short, the crisis caused supermarket produce sales, conventional and organic, to soar. The trendwas fueled by a collapse in restaurant business and a surge of people cooking at home. During the recovery, however, conventional produce sales in supermarkets have since declined. But organic produce sales have only continued to increase. “Organic fresh produce sales and volume in the second quarter of 2021 continued to showyear-over-year growthdespite the fact that the secondquarter of last yearwaswhen the COVIDpandemic shutteredmost food-service outlets, causing supermarket sales to soar,” saidMatt Seeley, co-founder andCEOof the network. “By contrast, conventionally grown fresh produce sales and volume declined.” In the secondquarter of 2021, he said, “conventional produce sawdollar salesdecrease by 3.3%and volume by 8.6%compared to the same period a year ago.” Meanwhile, decades of steady growthhave takenorganicproduce fromrural farmstands

Thirty-seven years ago, Drew and Myra Goodman moved out West fromNew York, leased21/2acres in theCarmel Valley, thenstill affordable, andstartedEarthboundFarm by restoring to organic production the heirloom raspberries in the backyard. Just short of three decades later, Earthbound Farm sold for $600million. By then, that backyardoperationhadgrown intoamajor firmthat shippedorganicproduce from50,000 acres of farmland. Its leafy green salads had become signature items in produce depart- ments atmainstreamsupermarkets across America. TheEarthboundstoryunderscores theconsistently robust growth that organicproduce has enjoyedsince theearlydays, when itwas availableonly at natural foodstores, farmers markets, community-supported agriculture programs and farmstands like the one the Goodmans once operated in the Carmel Valley. In the second quarter of 2021 alone, national organic fresh produce sales totaled $2.3 billion—a4%percent increaseover the sameperiod in2020. Third-quarter results, report- ed inOctober, also totaled $2.3 billion—up 3.4% from2020. That’s according to thequarterly report of retail sales by theOrganic ProduceNetwork. Thenetworkwas createda littleover four yearsago, inspiredby theexponential expansion of organic farming production and increasing produce demand. These days, the Organic Produce Network connects retailers such as Albertsons, Walmart, Costco, Amazon andWhole Foods and nationwide networks of independents

See ORGANIC, Page 8

November 3, 2021 Ag Alert 7

Organic Continued from Page 7

than 13,000 acres producing more than $125 million of vegetables and fruits at farm gate prices. The boomwas just beginning as Salinas Valleyorganicacreagemorethandoubledin thenextdecade. Itdoubledagaininthenext five years and then saw its largest increase ever—toalmost 90,000acres—in2019. By then the county’s growers— includ- ing Taylor Farms, Driscoll’s, Tanimura & Antle, Braga Fresh and JV Smith—were selling well over a half-billion dollars in organic leaf lettuces, saladmixes, spinach, broccoli, strawberries and raspberries. Driscoll’s, which serves around two- thirds of the organic berry market in the country, according to company es- timates, has driven the meteoric rise of organic berries. The Earthbound Farm business that started with the Goodmans’ backyard raspberries was traded among major agricultural corporations in recent years until it was ultimately acquired in 2019 by Salinas-based Taylor Farms. The major vegetable company operates 13 plants in the U.S. andMexico. ( Bo b J o hn s o n i s a r e p o r t e r i n Monterey . He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)

andnichenatural foodstores toamulti-bil- lion-dollar category—nowwithprominent display inmajor supermarkets. Sales con- tinue togrow. Through much of the pandemic, the organic categorywas led by packaged sal- ads, whichareharvested soyoung theydo not need the jolt of nitrogen that can only come fromsynthetic fertilizer. These convenient blends of spring mix, baby lettuces, spinach, arugula, kale and other greens fetchedmore than $380 million at retail in the second quarter of 2021, according to the Organic Produce Performance Report released by Organic ProduceNetwork andCategory Partners. But this year, berries replacedpackaged salads at the top of organic produce cate- gories, as salesof strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries grewby 20% in a year to reach $435million at retail. “It’s apparent that consumer super- market food purchases now increasingly reflect themore traditional buying trends versusCOVID-inspiredpurchasingchang- es,” said Steve Lutz, senior vice president of insights and innovation at Category Partners, which collects and analyzes sales data inpartnershipwith theOrganic

A celery field is harvested at Lakeside Organic Gardens near Watsonville. Once inefficient, the organic produce supply chain now reaches major supermarkets across the U.S. as demand soars.

Produce Network. “It is also encouraging that even though consumer purchases of conventional produce were lower than second quarter in 2020, organic produce continued to generate growth.” In the early days of the rise of organic produce, most of the price difference be- tween organic and conventional came after harvest because the supply chain was still inconsistent and inefficient, said University of California Cooperative

Extens ion agr icul tural economi st Desmond Jolly. Those price differences have nar- rowed, and sales have increased as ma- jor producer-shippers, many based in the Salinas Valley, have taken to organic growing and corporate retailers have de- veloped an organic category as a super- market staple. By 2003 , organi c produc t ion in Monterey County had grown to more

Farm Bureau publications, Bountiful TV win awards

Ag Alert ® has won a top prize as “Best Newspaper” inanannual competition for agricultural publications sponsored by the American FarmBureau Federation. The California Farm Bureau, which publishes Ag Alert, also received first- placehonors in twoadditional categories, with CaliforniaBountiful ®magazinebeing cited as Best Magazine and a California Bountiful ® TV segment winning the Best Video Feature Story category. Ag Alert’s award came in recogni- tion of its coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through dozens of stories publ ished during 2020, the weekly newspaper highlighted the impacts of the pandemic on the state’s diverse ag- ricultural production and Farm Bureau advocacy to help farmers and ranchers weather the impacts. The contest judge noted that Ag Alert, which is distributed to agricultural mem- bers of county FarmBureaus inCalifornia, is“extremelyeffectiveatengagingmembers, offering the reader a cornucopia of infor- mationonawide range of topics that likely relate to their farmingor ranchoperation.” Ag Alert won in a category for Farm Bureauswithmemberships under 80,000. The AFBF awards contest was not held in 2020 due to impacts of the pandemic. This year’s contest featured 198 submis- sions from state FarmBureaus across the nation for work produced in 2019 and 2020, with separate awards in each cate- gory forworkprimarily related to thepan-

demic and for projects focused on other subjects. Awardswerepresented lastweek during a virtual ceremony. California Bountiful TV’s recognition also came in a category for COVID cover- age, providing a comprehensive look at how farmers and food-service operators worked together to support their employ- eesandkeeptheircommunitiesnourished during the crisis. “The multiple voices helped to tell this story,” the judge said. California Bountiful TV airs statewide and also nationally. CaliforniaBountifulmagazinewas rec- ognized for doing a “great job telling the story of California farming and ranching to those of us who gratefully consume all that you produce.” The bimonthly publi- cation is distributed by subscription and to FarmBureau associate members. AFBF President ZippyDuvall said state Farm Bureau communications teams producing their publications “are vital to advancing the Farm Bureau’s policies and priorities, both nationally and at the state level. They also play a key role in satisfying customers’ hunger for infor- mationabout howAmerica’s farmers and ranchers produce their food while pro- tecting our water, air and soil.” In addition to California, awards were presented to Farm Bureau communi- cators in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah andWisconsin.

M ORE CHOICES. M ORE SAVINGS. D uring this year’s Value Bonanza sales event, take advantage of 0 .9% FINANCING for 72 MONTHS* o n select New Holland compact tractors—including Boomer™ and WORKMASTER™ Series. Get more c hores done with New Holland and save duringValue Bonanza! Offers end D ecember 31, 2021, so stop b y today or visit nhoffers.com. M ORE CHOICES. M ORE SAVINGS. D uring this year’s Value B nanz sales vent, take advant ge of 0 .9% FINANCING for 7 MONTHS* o n select New Holland compact tractors—including Boomer™ and WORKMASTER™ Series. Get more c hores done with New Holland and save duringValue Bonanza! Offers end D ecember 31, 2021, so stop b y today or visit nhoffers.com.

FAIRFIELD GARTON TRACTOR INC. 707-425-9545 www.gartontractor.com MODESTO GARTON TRACTOR INC. 209-538-0911 www.gartontractor.com NEWMAN GARTON TRACTOR INC. 209-862-3760 www.gartontractor.com

H elle Farm Equipment, Inc. 1 4155 Route 136, Dyersville, IA 52040 h ttps://www.hellefarmequipment.com 5 55-555-5555 H elle Farm Equipment, Inc. 1 4155 Route 136, Dyersville, IA 2040 h ttps://www.hellefarmequipment.com 5 55-555-5555 SANTA ROSA GARTON TRACTOR INC. 707-586-1790 www.gartontractor.com STOCKTON GARTON TRACTOR INC. 209-948-5401 ww .gartontractor.co TULARE GARTON TRACTOR INC. 559-686-0054 www.gartontractor.com

TURLOCK GARTON TRACTOR INC. 209-632-3931 www.gartontractor.com UKIAH GARTON TRACTOR INC. 707-468-5880 www.gartontractor.com WOODLAND GARTON TRACTOR INC. 530-615-2828 www.gartontractor.com

* For commercial use only. Customer participation subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. See your participating New Holland dealer for details and eligibility r equirements. Down payment may be required. Offer good through December 31, 2021. Not all customers or applicants may qualify for this rate or term. CNH Industrial Capital America LLC standard t erms and conditions will apply. Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice. © 2021 CNH Industrial America LLC. All rights reserved. CNH Industrial Capital and New Holland are trademarks r egistered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates. * For commercial use only. Customer participation subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. See your participating New Holland dealer for details and eligibility r equirements. Down payment may be required. Offer good through December 31, 2021. Not all customers or applicants may qualify for this rate or term. CNH Industrial Capital America LLC standard t erms and conditions will apply. Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice. © 2021 CNH Industrial America LLC. All rights reserved. CNH Industrial Capital and New Holland are trademarks r egistered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates.

8 Ag Alert November 3, 2021

Cold injury harms grapes, but recent rains may help

ByDennis Pollock As fall drifted into winter in 2020, a se- ries of unfortunate events set upadelayed punch in the gut for grape farmers in the San JoaquinValley. Byspringof 2021,UniversityofCalifornia viticulture advisors found their ears burn- ingwithcalls fromvalleygrowers frustrated by the sputtering growthof their vines. Matthew Fidelibus, a UC Cooperative Extension specialist in viticulture, ex- plained that theculpritwasaperfect storm — combined with the lack of storms—in the autumn of 2020. Factors that played into theearly-spring problems in 2021 included excessive late-season growth in 2020, enabled by warm fall temperatures. That recipe is ripe for winter cold inju- ry, a crop impact that ismost severewhen freezing temperatures are preceded by warmdays. Fidelibus, with UC Davis and the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, recently advisedmem- bersof theSanJoaquinValleyWinegrowers Association on steps to avoid having a re- peat of this year’s delayed spring growth. Days after his talk, anatmospheric river coursed throughNorthern California and

the upper Central Valley. The long-over- due showers set a single-day rain record of 5.44 inches in Sacramento on Oct. 24, following 212 days without a drop. “That ’s def initely going to help,” Fidelibus said. The rain that fell on the much of the valley floor was a consider- able improvement over last fall, when no rainwas recorded for October. Fidelibus said, “It’s welcome and good to have soil moisture going into dorman- cy.” But he remained cautious. He said growers should track future rainfall and “ina fewweeks get out anauger andcheck soil moisture then.” California’sdamaging scenario last year came when warmer-than-normal tem- peratures in October were followed by a freeze inearlyNovember. Youngvines and vines thatwerecane-prunedwereparticu- larly prone to this type of cold injury. Fidelibus said the issue was more no- ticeableonyoungvines andcertainvariet- ies and rootstocks, with cane pruning and with overcropping. When meeting with the San Joaquin Valley wine growers, he showed a pho- tograph of a young, cane-pruned vine of Freedomrootstock thathadavirtuallybare cane for a stretch. The same was true of a Sunpreme vine on Freedomrootstock.

Delayed spring 2021 growth is seen in the long open cane on a Sunpreme vine on Freedom root- stock. Behind that vine, a Sunpreme vine on its own rootstock is flourishing with abundant foliage.

But Fidelibus said that vine, which is a prized dried-on-the-vine variety, was less likely to face problems if raised on its own rootstock. “The rainy season has been starting lat- er, and lately we’ve been having fewer big storms,” Fidelibus said. “California’s rainy season is startingnearlyamonth later than it did 80 years ago.” In 2020, he said, October rainfall was zero.Averagefor thatmonthis0.67inch.For November, itwas0.24 inch, comparedtoan average of 1.42. For December, it was 0.63, compared to an average of 2.05. Fidelibus saidgrowers should take stockof soilmois-

ture in late fall and early winter and see if winter irrigation is necessary. He said vari- etiesof grapes susceptible todelayedspring growth include Thompson seedless, crim- son seedless, Redglobe, SelmaPete, Fiesta, Sunpreme, chardonnay,merlot, grenache, cabernet sauvignonandsauvignonblanc. Freedom and Harmony are especially susceptible rootstocks. Fidelibus explained that normal growth fromdormant buds requires rehydration and “vascularization.” He said dormant buds are dehydrated and have relatively weak vascular connections with the vine.

See GRAPES, Page 11

JOIN US!

Farm Bureau Extension's offerings continue with a CE series of classes held virtually. Join us on four dates this summer and fall for relevant content that meets your CE requirements for pesticide licensing. Subject matter experts will share information immediately applicable to your business operations and advance your professional development. CE Certificates will be sent for each webinar attended after successful completion of a simple quiz on the material. This CE Series consists of FOUR classes held at 6-week intervals. Class dates and topics are:  July 15: ........................................................ Respiratory Compliance  August 26: .................................................. Common Violations  October 7: .................................................. Pesticide Training Requirements  November 18: ........................................... Updates: PPE and Closed Systems 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PST Presented via Zoom REGISTER ONCE FOR ALL FOUR CLASSES Cost for the Series:  Members: Free  Non-Members: $200* *Join Farm Bureau as an Agriculture member and enjoy this series for FREE!

CE Series