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.
Pork ruling Court delays enforcement of Proposition 12
World Ag Expo 100,000 expected for famed event’s return
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www.cfbf.com • www.agalert.com FEBRUARY 2, 2022
Vegetables ®
s p e c i a l r e p o r t
ByChristine Souza Farming and ranching families in the ScottRiverandShastaRiverwatershedssay droughtemergencycurtailmentregulations adoptedbythestatelastAugustwill threaten their livelihoods ifwater supplies runout as the stateprioritizesminimumflows topro- tect threatenedcohoandother fish. Curtailments in the Scott River are sus- pended throughFeb. 11, and throughFeb. 28 for theShastaRiver. Inefficient livestock watering was prohibited for both water- sheds through lastmonth. This isworrisome toSari Sommarstrom, a retiredwatershedconsultant in theScott Valley communityof Etnawhosehusband owns a reforestationnursery. “Scott River and Shasta River agricul- tural water users—surface and ground- water—will likely be cut off 30% to 70% of water use come June, and for the rest of the year, unless we get a wet water year,” Sommarstromsaid. “If farming goes away in the Scott Valley, it will affect the entire community, including schools and busi- nesses. It’s not just that farmer’s personal income, it is how that income multiplies throughout the community.” In what is shaping up to be a third dry year, diverters said they are concerned about the State Water Resources Control Board’s emergency curtailment order, which halts water diversions from the riv- ers whenever a monthly minimum flow target is notmet for eachwatershed. Erik Ekdahl, State Water Board deputy director of water rights, said Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May 10, 2021 drought emer- gency executive order gave the board ex- pedited authority to regulate water use, including surfacewater andgroundwater. The state says it is concernedabout pro- tecting fish species, such as coho salmon, fromextinction. Farmers say they are concerned about water being severely cut or being unavail- able in the hot summer season. Some say they fear for long-term livelihoods. See WATER, Page 12 Scott, Shasta river water cuts worry farmers in region
Attendees check out the trade show exhibits, including a grape harvester, at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento. Event speakers predicted a stable winegrape crop after years of oversupply, but noted market challenges from the pandemic and a shortage of younger wine drinkers.
2022 winegrape crop forecast as ‘stable’
ByKevinHecteman For Jeff Bitter, 2022 will be a year of re- covery forCaliforniawinegrape farmers— but not for the reasons onemight think. “It’s not so much a recovery from the pandemic as much as it is recovery from oversupply in the grape market,” Bitter said last week during the State of the Industry event at the Unified Wine &
Grape Symposium in Sacramento. Bitter, president of Fresno-based Allied Grape Growers, noted that grape growers produced4million tonsormoreeachyear from2016 to2019, leading toamarket glut. Short crops in 2020 and 2021 “brought us back into a balance situation,” he said. Bitter sees the present situation as “sta- blewithachanceof oversupply,”basedon
a short 2021 crop—with roughly 3.6 mil- lion tons of grapes crushed—and another year of modest plantings. Bitter forecast that 15,000 to 18,000 acres of vineyards wouldbeplantedin2022—about thesame amount as would be removed because of attrition. This is a good sign, he noted. “That’s a healthy rate of planting for our
See WINE, Page 14
n e w s p a p e r
Comment ......................................2 From the Fields ....................... 4-5 Vegetables....................................9 Classifieds........................... 18-19 Inside
Published by
Federal water regulations must respect our farmers By ZippyDuvall
businesses involved in agriculture. James Henderson, Colorado Farm Bureau vice president, joined the video call from a field he farms. He was stand- ing in a grass waterway. James said he hadn’t seen water flowing through it in years. But, under the proposed rule, EPA could classify it as a regulated ephemeral stream, whichmeans it has flowingwater only during and after it rains. The example James shared was pow- erful. That’s how we’ll make an impact as the administration works to rewrite the WOTUS rule. We must help policymakers and the public understand the impact of irre- sponsible regulation, tying the hands of the very people stocking our pantries. And we must remain persistent in our effort to make sure regulations that keep our water clean also respect farmers, ranchers and small-business owners. You can make your voice heard today by visiting fb.org/wotus. When I called on farmers and ranchers to respond to this action alert during our AFBF Convention, over 1,800 farmers and ranchers answered the call in less than 36 hours. I hope you’ll answer the call, too, and tell the EPA why we need clear rules for clean water. We stand ready to engage in an honest andmeaningful dialogue with policymakers and all stakeholders. That’s the FarmBureau way. (Vincent “Zippy” Duvall, a poultry, cattle and hay producer from Greene County, Georgia, is the 12th president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. This commentary first appeared in his column, The Zipline, which is published online at fb.org/viewpoints.)
Water is critical to our families and our farms. It breathes life into our crops and produces forage for animals on our rangelands. It is a priority for farmers and
ranchers to ensure the water we rely on i s c l ean be - cause safe, clean water is critical to all life. Fa rme r s a nd ranchers are step- ping up to partner wi th thei r com- munities to pro-
Zippy Duvall
tect our water. Farmers have increased the use of buffer strips to prevent ex- cess fertilizer from reaching waterways. They’re using new technologies to filter water as it drains beneath our fields and continually work to beef up other clean water protections. Last year, officials at theEnvironmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced they would rewrite the Waters of the United States, or WOTUS, rule, continuing a nearly decade-long back and forth that has left farmers and small-business own- ers scratching their heads. In 2015, the WOTUS rule was rewrit- ten and federal courts blocked its imple- mentation inmore than half of the states because it was a clear overreach by the federal government. In 2020, the rule be- came the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, which provided clearer rules while ensuring clean water. If you’ve ever had to deal with red tape from our federal government, you know that working through the stack of paperwork and fees that come
Proposed changes to U.S. waters rule would expand federally regulated lands and impose burdens on farmers and small businesses, says American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall.
with applying for federal permits of- ten requires lawyers and consultants. The 2015 rule would have prevented farmers from moving forward on cli- mate-smar t farming pract ices and other advancements that ensure farms remain viable and vibrant. Unfortunately, warning lights point to the Biden administration heading down a similar path as the 2015 WOTUS rule. While EPA Administrator Michael Regan committed to a robust dialogue about the potential effects of the new rule, the agency seems to be moving for- wardevenas it asks stakeholders to set up regional meetings. The EPA claims the new rule will have no impact onany of America’s small busi-
nesses. That simply isn’t true. The proposal the EPA and the Corps of Engineers have presented would sig- nificantly expand the land mass regulat- ed by the federal government and lead to a costly labyrinth of permitting re- quirements that small businesses aren’t equipped to navigate. Although EPA has left me wonder- ing about its sincerity in working with farmers, I’m grateful that the Small Business Administration seems to be genuinely listening. WeworkedwithSBA to set upmeetings in which federal officials heard directly from property owners about potential impacts of a new rule. Last month, the agency heard from farmers and small
VOL. 49, NO. 5
February 2, 2022
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2 Ag Alert February 2, 2022
‘Narrow’ ruling on pork law does not apply to producers
The Jan. 21 ruling focuses on regu- lations for intrastate pork sales, which took effect Jan. 1. Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James Arguelles agreed to delay enforcement for pork re- tailers, including grocers, until 180 days after final regulations are enacted. The business groups hadasked for 28months. The court decision does not, howev- er, change Proposition 12 requirements for pork producers, which must give breeding pigs at least 24 square feet of floor space.
CDFA said in a statement that the “nar- row” rulingappliesonly togrocersandoth- er retailers andnot toproducers providing pork products toCalifornia, and that “pro- ducersandsuppliers remainsubject toen- forcement if theyviolatethesquare-footage requirement that went into effect Jan. 1.” The ruling also does not apply to sales of shell eggs, liquid eggs and veal in Cal ifornia, the department said. Earlier phases of the law dealing with
ByChing Lee Legal challenges by grocers, restau- rants and retailers have temporarily blocked enforcement of part of a new Cal ifornia law that bans the sale of whole pork meat from pigs housed in spaces that fail to meet the law’s mini- mum requirements.
The business groups sued the state be- cause the CaliforniaDepartment of Food and Agriculture is more than two years late finalizing regulations for Proposition 12. The measure was approved by California voters in 2018 and sets mini- mumspacing requirements for breeding pigs, egg-laying hens and veal calves.
See PORK, Page 17
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February 2, 2022 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.
Photo/Rob Andrew
Photo/Emma Plenty
Mikayla Gnoss Yolo County olive farmer
Endeavour Shen San Diego County hydroponic vegetable farmer
At the moment everything is looking nice and green, but of course that also in- cludes the weeds. We’re staying on top of them and are strip spraying. We have also been working on some cleanup from harvest. We started harvest mid-Octo- ber and ended up going into December this year because of those early rains. It was great to get the water, but it definitely slowed things in the field. Overall har- vest was delayed about 10 days because it was too wet to get in. Thankfully, we were able to get the entire crop in and produce some really good oil this year. As for the trees themselves, they’re not doing much growing this time of year. Olives are evergreen trees, but they do still go through a period of reduced growth and activity during the winter. While they have their rest, we are working on pre- paring for the upcoming season. Lord knows it will be here soon enough. We get the fertilizer plans ready, develop our pruning strategies and order trees to replace any we lost during the last year, things like that. We also applied for the Healthy Soils Program through the California Department of Food and Agriculture recently, so we’re waiting to hear on that. Hopefully, we will be able to secure some funding to plant a cover crop and establish a hedgerow on one of our younger ranches. We are also working on developing some new acres over the next two years, so there’s a lot to do in preparation for that. We have some ground work to do, and irrigation needs to be installed. Labor is always a concern— and water, of course. But we’re confident we’ll make it work. As for the market, it’s great to have all the new-season oil ready to go. We secured some pretty big contracts in the last year, so our bottling team has been working nonstop to get orders filled and out to the retailers. We’ve seen outstanding demand for California-produced extra-virgin olive oil, so we’re al- ways on the lookout for new potential growers.
We grow all kinds of leafy greens, from butter lettuces, romaine to Asian varieties like bok choy, tong ho, tatsoi. We have production every week be- cause we’re inside a greenhouse, and wintertime is the best time to grow leafy greens. We were trying to expand delivery of our produce boxes outside our ter- ritory, but we had problems with the deliveries not getting there on time, so we decided to shrink our territory to deliver in the San Diego County area only. We try to purchase from local farmers. We also deal with a distributor because we want variety in the box, but (the produce) must be organic and (grown in the) United States. We do 300 to 400 deliveries a week. Greenhouse-wise, hydroponic growing is really like a lab. You pay attention to the plant, to all your machines, making sure it’s done properly. It’s not a lot of hard labor. It’s just attention to very minute details like the mineral con- tent, the electrical conductivity, making sure the monitoring probes are clean, making sure there’s actual fertilizer and water in the tank. If it’s really hot and muggy, you’ve got to make sure to turn on the fan. We just did our first planting of strawberries a couple weeks ago. We’ll see how well the strawberries grow. We want to make an entertainment area, like a farm experience in the greenhouse. It’s very small scale, like only 1,500 square feet. We’re just testing how to grow it first. If it works, I’m going to find a different piece of property and buy it using USDA support. Hopefully, I can go from there and try to build our own greenhouses. It took me five years to really understand lettuce. Who knows how long to understand strawberries. There’s a whole bunch of methods you’ve got to figure out, from fertilizing to watering cycle. That’s what we’re working on now.
Janet Kister San Diego County nursery producer It has been a roller coaster weather year for our plants the last few months, but we are certainly grateful for the rain we did get. Late last year we had warmer-than-normal temperatures that pushed our plants to become ready earlier than needed. Now, with cooler-than-average temperatures, the plants are ready later than planned. It’s always an adventure for us and our customers! On a positive note, demand for flowers and plants remains strong. As more offices reopen, they are busy having their interiors and exteriors replanted. And the work- from-home employees continue to add plants to enhance their workspace. What started as increased interest in indoor plants in 2018, to bring the natural world indoors, went crazy in 2019 as young people opted to become “plant parents” instead of having children or pets. That exploded during the pandemic as family activ- ities and a lifestyle of “greenifying” the home was embraced. It appears this trend is continuing into 2022.
Photo/Courtesy Janet Kister
4 Ag Alert February 2, 2022
Paul Sanguinetti San Joaquin County farmer
This cold weather has been good for the permanent crops. I’ve got a crew pruning walnuts. With the almonds, they aren’t pushed yet, so there’s probably not any bees being put out yet. The ground is dry enough that some guys are out planting onions for the early market. Guys are working on equipment and are probably not spending any money any more than they have to, because costs have really gone up. Fertilizer has more than doubled. Because of the cost of fertilizer and chemicals, I can see farmers doing a lot more mowing instead of spraying weeds to try and cut costs. I think everybody is going to be really careful on how much they put on. We’re trying to get away from labor and use more mechanization because the cost of wages went up. To save money, many farmers are using hedgers to do as much mechanically as they can. We’re going to try some here, but the ground is still too wet to get the heavy machines in. There’s enough water for Stockton East (Water District) this year. We don’t have any restrictions, so everybody’s planning on being able to irrigate. Our district is a dual district. You have to have the pumps when we get dry years, when we use groundwater and surface water. We’ve had a lot of problems out here with guys stealing stuff. I’ve got three pumps that I’m going to have to run new (copper) wires to. It puts us in a bind because we have to fix all this stuff. We might grow garbanzos, and we are going to plant some silage corn. Field corn is another option too. We’re going to plant some canning tomatoes. In February, we’ve got to start making these decisions. I’ve been trying to get all my year-end stuff done and get all of the books in shape for the accountant. This is the book work that has to be turned in by the end of this month for employees and all of the information that has to be sent to the government. A lot of farmers are working on their books.
Photo/Ag Alert file photo.
February 2, 2022 Ag Alert 5
Show News 2022 World Ag Expo prepares to go live again after hiatus
With a slogan of “Back in AgTion,” a premiere California agricultural event will reopen to live attendance this year after going virtual in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers of the World Ag Expo said as many as 100,000 attendees frommore than 60 countries are expected to turn out for the Feb. 8-10 event inTulare County. “We’re ready to host a live event for an essential industry,” said JerrySinift,CEOof International Agri-Center inTulare,which produces theexpo. “Wemade the right call in 2021 to move to a digital show, but ag never stopped, and it’s important to get back tosafegatherings foragprofessionals. Driving innovationsandsolutionshappen whenwemeet and learn fromeachother.” In its 54th year, the expo takes place in a region that produces about $23 billion in annual farm output when including TulareandneighboringFresno, Kings and Kern counties. The event hostsmore than 1,200 exhib- itors demonstrating agricultural technol- ogy and equipment on 2.6million square feet of show space. Showofficials said94%of spaces for this year’s showwere soldbyearly Januaryand
These were scenes from the World Ag Expo in Tulare County in 2020. The annual event was held virtually in 2021 due to the pandemic. As many as 100,000 attendees are expected to turn out Feb. 8-10 for the return of the show this year.
that international ticket sales were trend- ing at 2020 levels. Organizerssaidvaccinationstatusandtest resultswillnotbecheckedasarequirement for entry. Masks are also not required out- doors.However, theCaliforniaDepartment of Public Health is requiring masks to be worn inall indoorpublic settings. Mask wearing will also be mandatory in vehicles for the expo’s Park & Ride and
Ag Tours.Masks andhand sanitzer will be available at every gate and building en- trance. A press release for the expo said, “If youareexhibiting symptoms including but not limited to fever, chills or shortness of breath, please do not attend the show.” More than 95 special events, seminars anddemonstrations are scheduled for the three-day show. Seminars will be hosted by California State University, Fresno; Women in Ag for Mentoring and Empowerment ; the FBI and other exhibitors. Featured sessions will focus on technology in ag- riculture, dairy and livestock, orchard and vineyardmanagement, and numer- ous farming, ranching and equipment demonstrations. The schedule of events
is available at https://bit.ly/WAE22SOE. Separate tour ticketsareavailableon the WorldAg Expowebsite. Tours include: • A visit to the Kings River Winery and Fresno State University vineyards and wineries, including wine sampling and a barbecue chicken lunch. • A visit with the Central California Almond Growers Association to learn about almond processing, plus a tour of the J.D. Heiskel l & Co. feed mi l l in Pixley. • A tour of McKellar Family Farms in Ivanhoe and the University of California Lindcove Research & Extension Center in Exeter, where researchers study citrus varieties, horticultural techniques and pest management.
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6 Ag Alert February 2, 2022
2022
Show News
Workshops to highlight key topics for farmers, ranchers
All roads lead to Tulare next week for the World Ag Expo. General admission is $15. Children6andyounger get in for free. To buy tickets, go to worldagexpo.saffire. com/p/tickets. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Feb. 8-9, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Feb. 10. The expo grounds are at 4500 SouthLaspina St., Tulare. A veritable plethora of seminars cover- ing awide range of topicswill be available. Here are some highlights. For the full list, see www.worldagexpo.com/attendees/ seminars/ and explore by category. Tuesday, Feb. 8 • 9:30-9:55a.m.: Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture: How leading agribusinesses are leveraging AI to go from data rich to data smart. Seminar Trailer 2. • 10-10:55 a.m.: Hemp Across America. The National Hemp Association, along withmembers of theStandingCommittee ofHempOrganizations,willdiscussprepa- rations for the 2022 Farm Bill. Seminar Trailer 2. • 11-11:25 a.m.: Drilling Deep for More Data (and Profit) with Less Water. Alan Grafton will review five ways to manage your farm’s profitability, including risk management, knowing your numbers, good business practices and tax impact management. Seminar Trailer 2. • 11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Who’s In and Who’s Out : Elements of a Successful SuccessionPlan.Beforehiring lawyersand accountants, make the time to compile a core set of needs and wants that satisfies familymembersandotherstakeholders for your family farm. Seminar Trailer 3. • 1-1:55 p.m.: UC Dairy Series, Session 1: Nutrient Management & Manure Treatment Technologies. Variousmanure treatment technologies are deployed on dairies. Come and learnwhat thenutrient composition of end products fromdiffer- ent technologies areandhowthesecanbe incorporateddifferently intoyournutrient management program. Seminar Trailer 2. • 2-2:55 p.m.: UC Dairy Series, Session 2: Manure management options on your dairy. Reducing methane emissions has become an integral responsibility of the California dairy industry. Speakers in this section will provide an overview of pro- grams and information available, effec- tivenessofmanure treatment technologies and information on novel practices that are on the horizon. Seminar Trailer 2. • 3-3:55 p.m.: Ransomware: What It Is & What ToDoAbout It. Ransomware ismali- cious software that encrypts data on a net- work,making itunusable.Data isheldhos- tageuntil a ransomispaid. In this seminar, special agentswiththeFBIwill discussU.S. governmenteffortstocombat ransomware, common infection vectors, best practices tominimize ransomware risksandsteps to mitigate impacts if hit with a ransomware attack. Seminar Trailer 1.
• 3-3:55 p.m.: Pollination: How to op- timize this essential input. This seminar will share pollination optimization for all growers based on learnings fromalmond growers. It will cover pollination and bee- keepingessentials, contract best practices, hivegradingand thedecision to rent hives or not. The seminar will also cover topics inpollinationoptimization includinghow many hives to rent, what hive strength to demand, where in the orchard to place themandhowgrowers are experimenting with this input. Seminar Trailer 2. • 4:15-4:45 p.m.: Biologicals for Pest Management and Soil and Plant Health: Status and Future Potential. Farmers are increasingly focusing on soil health and asking about the effect of biologicals on their soils. Join this session to learn about data showing very excitingpositive effects on themicrobiome, carbon sequestration and nutrient uptake. Seminar Trailer 3. Wednesday, Feb. 9 • 9:30-10:05 a.m. : From Farms to Incubators: How to Bring More Women to the AgTech Table. AgTech is one of the fastest growing sectors in the U.S. and in- ternationally, yetwomenremainaminori- tywhen it comes to leadershippositions in the sector. This talk focuses on solutions andstrategies togetmorewomenandgirls involved inAgTech. Seminar Trailer 3. • 10:30-11:25 a.m.: ImproveDairy Farm Profitability. Learn to improve your dairy farm profitability by reviewing the cur- rent operating model and how it can be improved, operating cost benchmarking to identify operating areas needing im- provement, and the future of dairy farm- ing. Seminar Trailer 2. • 11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: FromWaste to Resource:monetizingmanure on the farm torenewablenatural gas, fertilizersalesand cleanerwater.Manurehas incrediblevalue. Thisseminarwillshowyouhowtobreakfree fromresourceandregulatoryconstraints to domorewith less. SeminarTrailer 2. • 11:30-11:55 a.m.: The Grapes of Math: Organic Winegrowing Makes Business Sense.HostedbyCarloMondavi, grandson of famedwinemakerRobertMondavianda leader in the push for organic and sustain- able farming, this sessionwill focus on the stridesmade in organic farming. Seminar Trailer 1. • 1-1:55 p.m.: Best Practices for Orchard andVineyardRemovalandRedevelopment. Due to drought, aging trees and vines, or unproductivevarities,moregrowersare re- movingtreesandvinesinfavorofnewplant- ings. But howwill you remove your trees or vines? What does it cost? What do you do with thematerial?SeminarTrailer 1. •1-2:30p.m.WETCenterInnovationPitch Event. Join theWater, Energy&Technology (WET)CenterfromFresnoStatetoseepitch- es fromthenext cropof ag innovators inthe See EXPO, Page 12
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Lettuce growers wary of plant virus after Dec. rains WhilemostCalifornianswholeheartedly embracedDecember’s wet start towinter, one group welcomed the rainmore wari- ly—lettuce growers in the Salinas Valley. “It’s a blessing, yes, we need thewater,” said Tony Alameda, managing partner of Topflavor Farms in Monterey and San Benito counties. “But, oh gosh: with that water, here come the weeds, here comes the habitat, here comes all the other problems that go along with it.” weekafterweek, until you’re just like, ‘Ugh, there’s nothing here to even harvest.’” After “100% crop failure” that year in his prime fields at the heart of the Salinas Valley, Alameda tried to dodge the virus in 2021, shifting lettuce plantings to San BenitoCounty and insteadusinghismost valuable land for unaffectedcrops suchas cilantro, leeksandradishes.Bydecamping to San Benito, Alameda was able to har- vest 70%of his usual lettuce yield. Richard Smith, a University of California Cooperative Extension vegetable crops and weed science farm advisor for the Central Coast region. Recent studies have identified several weeds as key “reservoirs” of thrips, in- cluding malva, marestail, and hairy flea- bane. The ubiquitous mustards, fortu- nately, appear to be poor hosts for thrips, although their pollen serve as potential food sources. pesticide application or a beneficial in- sect that could deter the thrips. However, both Alameda and Zischke pointed to the breeding of more resistant lettuce varieties as the ultimate solution to INSV—albeit one that is years away. “We have a lot of different types of let- tuce that we grow, so to move resistance into all the different types of lettuce we grow throughout the season … that’s go- ing to take time,” Zischke explained.
Weeds are overwintering havens for a tiny insect called the Western flower thrips, which in turncarries the impatiens necrotic spot virus, or INSV, a plant virus that caused $100million in lost gross rev- enue for Salinas Valley growers in 2020. The agricultural community called it “thebiggest problemwe’ve seen ina long, long time,” said Mary Zischke, facilitator of a task force convened by the Grower- Shipper Association to address INSV and a related affliction, Pythiumwilt. Since INSV was first observed in the state in 2006, the virus—which poses no threat to people—triggered significant crop losses in 2019, leading up to a cat- astrophic 2020. As Alameda’s lettuces began to show the telltale “bronzing” of the leaves, efforts to bag up or remove the infected plants hadno effect on the virus’ implacable spread. “Nothing seemed towork,” he recalled, “and you just watch those fields collapse,
Generally, growers enjoyed a reprieve fromvirus pressures in 2021. Even in this “good” year, however, about one-third of all lettuce plantings in the Salinas Valley had at least a low level of infection. “Since we were attributing a lot of our so-called good fortune on having less damage this year to the cooler weather, we know we can’t count on that to get us out of this problem,” Zischke said. “All the models point to the fact that we’re in a warming climate, so we were fortunate this year.” Heat waves were a major driver of the INSVdisaster of 2020. Although research- ershaveestablisheda linkbetweenwarm- er temperatures andpopulation increases of thrips, science still has a lot to learn. “Thrips are something we’re try- ing to understand as much as we can, but it’s pretty tough because they’re a little mysterious in the way they get around andwhere they overwinter,” said
Controlling thoseweeds is a toppriority during the winter months, according to Smith. Aggressive weed management in the preceding winter was an important factor in limiting the virus’ spread in2021. Because weeds recognize no bound- aries, experts are also urging managers of nonagricultural lands to keep their properties as clean as possible, includ- ing industrial sites, equipment yards and the edges of roadways—namely U.S. Highway 101, which runs through the center of the valley. Some growers have been volunteering to weed their neigh- bors’ vineyards. “We’re encouraging everybody, as best they can, to knock down known weed hosts; that’s really critical,” Zischke said. Within the grower community, there is “nervous optimism” for the coming year, saidAlameda, as he continues tohope for an innovation that would aid in the fight against INSV—whether a more targeted
Research funding from the state and USDA—as well as projects supported by the California Leafy Greens Research Program—can help expedite that pro- cess. But, for Alameda, the INSV crisis underscores the need for more resourc- es and farm advisors such as Smith, who has spent more than three decades cul- tivating relationships and building trust within Salinas Valley communities. Alamedawould like toseea renewed fo- cusonbringing “bright, young, passionate people who live and breathe this stuff” to the region, sogrowers arebetter equipped to handle the inevitable next calamity. “Hopefully this is awake-up call to all,” he said. “This is a valued industry—you have to take care of it; it cannot be taken for granted. The ‘salad bowl of the world’ cannot rest on its laurels.” (This article was originally published by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.)
8 Ag Alert February 2, 2022
C A L I F O R N I A
Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
®
Nematodes that attack carrot fields and feed on the cell contents of the roots can result in disfigured carrots, inset. Cavity spot disease, another threat, can leave carrots with lesions and blemishes. Despite some available fungicides, cavity spot is very difficult for growers to manage.
Photo/Courtesy Joe Nunez
Remedies sought for root galls that disfigure carrots
By Kathy Coatney There are two main diseases in carrots for California growers—cavity spot and nematodes. Nematodes feed on the cell contents of the roots, explained Jaspreet Sidhu, University of California Cooperative Extension vegetable crops advisor for Kern County. They cause root galls—infections that can result in disfigured, forked, hairy, or undeveloped roots. That, in turn, results in lower yields, she said. “Sometimes they’re just minor galls that could be washed away while processing,” Sidhu said. But other times, she said, they’re too big and numer- ous, and that makes the carrots unmarketable. When the growing root tip is attacked anddamagedby root knot nematodes, the rootswill bemisshapen, forked or stunted. If the carrots are too disfigured, they aren’t aesthetically pleasing to the consumers.
borne pathogens. But due to fumigant use restric- tions such as expanded buffer zones and limits on the amount of spraying allowed, it is more challenging to manage these pests. There are some fungicides available, such as Ridomil, Ranman and Reason that could be used to control cav- ity spot. But it remains a very difficult disease to man- age, Sidhu said. The crop infection may be in a field one year, then may not show up the following year. Just when growers think their crop is disease free and faces no threat, the infectionmay show up again, Sidhu said. Cavity spot is widespread in carrot production, and the pathogen expresses itself in the soil. “It’s especially challenging for the organic production because they don’t have any fungicides or biocontrol products for effective management,” Sidhu said. Researchhas been conductedondifferent organic op- tions. Sidhu said biofungicides have been hit and miss.
“And then sometimes, if you have the forked or de- formed roots, the roots pick up excessive soil from the field,” Sidhu said. That excessive soil on roots is transported to the pro- cessing facility and increases cleaning and processing costs, adding to the fallout of lower crop yields and re- ducedmarket demand. Another threat, cavity spot disease, produces small le- sions on the carrot surface. The lesions aremostly toward theupper thirdof the carrots, and there canbenumerous lesions on the carrot. Thatmeans blemishes, ugly carrots andmore unmarketable produce, Sidhu said. “Cavi ty spot is caused by di f ferent species of Pythium,” Sidhu explained, adding there is no surefire management remedy. In the past, growers have relied on broad spectrum soil fumigation to control cavity spot and other soil-
See CARROTS, Page 10
February 2, 2022 Ag Alert 9
Carrots Continued from Page 9
he has made good progress in some of those lines.” She said researchers have collaborated with the private breeding industry and will be supplying advanced lines to ex- pedite the process. “We do have some other chemicals (al ternat ive nemat icides) that are coming on the market, which I would say are significantly less toxic than the other fumigant options,” Sidhu said. She described them as safer for the nontarget organisms, with far fewer regulatory requirements than other classes of pesticides. “We have made good progress on testing those products at the field level, and some of those products are mar- velous. They are very promising, and it looks like they’re the next generation,” Sidhu said. These products haven’t been regis- tered for carrot production in California to date. Sidhu said that may be because the priority uses for these chemicals have been larger cash crops in California. “We are anticipating that the root crops will be the next potential target for registration of these new alternative nematicides,” she said. “And that will be huge progress.” (Kathy Coatne y i s a repor t er in Bend, Oregon. She may be contacted at kacoatney@gmail.com.)
Sometimes efficacy is high for the first and second year, then the products lose effectiveness, he said. “We still don’t have good success with finding something that really works for the organic growers,” Sidhu said. Cover cropping tomanage nematodes isn’t feasible for carrots. “It is very help- ful in other crops, but here in the valley, it’s very intensive,” Sidhu said. “One crop is gone, the next is planting, and it’s a year-round process. So, we don’t have that three months, and the time for the cover crops.” She said additional water use and costs for growing cover crops is also an issue. Meanwhile, nematode dangers for carrots are ever-present. In fact, they can affect more than 500 different crops, Sidhu said. “As far as for the nematodes, they’re also one of the major challenges for the carrot growers here. They have a huge, wide host range,” she said. “When I talk about nematodes, it’s mainly the root-knot nematode,” Sidhu explained. “Root-knot nematodes are the most important plant-parasitic nema- todes affecting carrots in California. In particular, the Southern root-knot nem- atode and the Javanese root-knot nema- tode are widespread throughout Central
Vegetable crops advisor Jaspreet Sidhu, right, says root knot infec- tions can reduce yields and result in hairy, less-marketable carrots.
and Southern California, especially in light texture soils.” Because fumigation is challenging to use, other alternatives are being studied, Sidhu said. Sidhu said research is looking at an integrated-management, holistic ap- proach. Also, resistant varieties would be one of the components for managing these diseases. In the past decade, progress has been made in breeding varieties resistant to nematodes. The lead researchers are
Phil Roberts at UC Riverside, a n d Ph i l i p p
Photo/ University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
Simon with the U.S. Department of AgricultureAgricultural ResearchService inWisconsin. To date, no commercial cultivars with root-knot nematode resistance are available for the California industry. But, Sidhu said, “Dr. Roberts is working with the resistance breeding from dif- ferent breeding lines that they acquired from different parts of the world, and
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10 Ag Alert February 2, 2022
Supply chain issues inspire growth in meat processing ByChing Lee
and rancher in the last eight years,”Hough said. “Ourconclusionisweneedtoshiftour participationintheprocessingandretail to be sustainableona long-termbasis.” He described opportunities for smaller plants that can accommodate nichemar- kets such as religious-based processing and specialty meats, which large proces- sors don’t serve. He said he’s also consid- ering processing locally raised sheep and goats for ethnicmarkets. Business risks involve not just the cattle market but rising production costs on the farm, especially for feed, he said. Cost to construct the plant has also jumped 20% fromthe initialbudget ayearago, henoted. Jonathan Huseman of Stockton Beef Packing is trying to build a plant in north central Texas that slaughters andprocesses 100headaday. Located inoneof the state’s maindairyregions,theplantwillbe“wellpo- sitionedgeographically”tohandledairycull cowsandsmallcow-calfoperations,hesaid. But rising cost of materials, their avail- ability and financing continue to pose “considerable risk toentry,”hesaid. Trying toobtainorganic certification for the facil- itypresentsadditional headwinds, hesaid. Two officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture say the Biden administra- tion has made it a top priority to diversify the nation’s processing capacity for meat and poultry. They joined in the webinar topromote anew federal guaranteed loan program and other efforts to strengthen the food-supply chain and make it more secure and resilient. President Biden issued an executive order last July to promote competition in the U.S. economy and funding from the AmericanRescue PlanAct. “Wehaveaonce-in-a-generationoppor- tunity toensure that farmers and ranchers haveaccess tobettermarket choicesandto buildour local and regional foodsystems,” saidKaramaNeal, administrator of USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Services. The Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan programuses $100million from the American Rescue Plan Act to back near- ly $1.4 billion in guaranteed loans. The program helps finance working capital, equipment and other investments in the middle of the food-supply chain, specif- ically activities such as aggregating, pro- cessing, manufacturing, storage, trans- porting, wholesaling or food distribution. Nineteen percent of the loan program is reserved for meat and poultry processing projects. Loan fundscouldsupport startup or expansion activities. The federal government will guarantee loans made by commercial lenders, so that if there is a loss on a lender, the gov- ernment would step in and implement its guarantee, said Mark Brodziski, deputy administrator of USDA Rural Business- Cooperative Service. “With the guarantee, the lender has sig- nificant riskmitigated,”he said, saying that could lead to opportunities for higher or larger loan amounts from lenders. (ChingLeeisanassistanteditorofAgAlert. Shemaybe contactedat clee@cfbf.com.)
The pandemic exposed and exacerbat- ed vulnerabilities in the U.S. food-supply chain, creating disruptions. But it may have also ushered in a new era for meat processing by creatingmarket opportuni- ties for smaller producers. One focus has been on capturing niche andhigh-valuemarkets inwhich custom- ers favor a more farm-to-table approach to their food. Tom Tomich, founder of the Food Systems Lab at University of California, Davis, said researchers there have started work this month identifying meat char- acteristics for which consumers will pay. Theyarealso lookingathowtodeliver food in a system that people can trust and that raises profits for farmers, ranchers and meat processors. Hesharedrecommendations fordiversi- fyingandexpandingfood-processingcapa- bility inthestateduringawebinar lastweek on “ExpandingMarket Opportunities for Meat Processing.” The forumwas co-host- ed by the California FarmBureau, among other agricultural groups. “We believe that greater local and re- gional access to processing in high-value markets can increase profits by supplying chefs, medical centers, sports venues and other urban consumers,” Tomich said. UCresearchershavebeenlookingat “re- gional complexities” in the North Coast and the Sacramento Valley, Tomich said. The goal is to develop profitable business modelsandmarketingstrategies inthe two regions with the hope of expanding them across the state, he said. Theproject builds on research theFood SystemsLabpublishedlast year.Thestudy, titled “A New Era for Meat Processing in California,” found insufficient local and regional processing capacity for livestock andpoultry, especially inmore remote ar- eas “where we need grazing to reduce fire risk,” Tomich said. Because of “very limited” access to federally certifiedmeat processing, small andmid-sized producers turn to “various policy and legal workarounds” that lead to “complex inspection requirements” for meat that create bottlenecks, he noted. At the local level, multiple jurisdictions withconflictingwater andsolid-waste reg- ulationsmake it expensive, time consum- ingand“virtually impossible” tobuildnew plants or upgrade existing ones, he said. Two livestock producers shared their perspectives intrying todevelopmid-sized meat-processing facilities for their region. Theydescribedtherisks they face fromcat- tlemarket volatility, inflationarypressures andmarket entry barriers. Becausemanysmallbutchershavegone out of business during the past 20 years, Jesse Hough of Nebraska Beef and Lamb said there is now limited capacity to serve producers who want custom slaughter or tomarket their product as farm-to-table. Such supply-chain issues, he said, drove himto consider vertical integration. “Profitmarginshaveshiftedtothebenefit of theprocessorandretailerfromthefarmer
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