Ag Alert December 2, 2020

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.

Enhancing wine sales Experts emphasize creating relationships with customers

Steam-treatingweeds Farm advisors look tomake the process more economical

Page 3 THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER FOR CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURE Ag Alert ®

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Vegetables ®

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

ByChing Lee Soured by years of unprofitable wheat prices in commoditymarkets, California farmers are increasingly looking to sell their wheat locally and to specialty mar- kets that cater to artisanbakers, chefs and home cooks who want something differ- ent than standard flour—and are willing to pay a premium. Farmers’ desire tomove their crop out- side of traditional commercial markets comes as California wheat acreage has dwindled in recent years, due to lower prices and competing crops. Despite growing demand for local wheat, whole grains and heirloom varieties, farmers say they’ve been hindered by a lack of infrastructure in the state to help them market their wheat efficiently and eco- nomically to buyers and specialtymillers who may want only small quantities or hard-to-find varieties. Conversations are taking place to de- velop thesemarkets, saidClaudia Carter, executive director of the California Wheat Commission. “We do have, thankfully, some people in the supply chain that want toworkwith farmers andwant to help them,” she said, but added that existing challenges “make it very complicated.” Even though California represents the largest wheat-milling state by capacity— milling more than 12.4 million pounds a day—about 90% to 95% of that wheat comes from out of state, Carter noted. Not onlyhasCaliforniawheat acreagede- clined by nearly 60% in the last 10 years, but more of it is being fed to livestock, with just 20% to 30% harvested to make flour, she added. Because of its limited availability, she said, local commercial mills have “lost their interest inCalifornia wheat” as they’ve gotten used to buying more Kansas and North Dakota wheat, which is less expensive. With local grain movements becom- ing “very successful and growing very Wheat farmers cultivate local, specialty markets

Demand for holiday greenery looks strong Bill Eisley looks over part of this year’s poinsettia crop in Auburn. The Eisley family is known for growing varieties other than red; the poinsettias shown here are called Ice Punch for their red-and-white leaves. Nursery operators say they expect strong sales as people stick close to home.

ByKevinHecteman Looking for Christmas greenery? You’d better get moving. Nurseries report strong sales, as people wary of traveling during a pandemic turn to decking the halls at home. “The poinsettias are selling really well—they’re up 100%so far in sales,” said AshleyRossi ofRocklin-basedGreenAcres Nursery &Supply.

Redremains thepredominant color, she added,withotherhues steadilymovingup the sales chart. Green Acres recently acquired a facili- ty famous for producing varied colors of poinsettias, EisleyNursery inAuburn. Bi l l Ei s ley , whose grandmother launched the nursery in 1932, was busy before Thanksgiving moving this year’s crop out of the greenhouse.

“I’m getting ‘points’ ready to ship to Reno,” he said the Monday before Thanksgiving. “I’ve already started ship- ping to Sacramento,” with subsequent shipments headed to the Marysville and Chico areas. Bryan Christensen, the Green Acres manager in Auburn, said the poinsettia

See FLOWERS, Page 14

n e w s p a p e r

Comment.......................................2 Vegetables....................................7 Market Review........................... 13 Classifieds........................... 18-19 Inside

Published by California Farm Bureau Federation

See WHEAT, Page 10

Local trading offers tool in managing groundwater

By JustinFredrickson For groundwater sustainability agencies, landowners and pumpers in California’s designated “critical overdraft basins,” the hard work of pre- paring and sub- mi t t i ng i n i t i a l groundwater sus- tainability plans by 2020 is past. For these same areas, thismarks the start of the even harder workof actually im- plementingsubmit- ted GSPs to bring groundwater additions and withdrawals intobalanceduring thenext 20years. Justin Fredrickson Rules todivvyupandallowtradingof set shares inthe total supplyof availablewater inabasinaffordonepotentially important way to balance a basin. California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act gives the California Department ofWater Resources up to two years either to approve, return for correc- tions or reject submitted 2020GSPs. The completed plans now before the DWR represent the local areas’ best thoughts on a path to long-term sustain- ability, and local agencieshavebegunact- ing on the plans, pending DWR approval. But another dry year—or more extended dry spell—could put initial implementa- tion of the plans to an early test. GSPs are required to identify “projects and management actions” that can in- crease supply. However, physical infra- structure to implement such measures may facepermittingand legal barriers, can be expensive and can take many years to carryout. Even then, inheavilygroundwa- ter-dependent basins in significant over-

necessarily needed, appropriate, locally acceptable or even possible in all basins. Furthermore, thegrosslyoversimplifiedex- planationofferedheremakes theprocess to arriveatsuchasystemsoundfareasier than it is. Inreality, suchasystemrequiresantici- patingmyriad,complexlegal,economicand equitabilityconsiderationsthat, inanadver- sarialadjudicationofcompetingclaimsand rights inabasin, can takeyears. No matter what a local GSA does, un- happy parties may take to the courts anyway. An interesting feature of current California law, however, is that itprovidesa new, streamlinedpathknownas “statutory adjudication.”Withsuchaprocess, SGMA implementation can and, in fact, must move forward in parallel with an adjudi- cation. There is potential, though, for the adjudicationtoproceedmorequickly, and for disputes in the adjudication to meet upwith ongoingmanagement efforts in a basin in theend, aroundacourt-approved workout known as a “physical solution.” Aswithanadjudication, an interimplan and set of rules to allow local trading is a fraught approach where no one is likely to come out with everything they want. Without such a plan, however, “getting what you want” may be harder still. A well-thought-out process to arrive at local trading has potential to begin to work out details that can reduce uncertainty, pro- videameasureof equity, andperhaps save years of legal and expert fees in litigation. It’s hardly a slamdunk, nor is it without downsides and risks. In the difficult post- SGMA era, however, local water trading is at least one tool in the groundwater man- agement toolbox. (JustinFredricksonisenvironmentalpolicy analyst for the California FarmBureau. He maybe contactedat jef@cfbf.com.)

A groundwater-recharge pond in Fresno County. Along with recharge, water trading within a basin could be among strategies local districts use to comply with state groundwater-sustainability law.

draft, such projectsmay fill only a portion of the total water supply gap. In contrast, so-called “demand side” actions may be quicker, but also harsher in that theymay only restrict use or reduce acreage. SGMA grants local groundwater agen- ciesarangeof regulatoryandotherauthor- ities tomanagegroundwater, includingau- thorities to impose allocations, extraction limits, pumping charges, etc., consistent with existing groundwater rights. At this stage, however,many such authorities are merearrows inthequiver, not yet fullyacti- vated, existing localmanagement options. Without clear, established rules for allo- cating a limited supply over an extended area of land, users in times of crisis may face great uncertainty, insufficient wa- ter to meet all demands, and the risk of

abruptly imposedcontrols that afford little advance time to plan, prepare or adapt. If problems persist, local areas canalso face dangersof state intervention, local conflict and basin adjudication. Under SGMA, trading water within a basin does not amount to a “final deter- mination” of the underlying water rights in the basin—the legal process known as adjudication—but does provide one pos- sibleway to reducemassive uncertainty. In theory, users in such a systemwould knowbetterhowmuchwater theyandoth- ers inabasinare likely tohave year toyear, thus making it possible to better project andmake a calculated choice in deciding how one is going to make do and adjust over time. Tobeclear, suchlocalwater tradingisnot

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2 Ag Alert December 2, 2020

Wine marketers discuss changes in sales strategies

about brix at harvest and talk about the things that touchyouremotions:dogs,peo- ple, stories. No one has ever walked into a wineshopandsaid, ‘Doyouhaveanywine fromcalcareous soils?’ And yet we feel the need to explainall this stuff topeople.” With the down time facing somewiner- ies,Wagner said, “Nowis the time tomake sure your staff is truly trained.” Bourcard Nesin, a research analyst at Rabobank and expert on the beverage in- dustry, discussed demographics and ob- served that some people are “aging out of wineconsumption.”There is alsoagreater diversity among consumers, he said.

He cited premiumization: “People are drinking less; they’re drinking better, and higher-priced brands are growing.” Nesin said some wineries have been slow to embrace e-commerce and to rec- ognize itsvalue.Onlineshoppinghasbeen spurred by aversion to shopping in stores due toconcerns about COVID-19.He said 57% of wineries have sold more wine di- rectly to consumers since tasting rooms were shut down. Hesaidsmallerwineriesare losingnear- ly half their revenues, while some of the

ByDennis Pollock Fiveauthoritiesonwinesales tookahard lookat theirbusinessandtheimpactsof the pandemic, economicsandwildfiresduring a virtual discussion as part of this year’s Agribusiness Management Conference presentedby Fresno StateUniversity. KevinSmith,whomanages thebusiness and marketing operations for the Fresno State Winery, moderated the discussion that focused on challenges that have in- cluded relying at times on virtual tastings and increasedoutreachover socialmedia. Most panelists pointed to an increase in the importance of direct-to-consum- er marketing. PaulWagner, aninstructorwiththeNapa Valley College Viticulture and Enology Department, emphasized the importance of cultivating personal relationships and foregoing talk of such esoteric matters as soilpropertiesthatmight influencethewine. “Don’t tell us how you make your wines,” saidWagner, who is also president emeritus of Balzac Communications and Marketing. “Tell us why you make your California firms pursue projects to slow wildfires California companies have earned grants to explore aspects of wildfire pre- vention and safety. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the grant s, among 29 proj ect s i t suppor ted nat ionwide through the Small Business Innovation Research Program. A company in Torrance, Intellisense Systems, will test small, automated fire weather observation sensors. The com- pany said the project’s overarching goal is “to provide a novel technology that facilitates detection and management of wildfires.” A R i v e r s i d e c omp a n y , I S C A Technologies, will produce synthetic in- sect pheromones to protect spruce and Douglas fir trees from beetles. The com- pany said its technology shows potential to prevent mass beetle attacks and pro- vide season-long protection of suscep- tible trees. KWJ Engineering, based in Newark, i s working on smal l , low-cos t gas sensor s intended to he lp protec t wildland firefighters. Two other California-based projects also received grants through the USDA program: Fortiphyte Inc. of Berkeley plans to develop a tomato variety with durable resistance to bacterial spot, and ISCA Technologies received a second grant to enhance production of synthet- ic insect pheromones for control of ag- ricultural pests.

wines. Talk about people, talk about life, talk about dreams. We need to communi- cate joy, safety, relaxation.” He saidsmallwineries, particularly reli- ant on on-premises sales, have beenmost impacted by declines in sales, adding that small vintners canpersonalizeonline tast- ings for customers. “Stop talking about tanks,”Wagner said. “Stop talking about barrels. Stop talking

See WINES, Page 16

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December 2, 2020 Ag Alert 3

Irrigators seek reciprocity in Klamath dam removal ByChristine Souza

The signatories are expected to file new applications to transfer and surrender the dam licenses in the comingmonths. The memorandum also addressed fundingof the removal project. PacifiCorp would raise $200 million through a sur- charge on ratepayers in California and Oregon, and California would provide an additional $250 million from the Proposition 1 water bond passed by vot- ers in 2014.

project. In response to concerns raised in July by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, theKlamathRiver Renewal Corp., California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Oregon-based hydroelectric power company PacifiCorp and tribes asked in mid-November that the agency remove PacifiCorp from the project license and add California, OregonandKRRCas co-licensees for car- rying out dam removal.

In addition, the memorandum de- scribes how the parties would implement the amended Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, a document that set the terms for removal, as negotiated and signed in 2016. Klamath Basin farmers and ranchers, who receive water for irrigation through the federal Klamath Project, responded to the amended KHSA in August. The KlamathWater Users Association, which states it is “non-opposed” to the amended agreement, urged theparties torespond to irrigators’ unaddressed concerns. These include commitments to develop agree- ments related to water and economic stability, and the potential for new costs, liabilities and regulatory burdens. “I am definitely concerned about whether there’s a legitimate interest in solving our problems,” said Paul Simmons, the water users association executive director and counsel. “Right now, there is the potential for new reg- ulatory burdens associated with species that we don’t now have and there’s the cost of operating facilities that we don’t now have, so those are some potential real consequences that we’ve said need to get addressed.” CaliforniaFarmBureauSeniorCounsel Chris Scheuring said, “Fish restoration projects are a good thing when they are win-wins, but to be a win-win, you’ve got tomake sure that there is no blowback to anybody, including thirdparties. It sounds like the irrigators in the Klamath Basin have not had their third-party concerns addressed yet.” At the KWUA, Simmons said irrigators need reciprocity. “We need to know that people care about our interests—and that needs to showup soon,” he said. The potential for new, regulatory con- straints associatedwithspecies, Simmons said, is an issue theKWUAhas raised for “a dozen years ormore.” In addition, he said, irrigators are left wondering about “potential costs if PacifiCorpwalks away fromsome of its fa- cilities that arenot being removed, and the concernofwhetherwewill have topickup the cost of operating those.” An earlier version of the dam-removal agreement and the larger Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement resulted from a decade of negotiations among Klamath Project irrigators and environmental, tribal and fisheries interests in the basin, and included water certainty for basin farmers. After the U.S. Congress failed to pass legislationby theendof 2015 tomove the earlier agreements forward, irrigators learned they hadnot been included in the amended dam-removal agreement. To implement theamendedagreement, FERCmust approve the transfer of the li- cense for the dams fromPacifiCorp to the KRRC and the states. Second, FERCmust approve the dam-removal plan. Dam re- moval and salmon restoration efforts are expected to begin in 2023. (Chr i s t ine Souza i s an ass i s tant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)

The struggle over dams and water con- tinues in the Klamath Basin, as the largest dam-removal effort in U.S. history takes another step forward. The project is intended to restore salm- on runs in the KlamathRiver. Parties to the removal of four hydro- electric dams on the lower Klamath River have announced a “memoran- dum of agreement” for the $450 million

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Agricultural waste burning could face new restrictions

of acreage may be burned. Residual rice stubble would no longer be allowed to burn. Weeds and vegetativematerials on rice field levees and banks could still be burned, as no viable alternative exists. The report notes that, through 2014, the district’s restrictions reduced open burning of waste by 80%. The recent drought led to hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland being taken out of production; at the same time, many biomass plants shut down because of shifting markets. The report said these conditions, along with the Sustainable

GroundwaterManagement Act,may lead tomore acreage being fallowed, affecting the district’s efforts to reduce burning. Thedistrict is legallyobligated to review burning regulations and make recom- mendations to the state air board every five years. The full report may be read at www.valleyair.org/BurnPrograms/ o p e n - b u r n - r e p o r t - p r o g r e s s / documents/2020-ag-burning-staff- report/2020-DRAFT-Ag-Burn-Report.pdf. (Kevin Hecteman i s an ass i stant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)

ByKevinHecteman The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is seeking to further tighten rules concerning when farmers may burn agricultural waste and under what conditions. The district covers the eight counties comprising the San Joaquin Valley—San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern. I n i t s r e po r t , r e l e a s e d b e f o r e Thanksgiving, the air district said it will seek to further reduce the amount of burning permitted, given the emer- gence of newmethods and technologies for disposing of material from removed orchards and vineyards. Open burns for citrus-orchard re- movals larger than 15 acres would be phased out. Starting Jan. 1, 2021, open burns at operations with more than 500 acres of trees at all sites would be banned; this would decrease to 200 acres the following year. Burn permits for removals of between 15 and 40 acres would be considered case by case, with the higher number dropping to 30 acres in 2022. By 2023, the ban would extend to all orchard removals except those smaller than 15 acres, in line with an exemption for smaller removals at a single location. The district’s report says availability of contractors for small orchards is an issue, as fixed costsmaymake the removal eco- nomically unfeasible. The district noted in its report that no economically feasible alternative to open burning for small removals exists without incentives andwider availability of contractors. The district would l ike to out law burnings for apple, pear and quince orchard removals, but said it is hold- ing off because of fire blight, which is contagious. A burn ban for vineyard removals would be postponed through 2021, owing to a lack of alternatives. Along with this, the district seeks to launch a Vineyard Remova l Al t ernat i ves Partnership with the California Air Resources Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture and grape growers, to come upwith alternatives. Among alternatives to be explored are soil incorporation; a pilot project in the district covering 46,500 tons of vineyard removal mate- rial has been shown to be successful, according to the report. The report also recommends seeking dedicated funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture Healthy Soils Program for whole-or- chard recycling and other feasible al- ternatives. Federal funding fromUSDA also would be sought. The district also advocates state incentives to develop bioenergy-conversion projects, and a state plan for existing biomass plants that have reduced capacity even while serving as a vital destination for agri- cultural waste.

At present, all burning of field crops is disallowed, except for small amounts of rice for disease control; most prunings and orchard removals have also been added to the burn-ban list. Air district staff now recommends pro- hibiting openburning of 75%of rice stub- ble per year of the total acreage farmed in the San Joaquin Valley. At present, 70%

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December 2, 2020 Ag Alert 5

Delta farmers express doubts on ‘carbon farming’ ByKevinHecteman

think the farming community has been engaged in this discussion,” said Osha Meserve, an attorney representing delta landowners and reclamation districts. Meserve took issue with one claimbe- ing made by the conservancy: that the deltaproduces one-quarter of California’s agricultural carbon emissions. “I have a big concern that the math that the conservancy is using is based on some really limited data, and it’s over- stating the contribution of delta agricul- ture in particular to carbon emissions,” she said. Bruce Blodgett, executive director of the San JoaquinFarmBureauFederation, objects to the idea of converting somuch delta land to rice and tules. “There’s no value to anyone other than the individual landowner. … That’s not what’s best for the community, andmore importantly, that’s not what’s best for the region,” Blodgett said. Meserve echoed this, noting that “growing tul es, even i f you could get paid for i t , doesn’ t create any other jobs.” Blodgett doesn’t so much take issue with rice planting as he does with the

idea of paying people to do it—especially when other rice farmers, in San Joaquin County and elsewhere, are paying their own way. “Rice product ion has long been a par t of the del ta,” he said. “You shouldn’t have to subsidize it, or it doesn’t make sense.” Blodgett pointed out that the delta is protected under state law, the Delta Protection Act of 1992, aimed at ensur- ing the region doesn’t disappear under a lake of asphalt. “This area is preserved for agricultur- al production,” Blodgett said. “You can’t build subdivisions in the delta in the pri- mary zone. You can’t go in and reinforce levees in the middle of the delta and say, ‘We’re going to build a new community out here, and it’s going to be all houses and shopping malls.’” Melinda Terry, executive director of the California Central Valley Flood Control Association, said the Delta Protection Act came about because the state did not want to see delta agricultur- al land developed. “In this case,” she said, “the conversion will still take place. It won’t be develop- ment, but it would be wetlands.” This is where communication is key, she noted. “The program relies on landowners volunteering to convert their land,” Terry said. “If this program is depen- dent on that, then you need to go meet with them now to get buy-in, that this is something they’re interested in be- yond just the couple of landowners that they do have currently participat- ing in pilot programs.” One challenge that has arisen,Meserve

said, is that tules have their own green- house-gas issues. “There’s a lot of methane emissions that come in when you grow tules,” she said. “We don’t think that the calcula- tions that the conservancy has been us- ing really take that into account.” The Nature Conservancy, which owns Staten Island, is conducting a studymea- suring methane coming from the tule fields it’s planting, Meserve said. “That will be really important infor- mation, because before we push farm- ers into changing crops to tules or some other crop, we need to make sure we’re not creating some other issue,” she said. Blodgett said the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers makes the delta region ideal for farming. “A lot of the water that flows through the state flows through the delta,” he said. “That was why it was developed for agriculture, and that’s why the state Legislature protected it for agriculture.” Meserve pointed out the wide array of crops grown in the delta—more than two dozen, according to a 2016 LandIQmap of the region. “That’s one of the cool things about the delta, is that there’s this whole vari- ety of crops,” she said. “Some of that is making its way to the local markets and restaurants. It’s kind of the richness of our region. I think that’s another con- cern I would have with converting a lot to this carbon-market type farming, is that you would lose some of the bene- fits of having those crops coming out of the delta.” (Kevin Hecteman i s an ass i stant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)

Plans to convert nearly 200,000 acres of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta farm- land into rice production or tule-based carbon farms are being greeted with skepticism among representatives of delta farmers. The De l ta Conser vancy , a s tate agency, has partnered with environ- mental organizations and universities on pilot projects aimed at stopping or slowing ongoing land subsidence in the delta under a California Wetland Protocol . The protocol , cur rent l y certified through the nonregulatory American Carbon Registry, is being used to quantify carbon sequestra- tion from growing tules or rice on sea- sonally or perennially wetted lands in the delta. A few thousand acres of experimen- tal rice in the delta are being studied to better understand any contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If proven, the conservancy’s goal is to pres- ent its nonregulatory protocol for adop- tion by the state Air Resources Board as a formal protocol for use in California’s existing cap-and-trade program. “The big problem I see is that I don’t

Survey tracks pollination fees paid by state’s almond farmers

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Average pol l inat ion fees paid by California almond farmers rose 5% during a recent five-year period, accord- ing to a University of California survey. Assistant UC Cooperative Extension Specialist Brittney Goodrich and UC Davis postdoctoral researcher Jennie Durant conducted the survey in late 2019 and early 2020, along with colleagues at Duke University inNorthCarolina. More than 300 almond growers responded to the online survey. Wr i t ing in the Agr i cul tural and Resources Economics Update , Goodrich and Durant said lower almond prices have encouraged farmers to reassess their pollination expenses. “Tight profit margins mean almond operations will closely scrutinize their pollination expenses as they estab- lish contracts in the coming months,” Goodrich and Durant wrote. When averaged for inflation, polli- nation fees increased 5% from 2015 to 2019, the researchers said, with fees ris-

ing an average 9% for the highest colo- ny-strength requirement. Among the survey’s other findings: Farmers generally paid higher pollina- tion fees for bees acquired through a broker, and paid $7 more per colony for bees originating outside of California— which represented nearly 80% of the colonies used for almond pollination this year. Goodrich and Durant concluded that almond farmersmust consider the value associated with pollination decisions in addition to the cost. “Contracting for colonies through a pollination broker, from an out-of-state beekeeper or above the 8-frame colony strength were associated with higher fees. However, each of these may pro- vide benefits to the grower in excess of the premiums paid,” they wrote. The full article may be found at the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics website, giannini.ucop.edu/ publications/are-update.

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6 Ag Alert December 2, 2020

C A L I F O R N I A

Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®

Advisors seek practical use of steam in weed control ByBob Johnson After testing steam treatments in three Salinas Valley trials this year, UC Cooperative Extension specialists say they believe the technique can significantly reduce weed pressure in lettuce and spin- ach fields, and can cut hand-weeding time.

an organically approved compound that helps spread the heat. In one of the trials, the steamreduced hairy nightshade and shepherd’s purseweeds by 80% to 90%, and littlemallowby 70%with the hydrogen peroxide and 42%without. The researchers saidbanded steamshowed similar efficacy in the second lettuce trial, reducing nightshade and shepherd’s purse by 75% to 90%, and significantly reducing little mallowwhen the hydrogen peroxide was added to the steam. The steam treatment reduced hand-weeding time by 20% to 40%, and reduced let- tuce-drop damage by 54% to 67%, they said. Another set of Salinas Valley vegetable trials showed the promise of GPS-controlled, autonomous weeders that cultivate without a driver, outside and within the seed line. “This project comes down to labor,” said ElizabethMosqueda, weed science profes- sor at California State University, Monterey Bay. “It takes a lot of manpower to remove weeds from one lettuce field. How can we decrease labor costs in leafy green produc- tion? The other part of this is the number of herbicides available; the last formulation for lettuce was introduced in 2014.” Mosqueda tested two autonomous weeders in Salinas-area commercial lettuce fields: the relatively small DINO weeder from France and the larger Farmwise Titan robotic weeder. “Both of these companies want to get to the point that one operator can be in the fieldwithmultiplemachines,”Mosqueda said. “But autonomous weeders can already

Steam-treating a shallow band of soil within the seed line before plantingmay offer, when combined with advanced cultivators, an economical weed control option for organic farmers and conventional growers looking to reduce herbicide use. University of California specialists said their research inSalinas Valley vegetable fields this year showed the technique can significantly reduceweedpressure andhand-weed- ing time, and even produce larger andmore vigorous lettuce plants. “We’re reducing the hand-weeding time,” UCCooperative Extensionweed specialist Steve Fennimore said. “The plants were larger, significantly larger.” Fennimore, who has been studying steam as a way to control weeds and soil dis- eases since strawberry growers first faced the loss of the fumigant methyl bromide, presented his latest research during the UC Online 2020 Pest Management Series in early November. Steamworks aswell as fumigation in reducingweeds and soil-bornediseasepressure, he said, but previous efforts have shown that treating the entirebedcanbe tooexpensive and time-consuming to be practical inmost situations. “With banded steam, you treat less of the bed,” Fennimore said. “Our target would be to heat the soil to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit; but youwould only need to steam2 or 3 inches deep. Then you could seed lettuce in the seed line and cultivate outside of it.” Fennimore and UC graduate research fellow Nelly Guerra tested steam this year in three Salinas Valley trials—two on lettuce and the third on spinach—as they compared weed pressure after steam-treating the seed line with andwithout hydrogen peroxide,

See STEAM, Page 8

December 2, 2020 Ag Alert 7

Steam Continued from Page 7

weed between and within rows at the same time.” The time saved by using the autono- mous weeders that cultivate within the rows varied with the amount of weed pressure in the three fields where they were tested, she said: Field one had ex- ceptionally light weed pressure, and the autonomous cultivators did not save hand-weeding time. But in field two, with higher weed pressure, hand-weed- ing timewas reduced from11.1 hours per acre to 9.4 hours. The greatest reduction in hand-weeding time, from 16.9 hours to 9.9 hours, came in the most heavily infested third field. “Our autonomous weeders controlled about 85%of theweeds, compared to40% with a standard cultivator,” Mosqueda said. “The uncultivated seed line is the area of concern. Weeds between the plants are typically removed by hand.” Although advanced cultivatorsmay be the answer to more effective control of weeds after they emerge, Fennimore said steamcould become amore economical method of preventing emergence. “How do you get pre-emergent weed control that is compliant with organic regulations?” he asked. “Steam is the oldest method of soil disinfestation. The guys in Denmark have shown it can be an economical method of weed control.”

As they test steam treatment of soil to prevent weed emergence, UC Cooperative Extension farm advisors also look for ways to make the practice more economical.

The steady growthof organics in straw- berries has taken Fennimore back to the question of how to treat the soil before planting the crop. “The hand-weeding costs in organic strawberries have gone up a lot; it’s up to $3,700 an acre,” he said. Fennimoredidaseriesof steamtrialsata strawberrynursery inthemountainregion near theOregonborder, andincommercial fields in theWatsonville-Salinas area. He said steamwith or withoutmustard meal was as effective as fumigation with

chloropicrin in ridding soil of Verticillium wilt pathogens, and yields were compa- rable to fumigated plots. One promising insight coming from the trials, he said, is it looks as though steam and mustard meal have a syner- gistic effect when used together. “The steam looks like it releases bio- fumigant compounds from the mustard meal,” Fennimore said. ( Bo b J o hn s o n i s a r e p o r t e r i n Sacramento. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)

Treating just a shallow, narrow band of soil within the seed line makes steam more affordable, but Fennimore said he hopes to go even further in reduc- ing the time, fuel and money needed to use steam. “Spot steaming is something I would like to try,” he said. “You coulddo a 4-inch square and plant a vegetable in the spot. You would need precision equipment. Wewant it to be the cheapest; wewant to go faster and use less fuel.”

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Robotics project intends to streamline leaf sampling

To help farmers optimize water use, University of California researchers will test robots to collect leaf samples in fields. Researchers fromUCRiverside andUC Merced have received a grant for more than$1million fromtheU.S. Department of Agricuture to automate the leaf-sam- pling process. As part of the project, UC Riverside said the researchers are developing a robotic pressure chamber that can au- tonomously sample leaves and imme- diately test them on site to provide the most current data. Frequently updated data can help farmers better plan irrigation schedules to conserve water, optimize the time and effort spent by crop specialists assigned to determine and analyze leaf water po- tential, and help decrease some of the costs in the food-production chain, the university said. The leaf-sampling project will build upon an existing UC-developed sys- tem called Robot-Assisted Precision Irrigation Delivery, which travels along rows of crops adjusting irrigation flows according to sensor data. The new project will equip the RAPID base robot with a custom-made, robotic

leaf sampler and pressure chamber be- ing designed by UC Riverside research- ers, and pair it with drones that can sur- vey fields and direct the robot to areas of interest. “Using this process, growers could survey plants all day long, even in large fields,” said Stefano Carpin, professor of computer science at UCMerced. According to UC Riverside, the re- searchers plan to have the first set of au- tomated pressure chamber prototypes fabricated by next spring, and to evalu- ate their performance and refine designs in controlled settings during the spring and summer of next year. The research- ers said they expect to have a completed setup by winter 2022, so they can begin controlled field testing. “We have to be quick about it, because if we miss a peak growing season, we have towait another ninemonths for the next one,” Carpin said. “We’d like to be able to start testing next summer and test every summer, andwe need to be able to maximize the tests.” When all of the components have been designed, the research team said, the designs and code will be made open source, and all the data collected during the project will be made available to the scientific community.

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8 Ag Alert December 2, 2020

Farmers look for strategies against potential new pest

lems for California tomato production. Researchers are also working to im- prove control strategies for the dia- mondback moth, which attacks a range of cole crops, and is particularly trouble- some because it maintains large popu- lations during a long season. The one-third-inch larval stage of this moth feeds on cole crops, and can cause significant damage if the larvae attack the growingpointsof youngplantsor findtheir way to the interior ofmorematurebrocco- li, cauliflower or cabbage. Another mysterious but potentially

destructive cole crop pest is the bagrada bug, an invasive stinkbug that injects en- zymes into cole crops before feeding on the leaves. One perplexing question about this pest is why it seems to appear in a new area, grow to large population levels and then decline in population for no appar- ent reason. This pattern of rise and decline was ex- perienced first in theYuma area andmore recently in the Salinas Valley, where the

ByBob Johnson A tiny, invasive insect that injects a tox- in that makes broccoli and other crucifer crops turnintounsightlymushthreatens to jointhepestsalreadyattackingCalifornia’s $1.3 billion cole crop production. The Swede midge, a fly less than a twelfthof an inch insize, hasalreadymade its way to fields in the northeastern U.S., across to theMidwest andup intoCanada, proving along the way it has the potential to cause significant damage in Central Coast cole crops. “They inject the crop with a toxin that makes the plants exude liquid that makes themeasier toeat,” said IanGrettenberger, University of California Cooperative Extension entomology specialist. “The Swede midge larvae cause scarring, dis- torted leaves and plants that don’t devel- opheads. They havemultiple generations every year, and they can persist in the soil for two years if they are buried.” While cole crop growers contend with bagrada bugs, which feed on seed- lings, and diamondback moths, which stunt growth by feeding on young plants, Grettenberger and other insect experts prepare for thepossibility theexistingpests will be joined by Swedemidges. Grettenberger is leading an effort fi- nanced by the California Department of Food and Agriculture to develop strat- egies for managing the midge before it reaches Central Coast fields that produce 90% of the nation’s domestically raised broccoli, 80%of the cauliflower andnear- ly half the cabbage. He presented farmers a report on what he has learned and the goals of future research during a webinar on pest man- agement, as UC Cooperative Extension moved its annual Salinas Valleymeetings to the internet. Cruciferous greens and broccoli are the most susceptible crops to the Swede midge, Grettenberger said, and there is an abundanceof potential hosts near Salinas Valley cole crops. “It’s shown this pest can develop on weeds, and we have a lot of crucifer- ous weeds,” he said. “This pest is not in California yet; it is in theNortheast, upper Midwest and up intoCanada.” Headvisedclosemonitoringandscout- ing as the tiny pest approaches California, and postharvest crop destruction to elim- inate one important food source. “Use of clean transplants can be helpful, because (the midges) fly well,” Grettenberger said. “A two- or three-year rotation out of crucifersmight also help, if you can do that.” Future work on Swede midges will in- clude establishing a quarantined popula- tion for study at a containment center on the UC Davis campus, pheromone mat- ing-disruptionstudies, theeffect of climate changes on the pest, and the potential for biological control. The Swede midge is just the latest of several recent insect pest threats to the

cole crop fields that are widespread in coastal counties. As part of the CDFA initiative to an- ticipate exotic insect pests before they reach California, Grettenberger is also working to prepare in advance for Tuta absoluta, a leafminer that has shown in other areas of the world that it has the potential to create serious prob-

See PESTS, Page 10

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December 2, 2020 Ag Alert 9

Wheat Continued from Page 1

well,” Carter said she was surprised to learn California’s local wheat market remained undeveloped. Yolo County farmer Fritz Durst, who grows wheat as one of his primary crops, said he has to haul a large portion of his grain to Oregon for milling and then bring it back to California, because “there’s very limitedmilling facilities for small lots of grain” in the state. By doing it this way, he said he’s able to preserve the identity of his grain, which earns him a premium compared to selling it as a commodity to commercial millers. Though it takes more work to market small quantities and he would much rather sell truckloads at a time, Durst said he realizes some of his crop needs “to go out in small bags so people use it, like it, talk about it.” “There’s an evolution happening,” Durst said. “If you’re going to still be in the grainbusiness, youhave toevolve and be able to handle some of these smaller quantities, some of themore local needs for these grains.” Bob Klein, an Oakland restaurateur who founded Community Grains to acquire and market local, identity-pre- served, whole-milled grains—including fromDurst—saidhe thinks there’s “abso- lutely more interest” in developing a lo- cal grain economy. But he acknowledged “the market hasn’t really formed yet.” “It’s a big, complicated thing,” he said, explaining that when artisan bakers or pasta makers want to buy wheat from a local farmer, they’re buying perhaps a few hundred pounds at a time, but they need to be buying thousands of pounds ormore, “and you’re priced against com- modity wheat, which is quite low.” With the decline of wheat production in California, Klein said, “anybody with a head on their shoulders of any kind has to say, ‘We better figure something else out.’” He said Carter at the Wheat Commission “understands this.” To he l p g row new ma r ke t s f o r California wheat, Carter said the com- mission agreed to fund a $10,000 online database that connects farmers, smaller millers, handlers, bakers and other end users of California grains. Launched in

With limited commercial facilities in the state that will mill small lots of grain, Yolo County farmer Fritz Durst, right, uses a mill in Oregon that could preserve the identity of his wheat.

Photo/Ching Lee

September, theGolden StateGrainsweb- site directory currently lists 32 farmers, nine handlers, and a number of millers andmaltsters. Dan Mezger, a partner in Woodland- based Farmers Grain Elevator, said it may take a year or two for the website “to establish a solid base of some solid proj- ects.” As a handler and marketer, he said he’s using it to see what people want, so he could perhaps help consolidate proj- ects tomake themmore economically vi- able. Farmers Grain, for example, “won’t deal with anything less than a truckload,” he said, because “the price tagwould just be huge.” “The effort is to develop a market that obviously pays more to growers than common grain prices, but also brings down the cost for some of the end users,” he said. “You can’t really grow an expen- sive market. There might be demand, a customer might like it, but there’s only going to be so many people that can af- ford a $9 loaf of bread.” Unattractive wheat prices kept Yolo County farmer Bill Cruickshank from

planting the crop the last two years, but he saidhewill try growing someheirloom varieties this year. He acknowledged he would not be “messing around in the ar- tisanmarket” if global wheat prices were at levels of seven or eight years ago. “We’re seeing this artisanmarket, that there’s an appetite there,” Cruickshank said, adding bakers and shoppers “want to know what the story is behind” their grain, where it’s coming from and what its lineage is. The challenge, he said, is making sure there is consistent inventory in the state to grow this market. Carter said she thinks cottage bakers— those who operate from home kitchens and sell their products directly to cus- tomers—will play a key role in growing the specialty grain market. These bakers number in the thousands, she noted, and they are “driving this market muchmore than your local bakeries,”which aremore price sensitive. Larry Hunn, who grows wheat as a ro-

tational crop in Yolo County, said he has sold small amounts of his grain to artisan bakers who were operating out of their garage and selling bread to local stores. Though he made more money on the wheat he sold to them than if he had sold it to commercial mills, he said “my time is valuable, and trying to segregate some wheat for somebody is just not easy.” He said he applauds the commission’s efforts to try to transition farmers away from global grain markets, which are not profitable, but “until there is critical mass,” most of his grain will still go to a broker who can handle it in a timely and efficient manner. “If they can come to me and say, ‘I want 200 tons a week,’ then that’s more economical for me to move rather than a ton, especially when we’re harvesting 100 tons a day,” Hunn said. “I’ve got to go somewhere with it; I can’t pile it up.” (ChingLeeisanassistanteditorofAgAlert. Shemaybe contactedat clee@cfbf.com.) challenge, because it has already shown the ability elsewhere to take refuge in Brassicaweeds. Another host plant that could help speed the arrival of this pest in the Salinas Valley is canola, aBrassica grownbymore than 40,000 Canadian farmers on 20mil- lion acres. The Swedemidge has already been de- tected incanola fields inOntario ineastern Canada, and there is concern it couldeasi- lymigrate towesternCanada, wheremost of the nation’s canola fields are located, and fromtheremovedownthecoast to the Salinas Valley. ( Bo b J o hn s o n i s a r e p o r t e r i n Sacramento. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)

Pests Continued from Page 9

pest first appeared in 2013, increased to become themost important cole crop in- sect pest, then inexplicably diminished in importance the last fewyears. “I don’t thinkwehaveanygreat answers as to what is driving bagrada bug popu- lations,” Grettenberger said. “The Salinas Valley has very low populations now, but this year in Yolo County, a number of or- ganic farmers had problems.” One obstacle to bagrada bug control in the Salinas Valley is the large number of mustardsandotherBrassicaweeds,which provideanexcellent host for thepest in the absence of crops. The Swede midge could pose a similar

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10 Ag Alert December 2, 2020

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