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fun and your whole family can come out and the kids love it,”Mebane said. Murray characterized the work Kern County YF&R does as parallel to what programs such as Leadership Bakersfield do, by adopting a cause and then contrib- uting to it. He described members of the group as “clear-eyedprofessionals”with a passion for agriculture, andapplauded the work they do. With “a graying of farmers” and “an exodus from the farms,” Murray stressed the importance of cultivating leadership in the next generation of farm- ers who could continue the legacy. “I know FarmBureau is very apprecia- tiveof theyoung farmersandranchersand the contributions that they make toward thebetterment of thewholeorganization,” he added. Despite challenges fromthe pandemic, Mebanesaidhergrouphas still foundways to remain active this year, such as by help- ing a local organization obtain produce to fill food boxes for the needy. Members also volunteered to helppack boxes of the donatedfood,whichwere thendistributed throughout the community. “I think COVID has made our YF&R groups get very creative with how they give back,” whether by drive-through din- ners or other fundraisingmeans, she said. “Whenwe come out of this, I think every- one’s going tohit the ground runningwith doing stuff, because we’re all kind of tired of being locked up.” (ChingLeeisanassistanteditorofAgAlert. Shemaybe contactedat clee@cfbf.com.)
groupmakes recommendations on what to plant and helps with upkeep and har- vest, if needed, she noted. Its most recent garden project was for the Boys and Girls Club of Lamont. “Wedon’t justbuildthegardenandthen walk away. We make sure that they know what they’redoingandareable tosucceed with our gardens,”Mebane said. Thefirstgardenthegroupbuiltwasforthe BakersfieldHomelessCenter, theonlyshel- ter inKernCountyforwomenandchildren. Praising the“intensework”KernCounty YF&Rdid to erect the three-tiered garden, Cindy Lyday, external affairs manager at the center, said the garden has since be- come part of the center’s afterschool cur- riculum for the children it houses. Shedescribed the “beautiful day”when the children finally harvested crops from the gardenandmade salads fromthe veg- etables, as it showed them food doesn’t need to come from the grocery store and that they can grow their own. The hope, she said, is that these lessonswill “instill in them that knowledge and that power that ‘I don’t have to be food insecure.’” Noreen Barthelmes, pr incipal of Downtown El ementar y School in Bakersfield, which received help from Kern County YF&R with its school gar- den in 2018, said she had wanted to add greenery and beauty to the campus for a long time, but the small, inner-city school lacked themoney and staffing to establish
Kern County YF&R holds an annual cherry-picking competition at Murray Family Farms, with the cherries donated to food banks, though this year’s event had to be canceled due to the pandemic.
a garden in what she called “our urban concrete jungle.” She noted YF&Rmembers donated cit- rus trees, potting soil, planters fashioned fromwinebarrels, andother plantingma- terials and supplies to construct the gar- den. They also provided manpower and knowledge to get the project started. “We’re so appreciative of the partner- shipbetween thiswonderful organization and our parents and our staff, because we couldhaveneverpulled thisoff ourselves,” Barthelmes said. “Without this partner- ship, thiswouldhaveneverbeenpossible.” Barthelmes alsoexpressedgratitude for thesupportYF&Rmembershavegiventhe school by checking in tohelpmaintain the gardenbypruning trees, “skills that I don’t have at school,” she said. Mebane noted all the gardens mem- bers helped build continue to thrive, even
through thepandemic, as recipientsof the gardens have had staff or other volunteers helpmaintain them, including the school garden while the school is not in session. She said she’s encouraged by the status of the gardens, as it shows the recipients “wanted it and they knowhow to run it.” But COVID-19 has disrupted many of the YF&R group’s regular activities. Most of themhad to be canceled, including the annual farmers market, food drives and in-personmeetings, the most popular of which is held at Murray Family Farms, where members each spring participate in cherry-picking competitions and then donate the fruit to local foodbanks. Farmer SteveMurray,whorunsanagritourismop- eration, typically gives a tour of his farm, allowing the young farmers to learnabout aspects of that business. “It’s one of themeetings that most peo- ple always come to, because it’s so much
CALIFORNIA IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM CIMIS REPORT | www.cimis.water.ca.gov
For the week October 8 - October 14, 2020 ETO (INCHES/WEEK)
YEAR
3.0
THIS YEAR
2.5
LAST YEAR AVERAGE YEAR
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
MACDOEL II (236)
BIGGS (244)
DAVIS (06)
MANTECA (7O)
FIREBAUGH (7)
SALINAS-SOUTH (214)
FIVE POINTS (2)
SHAFTER (5)
TEMECULA (62)
IMPERIAL (87)
THIS YEAR LAST YEAR AVG. YEAR % FROM AVG.
.74 .75 .74 0
.93 1.06 .98 -3
1.11 1.25 1.08 3
1.04 1.16 .95 8
.87 .99 .84 5
1.06 1.28 1.02 3
.96 1.10 .96 1
.96 1.05 .89 9
.90 1.09 .98 -8
1.25 1.36 1.25 0
W eekly reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is the rate of water use (evapotranspiration—the sum of soil evaporation and crop transpiration) for healthy pasture grass. Multiplying ETo by the appropriate “crop coefficient” gives estimates of the ET for other crops. For example, assume ETo on June 15 is 0.267 inches and the crop coefficient for corn on that day is 1.1. Multiplying ETo by the coefficient (0.26 inches x 1.1) results in a corn ET of 0.29 inches. This
information is useful in determining the amount and timing of irriga- tion water. Contact Richard Snyder, UC Davis, for information on coefficients, 530-752-4628. The 10 graphs provide weekly ETo rates for selected areas for average year, last year and this year. The ETo information is provided by the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) of the California Department of Water Resources.
For information contact the DWR district office or DWR state headquarters:
SACRAMENTO HEADQUARTERS: 916-651-9679 • 916-651-7218
NORTHERN REGION: Red Bluff 530-529-7301
NORTH CENTRAL REGION: West Sacramento 916-376-9630
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION:
SOUTHERN REGION:
Fresno 559-230-3334
Glendale 818-500-1645 x247 or x243
16 Ag Alert October 21, 2020
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