of farm life
Winning photos showcase variety of agricultural lifestyles
Story by Caitlin Fillmore
From sleepless nights during the ground-shaking almond harvest to long days cultivating thousands of acres, the winning images from the 42nd annual California Farm Bureau Photo Contest depict the real daily lives of people within our state’s diverse agricultural sector. Two of the photos were captured within days of each other—one showing a dairy cow standing in fresh snow and the other a bundle of just-harvested flowers against a lush, mountainous landscape.
The variety of California farming and ranching lifestyles came through in these stunning photographs. The contest is open to amateur photographers who are Farm Bureau members. Cash prizes were given to the adult winners and to the Budding Artists under age 14, in a category sponsored by the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.
2023
Second Place Ismael (Mel) Resendiz San Diego County Farm Bureau
Mel Resendiz can’t possibly choose from among the more than 300 varieties of protea flowers curated over 30 years at Resendiz Brothers farm in Fallbrook. “I keep every one. When people ask me what’s my favorite, I say, ‘All of them,’” Resendiz said. But he will admit he was particularly inspired to capture the first harvest of the Lady Di protea, one of the newest varieties on his 250-acre flower farm in the Pauma Valley. Protea flowers are some of the oldest flowers on Earth and grow on steep hillsides. As one of the workers scaled the hill with fresh Lady Di blooms on his shoulder and the Palomar Mountain in the background, Resendiz had to pull out his iPhone.
10 Ag Alert January 3, 2024
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