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.
Table olives Duties to continue on Spanish imports
Special issue Farmers share success stories, help others
Page 3
More stories inside
www.cfbf.com • www.agalert.com FEBRUARY 15, 2023
Field Crops ® Vegetables ®
special reports
By Ching Lee With their pastures starting to grow and new government assistance pro- Organic dairy woes show system ‘vulnerabilities’
grams being rolled out, California or- ganic dairy farmers are beginning to see
a glimmer of relief. Skyrocketing production costs, espe- cially for organic feed, have pummeled organic dairies during the past two years, forcing some to sell their cows and leave the business. Their plight got the attention of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which last month offered up to $100 million in financial aid through the new- ly created Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program. Perhaps more importantly, their economic hardships spotlighted some of the unique challenges that organic dairies face and gave way to “a political willingness” to help them, said Laetitia Benador, senior policy research spe- cialist for Santa Cruz-based California Certified Organic Farmers. “What these crises do is they really reveal the vulnerabilities in the system,” she said. USDA’s assistance program, the funds of which are expected to be released in late spring or early summer, is intended to target small to medium-sized organ- ic dairies. Administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency, payments go up to $40,000 and are capped at the first 5 mil- lion pounds of milk production. USDA said the amount is meant to cover up to 75% of a farm’s projected marketing costs in 2023. Even before their current problems, organic dairy farmers have been strug- gling with thin margins for several years, Benador said. The state’s multi- year drought brought greater financial challenges as the availability of organic feed dwindled, with grain and hay costs See DAIRY, Page 14
Visitors gather at the Colusa Farm Show, held in a region where drought severely impacted rice production and other crops. Farmers turned out to check out agricultural equipment and technology and gather knowledge to help boost farming outcomes in future crop years.
Hard-hit Colusa celebrates its ag heritage
By Caleb Hampton Colusa’s agricultural community came together last week to host the 58th annu- al Colusa Farm Show. Farmers and agri- cultural suppliers from around the world attended the trade show, which featured more than 300 exhibitors. The Feb. 7-9 event came after a year of historic challenges for Colusa County farm- ers. The county’s two biggest commodities
are rice and almonds, both of which faced major setbacks in 2022 due to drought and other factors. “It is a crazy time to be in agriculture,” California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson said in a keynote speech at the farm show’s annual breakfast event. “Times are tough.” Colusa County and the wider Sacramento River Valley account for
about 24% of U.S. rice production, includ- ing virtually all rice used to make sushi in this country. Last year, more than half of California’s rice fields were fallowed because of drought. In Colusa County and other areas west of the Sacramento River, which rely on water from Shasta Lake, an even greater share of rice fields was left unplanted.
See COLUSA, Page 19
n e w s p a p e r
Comment ......................................2 Field Crops ..............................7-8 Vegetables........................... 11-12 Classifieds........................... 17-19 Inside
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Despite deficit, state must invest to protect farming
By Christopher Reardon As California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom embark on their annual
need protections from both extremes. Since 2021, Newsom and lawmakers have committed to spend nearly $8.7 bil- lion on issues directly related to drought and flood control. Newsom’s budget pro- posal would cut that amount by $194 mil- lion. A separate budget cut would strip away $40 million in funding intended for flood-plain projects. Those projects would allow for rivers to flood in strate- gic places during winter storms or Sierra snowmelt, therefore reducing risks for downstream populations while also pro- viding for beneficial ecosystems. The good news is that Newsom admin- istration officials now acknowledge that recent storms and flooding impacts have elevated policymakers’ understanding of the importance of flood investments. The hope here is that the governor and Legislature will reconsider and invest in and fast track groundwater recharge ef- forts, maximize stormwater capture, sup- port reservoir repair and expansion and modernize water conveyance systems. There are other considerations that need to be reviewed as we look at this year’s budget, starting with food security and ensuring healthy choices at afford- able prices for all Californians. Food pric- es spiked by nearly 10% last year amid the highest inflationary surge in 40 years. Yet California farmers continued to fallow large swaths of prime agricultural lands due to water shortages as California failed to deliver on needed infrastructure to manage its most precious resource. How do you explain that to rural farming communities facing uncertain futures with double-digit unemployment rates? In short, we must ensure that we can move water to support the people work- ing to grow the food we all consume. Additionally, we need to ensure tools
budget dance, the state finds itself facing a projected $22.5 billion defi- cit. State budget watchers suggest the deficit will continue to climb before the annual budget revision process in May. Only a year ago,
Dust blows over an idled field in the Klamath Basin in 2022. Prime agricultural lands were fallowed statewide as California cut water deliveries, failed to deliver on infrastructure and explored new policies
that could harm farm production.
Christopher Reardon
California boasted a budget surplus of $100 billion. The Newsom administration had pots of money to distribute, with no worries about making painful budget cuts that could now affect a wide variety of ser- vices. Recently, the California Legislative Analyst Office reported, “The current eco- nomic environment poses a substantial risk to state revenues.” It remains to be seen what things will look like as the budget process winds through the Legislature, but you can be sure there will be program cuts and proj- ects put on hold—particularly if the defi- cit keeps growing. And yet, amid times of extreme competition for state resources, California must seriously consider new in- vestments in infrastructure—starting with a 21st century water system constructed for the changing nature of our climate. Historically, California has acted to pro- tect its future, even during times of budget stress. But after three years of devastating drought, followed by a sudden deluge of storms, California can’t afford to hide and wait. We’re told that future weather pat- terns will most likely careen between at- mospheric rivers and long, dry conditions. Our cities and critical agriculture sector
Photo/Rob Wilson/University of California Intermountain Research and Extension Center
for pest management continue to be safe, affordable and accessible to farmers. The Department of Pesticide Regulation has been engaging in discussions on increas- ing the mill assessment, a fee on the sale of all registered pesticides, without ade- quately explaining the need for includ- ing such an increase in the state budget. This seems to reflect a view that some- how California’s pesticide regulatory program doesn’t work. In fact, our state has the most comprehensive pesticide regulations in the world, including rigor- ous oversight by state and local agencies. Finally, it seems that the economic im- pact of agriculture in this state is too often taken for granted. Our farmers and ranch- ers and agricultural businesses produced more than $55 billion in revenue in 2020. California agriculture employs more than 400,000 people and grows more than 400 commodity crops, producing more than one-third of U.S vegetables and two- thirds of America’s fruits and nuts. We are also the nation’s top dairy and wine
producer, while exporting $22 billion in agricultural products around the world. So, as you may imagine, agriculture has a lot at stake in the state budget process. California Farm Bureau’s government affairs team will be actively participating in discussions in Assembly and Senate budget subcommittees, in the May bud- get revise and subsequent budget confer- ence committee sessions later this spring. California has a long history of making historic investments during times of eco- nomic uncertainty, ever mindful of safe- guarding our communities—urban and rural—for the years ahead. In this year’s challenging budget process, we must con- tinue working to build needed infrastruc- ture to protect our water resources so our farmers may grow the food and fiber to meet the demands of the future. (Christopher Reardon is director of governmental affairs for the California Farm Bureau. He may be contacted at creardon@cfbf.com.)
VOL. 50, NO. 7
February 15, 2023
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2 Ag Alert February 15, 2023
U.S. keeps tariffs on Spanish ripe olives after WTO ruling
imposition of the levies in 2018, Spanish olive exports to the U.S. have dropped by nearly 60%, according to the EU. Prior to the duties, Spain exported nearly 67 mil- lion euros worth of olives to the U.S, or about $72 million. Even with the prior tariffs, Glenn County grower Michael Silveira pointed out that Spain’s olive industry had continued to benefit from EU subsidies and “is still dumping its ripe olives in the U.S. market.” “If it weren’t for the U.S. government’s ongoing antidumping and countervailing duty orders on Spanish olives, American
table olive production and hundreds of family farmers and allied American jobs would be in serious jeopardy,” said Silveira, who serves as chairman of the Olive Growers Council. Carranza said she does not expect the new U.S. levies will eliminate Spanish ol- ives coming into the U.S. completely, “but it is helping mitigate the issue that existed before the duties and tariffs were in place.” The “real win,” she said, is that no com- modity group, until now, has been able
By Ching Lee The U.S. will continue to impose coun- tervailing duties on imports of Spanish ripe olives after it lowered rates of the tariffs to satisfy findings by a World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel. California table olive growers have ap- plauded the move. For years, they have contended that Spain’s highly subsidized olives are sold into the U.S. at artificially low prices, flooding the U.S. market and undercutting domestic producers. The U.S. International Trade Commission agreed with them, and in 2018, the Commerce Department began imposing antidumping and countervailing duties as high as 20% and 27%, respective- ly, on imports of Spanish ripe olives. The European Union challenged the measures by taking the case to the WTO. In its November 2021 ruling, the WTO dispute panel sided with the U.S. on some points and the EU on others. Though the panel found some of the U.S. measures to be “inconsistent” with certain provisions of WTO regulations, it allowed the U.S. to maintain some countervailing duties on Spanish olives. The panel recommend- ed the U.S. bring its measures in line with WTO tariff and trade rules. The Commerce Department made changes last month by scaling back rates of the countervailing tariffs on Spanish ol- ives. The new implementation “fully ad- dresses and resolves all WTO concerns,” the Olive Growers Council of California said in a statement. “We’re really happy to see the (U.S. Trade Representative) and the govern- ment decided to continue to uphold Sales receipts for farm exports in 2022 set a record U.S. farm and food products post- ed record export sales totals in 2022, according to trade data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. International sales totaled $196 billion. That is an increase of 11%, or $19.5 billion, from the previous record set in 2021. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the export earnings Feb. 10. “We’re knocking down trade barri- ers that hamper U.S. producers’ access to key markets,” he said in a statement. “And we’re continuing to invest in export market development programs, partner- ing with industry to bring high-quality, cost-competitive U.S. products to con- sumers around the world.” Sales value increased in all the United States’ top 10 agricultural export mar- kets: China, Mexico, Canada, Japan, the European Union, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Colombia and Vietnam. Sales to seven markets set new records, with the only exceptions being Japan, the European Union and Vietnam.
these safeguards, which have made a huge impact for the table olive industry in California especially,” said Elizabeth Carranza, the council’s director of trade and technical affairs. Spain, the world’s top olive produc- er, maintains that the U.S. measures are unjustified and has called on the Biden administration to remove them. Since
See OLIVES, Page 9
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February 15, 2023 Ag Alert 3
From The Fields ®
From the Fields is a firsthand report featuring insights from farmers and ranchers across the Golden State, including members of the California Farm Bureau. If you would like to be a contributor to From the Fields, submit your name, county of membership and contact information to agalert@cfbf.com.
Ag Alert file photo
Photo/Christine Souza
Joe Valente San Joaquin County winegrape and tree crop farmer
Peter Johnson Mendocino County winegrape and pear grower
We had a lot of rain, and we are above average in terms of water supply. On the almond side, we are waiting for bloom. Honeybee colonies have been in position for a couple of weeks. The almond trees are at popcorn stage, but if the weather stays warm, we expect bloom to arrive very soon. Regarding potential removal of almond trees, I haven’t seen that happening as much in San Joaquin County. We still have a pretty stable water supply, so water availability does not affect us as much as it does for farmers further south. Typically, the trees or vines that get pulled out are those with marginal returns due to low yields. We’re not sure what the almond crop size is going to be. Last year, there was some frost that hit in the springtime. A lot of things can happen to affect your crop. It is hard to predict. On the grape side of things, as far as pruning, it seems like everything is moving pretty well. Applying our herbicide sprays got delayed due to the rain and the wet weather. We were waiting for the soil to dry out, so we just got started with that. There are some vineyards that are still wet, and some of them are OK to start our herbicide sprays. We have enough people, and we haven’t been short of employees yet. We expect to finish pruning in a few weeks. The grape market has become stagnate. Everything seems to cost so much more, so we’re trying to look at ways to cut costs. You can’t cut too much be- cause you have to still farm. The commodity prices are not the greatest, so many farmers are trying to figure out how to make it work.
Most ranches are trying to finish up with some pruning, and we are re- pairing equipment and getting ready for spring. We are also doing some frost protection. Labor has not been a problem in the last few months, but it always is some- thing that has to be addressed. There has been less and less skilled labor over the last few years. It is more difficult now with the added cost of overtime hours. This is a big change for a lot of ranches, which are trying to figure out how they are going to manage paying overtime or not paying overtime. That is something relatively new that I think everybody in the state is dealing with, and we are no exception. The pear market was good this last year, so hopefully that will continue. The winegrape market is a little more of a question. Farmers in our area are happy that we’re getting the rainfall that we have and are feeling confident about having good water supplies going into this season. It has been a great relief compared to the last couple of years, so I think we’re all feeling like it’s going to be a normal water year. We’re having continued changes with California water regulations, specifi- cally with groundwater protection agencies, so that is new for our area. There are still questions about how these regulations are going to be implemented in the future. At least water districts have some water to work with this year, so growers are happy about that.
Jim Morris Siskiyou County farmer and rancher
We finally have a year with rain. From a rancher’s perspective, at this point it feels like the cloud of drought has lifted. In the hills, we’re starting to see things green up. But in Siskiyou County, we’re not greening up quite yet. It’s still freezing at night, but we know that feed is on the way. Snow surveys have shown the snow and snow-water content in our valley are good. In most places it’s at 150% of average, with a few places that are just below average. I have friends and neighbors who over the last couple years have sold livestock. Some of them are multigenerational ranching families, and they have no cows. It’s been devastating over the last few years, but this year it feels like there’s a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. Because we are still living under the state water board’s emergency drought curtailment order, we need to have water-conservation crops. We were asked to cut 30% of our water use compared to our usage in 2020 or 2021. If we do that and write a plan, the state will al- low us to irrigate. Even though it’s a wet year, we still have to cut 30%. Last year and this year, the farmers grew water-conservation crops, which can be grain cut for hay. I’m experimenting. I put in some Kentucky bluegrass that I will harvest for seed. I’ll stop irrigating that in early July. Surface water and irrigated pastures may be curtailed very early on depending on the flow in the river. No matter how good of a snowpack or water year we have, until the governor rescinds his drought declaration, the state water board still can curtail us anytime. When our river is running at the magnitude over what they expect the flow to be, they will allow us to do a little livestock watering or groundwater recharge.
Photo/Kathy Coatney
4 Ag Alert February 15, 2023
Chris Lange Fresno andTulare counties citrus fruit grower and cattle producer
The rain has slowed the harvest for this season, which is a drawback, but we want the rain. With these beautiful, sunny days that we’re having, we’re catching up on our harvest. We’re harvesting navel oranges, Minneola tangelos, mandarins, lemons and limes. We have crews working in Fresno and Tulare counties. The fruit quality has held up real well. We would like to see prices go up. The one that’s lagging is lemon prices. Lemons had their heyday a few years back, and it seems every year there’s more imported fruit. For one reason or another, the demand and the prices are just weak. That’s something we hope will change in the near future. We also raise Black Angus. We have our annual winter gathering, branding, inoc- ulation and processing coming up. It takes a village to pull this off. We have cowboy volunteers and people from the community. It’s a full weekend of lots of fun with the intent of getting the cattle processed without injury to the cattle, horses, cowboys and spectators. We would normally do this a month earlier, but with all the rain, the growth of the grass and how slippery and muddy the conditions have been, we were forced to postpone it so that it would be a safer venue for everybody. The cattle look great. The calves have already been born for this year. They will get their baby calf brands and ear tags and be inoculated, and then we’ll do the mother cows and the bulls. We’ll do our shipping in June. We have close to a thousand acres of pasture, and we raise hay. The winter forage hay is looking terrific. We don’t anticipate any feed problems. Because we have the abundance this year, we’ll probably keep more replacement heifers than we had the last few years because of the drought. I anticipate the herd will grow by about 10%.
Photo/Richard Green
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February 15, 2023 Ag Alert 5
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Field Crops A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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Researchers say this rice weed, smallflower umbrella sedge, is among a rising number of species that are developing resistance to registered herbicides. That presents new challenges for rice producers.
Stubborn weeds challenge rice researchers, growers By Vicky Boyd
most common grassy weed in California rice—were also resistant to five different modes of action. “We don’t have many herbicide options, and half belong to one mode of action,” Al- Khatib said. “And we can’t use drill-seeded rice, so it’s a serious problem with the herbi- cide-resistance situation.” Resistance develops when herbicides that have the same mode of action—or that target the same biological processes within plants—are applied repeatedly. Initially, a small por- tion of the population survives the herbicide because of diverse genetic makeup. Those survivors pass along the resistant gene to the next generation. Repeated applications of the same mode of action select for less-susceptible individuals, and the more tolerant population eventually takes over. J.R. Gallagher, a PCA with Butte County Rice Growers Association in Richvale, said he has used the free seed testing service extensively over the years and found it invaluable. For example, one of his growers had horrible watergrass problems in 2020 and 2021 after using a herbicide program that relied heavily on the ALS mode of action. “I pulled the seed sample at harvest in 2021 because I wanted to be proactive and not reactive with this watergrass,” Gallagher said. “I knew something was going on with it.”
University of California Cooperative Extension rice specialist Kassim Al-Khatib doesn’t liken himself to British statesman Francis Bacon or Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. But when it comes to battling stubborn weeds in rice, he embraces a platitude both were credited with making famous: “Knowledge is power.” Al-Khatib said he hopes to empower rice producers with updated information to help them get the upper hand in controlling some of the most resistant weed types. He is de- veloping a knowledge base by testing weed seed samples submitted by rice growers and pest control advisors, or PCAs, for herbicide resistance. “The message is if you have resistant or susceptible species in your field, we test them for you and give you results so you can make decisions and aren’t just shooting in the dark,” Al-Khatib said at a recent UCCE winter rice grower meeting in Woodland. In a worriesome trend for growers, a rising number of rice weed species are becoming increasingly resistant to registered herbicides. In some cases, weeds tolerate not just one mode of action but multiple ones. For example, 64% of the samples of smallflower umbrella sedge, an aquatic grass-like plant, were resistant to two herbicide modes of action and 0.5% were resistant to four. In the worst cases, 3% of samples of late watergrass, a grassy rice weed, were resistant to five different herbicide modes of action. And 1% of samples of barnyardgrass—the
See WEEDS, Page 8
February 15, 2023 Ag Alert 7
Weeds Continued from Page 7
The sample came back as over 95% re- sistant to ALS products. Gallagher changed to a herbicide program that used differ- ent effective modes of action, including a product applied into the water and an earlier application of propanil herbicide better timed to the most susceptible grass growth stage. He followed up with a differ- ent herbicide in areas for broadleaf weeds and any remaining grass escapes, resulting in excellent weed control. In addition to choosing the right her- bicide, Gallagher said other key factors to increase weed control effectiveness are applying the product at the right rate and at the right timing—even if that means the use of a ground rig or an extra spray. In existence since 2015, the weed seed testing program is funded by the California Rice Research Board. Growers and PCAs who collect seeds from weeds they suspect of being herbicide resistant may drop off samples at the Rice Experiment Station in Biggs in August and September. They may also drop them off at their local UCCE farm advisor’s office. The number of samples tested annu- ally varies from year to year. In 2021, for example, the program tested 36 samples, Al-Khatib said. In 2022, 80 samples were tested. At its peak in 2017, the program tested more than 180 samples. Each year, he said, a small number of
University of California Cooperative Extension specialist Kassim Al-Khatib, above, is testing rice weeds, such as the three varieties shown on the right, for resistance to herbicides.
samples go untested because the seeds may have been damaged or are immature and won’t germinate. Among the weed seeds submitted for testing have been barnyardgrass, early and late watergrass, smallflower umbrel- la sedge, sprangletop, ricefield bulrush and redstem. Al-Khatib plants the seeds in pots filled with field soil in a greenhouse. Depending on the species, he may expose them to win- ter-like temperatures to break dormancy and put them in germination mode.
Based on the weed species and herbicide label instructions, he makes either pre- or post-emergent treatments. In addition, he applies the herbicides at both a single and double rate. At the same time, he treats a susceptible biotype of the weed species and leaves a weed sample untreated. After three weeks, Al-Khatib visually rates each treatment for weed survival, comparing it to the susceptible and un- treated plants and recording the results. He sends each person who submitted a sample a report card that shows which herbicides labeled for the weeds worked and which ones didn’t. It also breaks down control, showing the percentage of weed samples that were susceptible and the per- centage that survived treatment. In addition, the report card includes a photo of the individual sample and how it responded to treatments compared to the untreated one. Gallagher said having photos helps him better explain the situ- ation to growers. “You can tell them a percentage or a number, but some of these growers really
need the photos,” he said. Al-Khatib said he tries to complete testing and report cards by March so rice growers and PCAs have time to develop their herbicide programs before the up- coming season. The bulk of Sacramento Valley rice is planted between mid-April and mid-May. Based on submitted samples, Al-Khatib said watergrass species, smallflower um- brella sedge and sprangletop appear to be the most problematic weeds as far as herbicide resistance. Among the registered herbicides, ALS- and PSII-inhibitors have the highest incidence of resistance, ac- cording to the test results. Al-Khatib said that is likely due to their popularity and widespread use. For more information on weed seed testing, including instructions on how to submit samples, visit UC’s rice website at https://rice.ucanr.edu/Resistant_Weed_ Seed_Testing/. (Vicky Boyd is a reporter in Modesto. She may be contacted at vlboyd@att.net.)
The Produce Safety Rule is Here; ARE YOU READY?
Farm Employers Labor Service (FELS), an a liated company of the California Farm Bureau (CAFB), has partnered with the Safe Food Alliance through a California Department of Food and Agriculture grant contract. What sets Safe Food Alliance, FELS, and Farm Bureau apart is their total of over 100 years of experience and our dedication to providing technical guidance and leadership to the California agriculture community. Most farms are required to have at least one designated supervisor who has been trained in accordance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety rule. Upon completion of the course, attendees will receive an o cial certi cate from the Association of Food & Drug O cials.
Ag Legacy Symposium will offer tips on farm succession
Farm management specialists, estate planning lawyers, financial advisors, and farmers and ranchers will come together Feb. 25 for a day-long seminar on the com- plexities of farm and business succcession. The Ag Legacy Symposium at California State University, Chico, is intended to ed- ucate farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses on the process of transferring property or business assets from one gen- eration to the next. Sessions cover topics from finances to family dynamics. “The event features a very high cal- iber of speakers that will share critical knowledge to help your family survive generational transfer and will share les- sons learned,” said symposium co-host Tracy Schohr, a University of California Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resource advisor. Speakers include: farm management
and succession planning specialists Jeffrey Tranel of Colorado State University Extension and John Hewett of University of Wyoming Extension; financial advi- sor Tommy Irvine; and Mindi Reid and Amanda Predrett, attorneys specializing in estate planning and agriculture. In addition, Alameda County ranch- er Tim Koopmann will discuss his story of preserving the family ranching lega- cy and navigating the succession pro- cess. Diversified Butte County farmer Ryan Schohr will talk about unexpected challenges that can occur from a lack of estate planning. The event begins at 9 a.m. at The University Farm at Chico State. To purchase tickets, visit https://surveys.ucanr.edu/ survey.cfm?surveynumber=39843. For more information, contact Tracy Schohr at tkschohr@ucdavis.edu or 916-716-2643.
The Food Safety Training Partnership is offering these training courses throughout California. You can find more information and register at
foodsafetytrainingpartnership.com, or call 916-561-5672. Supported by California Department of Food and Agriculture
8 Ag Alert February 15, 2023
Olives Continued from Page 3
it would be worth it to pursue a future in the table olive industry.” She noted some growers have tran- sitioned their orchards to high-densi- ty plantings that allow for mechanical harvesting, which the industry has been pushing during the past few years as pro- duction costs continue to soar. But it will take several years for the new trees to begin producing fruit, she added. “Like any commodity, it’s not something
that’s going to happen overnight,” Carranza said. Meanwhile, growers continue to fund research on ways to harvest traditional olive orchards mechanically, such as through pruning techniques and differ- ent equipment. So far, there hasn’t been “an end-all-be-all solution for that,” Carranza noted. (Ching Lee is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at clee@cfbf.com.)
harvested by hand and who face “signifi- cant” labor costs. Bearing acreage for table olives in the state continues to decline, with 2022 acreage at 12,000, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s a loss of 800 bearing acres since 2021. Acreage stood at 25,000 about 10 years ago and 40,000 in the 1980s. Carranza said the U.S. trade actions have given California growers “hope that
to “effectively pierce the European veil” that has shielded EU farm subsidies from external scrutiny. Being successful in im- plementing protections for U.S. table ol- ives—still a relatively small industry that’s mainly in California—“is a huge deal,” Carranza added. But she acknowledged growing table olives remains a challenge for California farmers, whose fruit is still primarily
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February 15, 2023 Ag Alert 9
Report warns of future water losses for valley farms Average annual water supplies for the San Joaquin Valley could decline by 20% by 2040, with shortfalls largely driven by mandates of California’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, accord- ing to a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California. for irrigation. In a worst-case scenario, the report said nearly 900,000 acres of farmland would be fallowed and almost 50,000 jobs would be lost. Bou, Project Assistant Spencer Cole and Josué Medellín-Azuara, an asso- ciate professor of environmental engi- neering at the University of California, Merced, and an adjunct fellow at the Water Policy Center.
the coming changes,” the report said. “Incentivizing alternative uses for irrigat- ed lands could bring additional income to farmers and local communities while improving public health and environ- mental outcomes on fallowed lands.” The report was produced by research- ers affiliated with the PPIC Water Policy Center. The researchers included cen- ter Director and Vice President Ellen Hanak, Senior Fellow Alvar Escriva-
However, the policy brief said new wa- ter system investments, water trading pro- grams and improved productivity could curb the loss of productive farmland. “Improving trading rules, water in- frastructure and groundwater recharge could lower the cost of adapting to
Medellín-Azuara was the lead author of a UC Merced study in November that estimated that last year’s drought con- ditions cost California agriculture $1.2 billion in losses, up from $810 million in 2021. That report estimated that farmers in the San Joaquin and Sacramento val- leys fallowed 696,000 acres in 2022 and 524,000 acres in 2021. The 2020 to 2022 water years were the driest in recorded state history. In a challenge to policymakers, the recent PPIC Water Policy Center report noted that “inflexible water management is a costly way to cope with growing wa- ter scarcity.” Without new approaches, it said, the combined impacts of water supply cuts as a result of the SGMA law, climate change and increased environ- mental regulation could result in a $4.5 billion economic loss for the San Joaquin Valley agricultural region. Currently, the PPIC report said, valley agriculture employs about 340,000 people, with crop production—led by orchards and vines—creating more than $24 billion in revenues. Another $3.2 billion comes from dairy and beef production. Additonally, a $34 billion food and bev- erage processing industry relies on the valley’s crop production. “San Joaquin Valley agriculture is key for the region’s well-being, but this sector faces a future with less water for irrigation, an essential input,” the PPIC report said. The policy brief said investments in water infrastructure can capture and store more water in wet years to augment irrigation supplies in dry ones. It also said “transparent, well-run water markets will be essential to lessen the cost of growing water scarcity.” The report said water trading pro- grams, including markets allowing for groundwater allocations to be shared across local areas in the valley’s 15 groundwater basins, could reduce eco- nomic losses. Additionally, it said, the amount of lost farm acreage could be curbed as farming in the valley switches away from “some thirstier feed crops towards perennial nuts and fruits.” However, it said that approach “will raise costs for dairy, beef and their related processing industries, which will have to buy these inputs from elsewhere or find suitable substitutes.” With or without new water infrastruc- ture, the report said, it is inevitable that the San Joaquin Valley will have to man- age “large increases in fallowed land” as state groundwater sustainabilty rules take full force. “Even with an optimistic scenario for new supplies,” it said, “the valley is look- ing at close to half a million acres coming out of irrigated production.”
Released last week, the PPIC poli- cy brief said the San Joaquin Valley— America’s most bountiful farming re- gion—faces a future with less water
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10 Ag Alert February 15, 2023
CALIFORNIA
Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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Jayleaf founder and CEO Jose Ornelas began by helping his parents on a 1-acre farm. His firm has grown into a significant grower, packer and shipper of produce from organic-certified farmland.
From humble starts, growers share path to success By Bob Johnson
speakers on an annual conference panel, which celebrates success stories of organic farming producers. The panel was moderated by Monterey County organic farmer Javier Zamora, who immigrated from Mexico to work in restaurants in Los Angeles and went on to start a berry and vegetable farm that has grown to 200 acres. For Ornelas, a turning point in his family’s farming story came after his father be- came ill and required a heart and lung transplant. His father’s ordeal further motivated Ornelas to refashion the family farming operation into an all-organics venture. “We switched to organic and implemented rotations,” Ornelas said. His Jayleaf firm now boasts multiple farming sites, becoming a significant-scale grower, packer and shipper of organic spinach, arugula, kale, red mustard, tatsoi, red chard, mizuna, frisée, radicchio, spring mix, Asian mix and custom mixes. Jim Churchill offered another organics success story, which was highlighted at the EcoFarm Conference. Churchill converted his 12-acre Ojai Valley tangerine orchard to organic in 2004 because the volume of tangerines being planted in the Central Valley convinced him it
After working in strawberry fields, Jose Ornelas’ parents began farming themselves with seeds, a few hand tools and a small patch of leased land in San Benito County.
“An opportunity presented itself,” Ornelas said, for his parents to lease a single acre of land. They leaped at the chance. After har- vesting a few crops, they were able to afford a small shed and a stainless-steel washing table.
Ornelas helped them with weeding and administrative work, and went on to study business at California State University, San Jose. He later founded Jayleaf, an organic farming venture, which started out by brokering his parents’ greens. Soon, the Hollister-based firm grew and began supplying organic leafy greens and red, yellow and purple vegetables to restaurants. With the help of San Francisco whole- saler Veritable Vegetable, the company diversified to also supply retailers. “We have turned our passion for agriculture into a vertically integrated grower-pack- er-shipper serving both food service and retail,” Ornelas said. “We developed the ability to ship across the country. It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s been rewarding.” Ornelas discussed his journey during a keynote panel of farmers at the 43rd Annual EcoFarm Conference at Asilomar in Pacific Grove. He was one of the featured
See SUCCESSES, Page 12
February 15, 2023 Ag Alert 11
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