Food Continued from Page 3
ers and markets, adding that “if we can give our farm partners and our ranchers certainty of market and certainty of price, whichI thinkwecan, thesystemis just bet- ter for all of us.” He encouraged farmers to focus on improvements to processing capacity, which he described as a “weakness” and “vulnerability” in the current food sys- tem—not just in the processing of crops to value-addedproducts but inpackaging them. He suggested this area as “some- thing we can invest time and resources into,” to further help farmers move prod- ucts tomarket. Leeralsopointedto freightmovement as anareaofconcern,notingascarcityof trucks and drivers, and said “moving goods has been a real issue.” Some of these problems relate to employment generally, he said, withsomepeoplenot returning towork. Ward said Pacific Coast Producers “struggled toget enoughworkforce” at the beginning of the summer and had to run its facilities“withquiteabit lowernumbers thanwe normally do.” He said the co-op is moving to more automation. Many activities in the field already are “fairly automated,”Ward said, andpacking facilitiesnowuseoptical color sorters, which he described as “being the future for us,” as such technologies allow thecompany tobe“less reliant onhavinga seasonal workforcemoving forward.” (ChingLeeisanassistanteditorofAgAlert. Shemaybe contactedat clee@cfbf.com.)
curbside pickup. The Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, distributed 1.5millionmeals in one day, he said. “The food system is working and is flex- ible,” Leer said. Chris Ward, vice president of oper- ations for Pacific Coast Producers, an agricultural cooperative in Central and Northern California that specializes in canned fruits and tomatoes, agreed. He said he saw only a few days in which store shelves were “empty on just a few odd items,” adding the supply chain was “strong and it quickly rebounded.” The co-op, he noted, successfully navi- gated through all the changes necessitat- ed by the pandemic, andwas able to keep facilities open and its employees safe. As restaurants closed, Ward said, the compa- ny shifted a “decent percentage” of what it producedfor foodservicetoretail cansizes. Related to how the pandemic has changedperceptionsonpackaging,Minor voiced concern about people’s fears that thevirus couldbe transmittedviaexposed produce items andhow that will affect the trend toward reduced packaging. With the pandemic battering local economies, Leer said federal and state programs for food and agriculture will be “critical” for farmers who need markets andpeoplewhoneedhelpwith food inse- curity. He praised the quick action of the U.S.Department of Agriculture toapprove
The COVID-19 pandemic has tested the U.S. food system, but the system has proven to be flexible and resilient, according to speakers in a food-marketing discussion during the California Farm Bureau Annual Meeting.
waivers for thenational school-lunchpro- gramthat extended flexibility to allow free meals to all students. At the state level, Leer described the California Association of Food Banks’ Farm to Family program as “wildly suc- cessful,” noting it was able to move more than 6 million food boxes to families in six weeks. He also called farmers’ ability to provide goods quickly and in scale “as- tounding,”adding, “itwas incredible tosee the systemwork.” “Weneed tomakesure that the foodsys- temkeeps rolling, and if peopledon’t have themeans, we need tomake sure that the government is there to make sure food is available inwhatever capacity,” Leer said.
Minor saidRaley’s will continue to sup- port local farmers and their products as a priority, but noted the retailer’s biggest challenge isconsumerdemandfor “quality produce 365 days a year,” which requires acquiring certain produce items from around theU.S. and theworld. She encouraged farmerswho don’t cur- rently have distributors for what they pro- ducetoconsiderdevelopingthoserelation- ships, notingmany farmersweren’t able to pivot during the pandemic and sell their perishable products into a retail setting. Leer said he thinks there’s opportunity to create a “switchboard” that would al- low companies such as Gold Star to reach farmers and connect crops with custom-
CALIFORNIA IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM CIMIS REPORT | www.cimis.water.ca.gov
For the week December 3- December 9, 2020 ETO (INCHES/WEEK)
YEAR
3.0
THIS YEAR
2.5
LAST YEAR AVERAGE YEAR
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
MACDOEL II (236)
BIGGS (244)
DAVIS (06)
MANTECA (70)
FRESNO (80)
SALINAS-SOUTH (214)
FIVE POINTS (2)
SHAFTER (5)
TEMECULA (62)
IMPERIAL (87)
THIS YEAR LAST YEAR AVG. YEAR % FROM AVG.
.27 .09 .21 38
.48 .24 .28 80
.33 .24 .33 0
.32 .27 .32 0
.46 .25 .27 73
.64 .22 .30 112
.47 .23 .28 71
.67 .29 .35 79
.98 .21 .60 62
.49 .48 .56 -10
W eekly reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is the rate of water use (evapotranspiration—the sum of soil evaporation and crop transpiration) for healthy pasture grass. Multiplying ETo by the appropriate “crop coefficient” gives estimates of the ET for other crops. For example, assume ETo on June 15 is 0.267 inches and the crop coefficient for corn on that day is 1.1. Multiplying ETo by the coefficient (0.26 inches x 1.1) results in a corn ET of 0.29 inches. This
information is useful in determining the amount and timing of irriga- tion water. Contact Richard Snyder, UC Davis, for information on coefficients, 530-752-4628. The 10 graphs provide weekly ETo rates for selected areas for average year, last year and this year. The ETo information is provided by the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) of the California Department of Water Resources.
For information contact the DWR district office or DWR state headquarters:
SACRAMENTO HEADQUARTERS: 916-651-9679 • 916-651-7218
NORTHERN REGION: Red Bluff 530-529-7301
NORTH CENTRAL REGION: West Sacramento 916-376-9630
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION:
SOUTHERN REGION:
Fresno 559-230-3334
Glendale 818-500-1645 x247 or x243
20 Ag Alert December 16, 2020
Powered by FlippingBook