From the Fields ®
To contribute to From the Fields, submit your name, county of membership and contact information to agalert@cfbf.com.
Dick Peixoto Santa Cruz County vegetable farmer
John Pierson Solano County rancher
We transitioned our production from the desert to the Pajaro Valley about the first week of April. A lot of the leafy greens, lettuce, spinach, cilantro, chards, kales, collards and bok choy have suffered from the excess rain. We put the seed in the ground in January and couldn’t get in for a month. It would rain every five to six days, so the ground never dried out. We couldn’t cultivate, couldn’t fertilize, couldn’t spray. People think when the rain is over, then all of a sudden, the crop is going to be better. But the crop has stunted growth. They’re not the normal-looking product we’re used to. It’s been a battle this spring even for our pest control, like with the beneficial habitats that we plant to attract beneficials. The beneficial activity hasn’t been what it normally is. It was so wet that a lot of the plants didn’t survive the winter. Normally by April, the good bugs are pretty active going after the bad bugs. But that’s not really happening yet. They’re just now building a population for the natural beneficials that we rely on. Their populations are getting built back up to where they can fight the battle for us. It’s been overcast all week in the low 60s. The 70s would be the best (for crop growth). The problem is not so much the cold weather as much as the wet weather. Even a couple weeks ago, we got rain, and that slowed us some more, so it’s really frustrating. Markets are up because supplies are down. It’s not just us; it’s across the board. Everybody’s struggling because we all have the same weather through the Salinas Valley down to King City, which is where most of the production comes from right now. We all suffer from the same rain and cold weather. I think we’re still about two or three weeks from getting into good, normal product.
The pasture conditions in this area are great. We’ve had the right amount of rain. We’ve had warm weather but on the cool side, and the grasses have grown really well. I’ve got one field that I’m going to put the cows in, and think I’m going to lose them because the grass is so deep. It’s up to about my mid body. Mother Nature has done good for us. We’re cleaning up the weeds around areas where you don’t want tall weeds— in around the barn, in the corrals where the cows can’t get to the grass. We have to do that by hand. We probably won’t need to irrigate until the middle of May. Almost all our fields are irrigated. The water thing has gotten to be a nightmare, as far as irrigation and the things that they’re doing on the water boards. I thought we owned water. I thought we owned our ground. Now they’re looking at the wells. Why does the government get to own our ground? The cattle prices are up. We’re getting more per pound, and we’re get- ting more per animal, but we’re also paying more for everything that we use, that we have to buy. The fuel is terrible. The price of a pickup—who- ever thought you’d have to spend $100,000 on a pickup? Last year, hay was $200, $300 for volunteer hay. Normally in good years, it would’ve been $80. After the summer broke in and everybody realized they had so much hay, the price dropped. The cattle are getting along pretty good. They’re on a regular vaccination pro- gram, so ours are fairly healthy. We’ve had good luck this year. I can’t complain about that.
Celeste Alonzo Riverside County vegetable grower
We just started harvesting sweet corn, green beans and shishito peppers. Very soon we will begin bell pepper harvest. Our corn harvest ends about Memorial Day weekend, and green bean harvest is three to four weeks. Because of COVID, it was two years of bad markets. It has taken a while, but we are seeing prog- ress. I feel like we’re starting to get out of those dark clouds where there was not a lot of demand. The markets have been steady lately, and so far, there are good projections for this season. This is the first year we didn’t sell corn at the local music festivals. The organizers were taking a 43% commission and brought in a lot of vendors, so it dilutes your profit even more. It goes back to COVID, so I don’t blame them for trying to get their money back. The state and our agricultural commissioner have done a good job containing the fruit fly to the west side of the county. I’m grateful for the work they did because we were worried. It could have affected us, and we could have lost our harvest. It can still affect our valley, but they’ve done a good job of containing the threat. Related to water, we rely on Colorado River water, and we’re on our toes with what is going to hap- pen with this new contract. California is probably going to receive 10% less of its allocation, so it is scary for my brother and myself, being the younger generation. If we don’t have water, we can’t grow. This was our first season applying pesticides with our new drone. My brother got his drone pilot license, which involved the local, state and federal levels. There were many hoops to go through, but it’s really been cool to see my brother flying the drone. We will probably see our return on investment in the first year or two.
4 Ag Alert May 1, 2024
Powered by FlippingBook