Ag Alert. May 24, 2023

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.

Lettuce hopes Can crop thrive anew after flooding, disease?

Ag Alert returns June 7 Ag Alert ® publishes 46 times a year and will be on hiatus next week (May 31). Our next issue will be published June 7. In the meantime, check the California Farm Bureau Facebook and Twitter feeds, and the Ag Alert and California Farm Bureau websites at www.agalert.com and www.cfbf.com for breaking news.

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Trees & Vines ® Dairy & Livestock ®

special reports

By Ching Lee Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld California’s Proposition 12, out- of-state producers of pork, eggs and veal have decisions to make: Change their op- erations to comply with the law’s animal housing requirements or stop selling their products in California. Many California producers grappled with similar decisions in 2008, when California voters passed Proposition 2, which mandated changes to how certain farm animals were housed. Farms that decided to stay in the business complied. For this reason, impacts of Proposition 12, which voters approved in 2018, now fall primarily on producers outside California. Commercial hog and veal operations re- main scarce in the state, while eggs were already largely regulated, said California Farm Bureau policy advocate Katie Little. The May 11 Supreme Court de- cision “definitely puts some finality to” California’s ability to implement Proposition 12, Little said. The 5-to-4 rul- ing allows the state to ban the sale of pork, eggs and veal from farm animals housed in spaces that do not meet the law’s mini- mum requirements: Egg-laying hens must be cage-free. Housing for breeding pigs needs at least 24 square feet of space, and veal calves must receive at least 43 square feet of space. Out-of-state pork producers argued that complying with the law would require them to make new capital investments es- timated at $3,500 per sow if they wish to sell their products in California, which imports almost all the pork it consumes. The Golden State enjoys a 13% share of the U.S. consumer pork market, making it economically infeasible for many pork producers to exit the California market. Because of the interconnected nature of the U.S. pork industry, all or most hog farmers would be forced to comply with the state’s requirements. There’s also no practical way for processors to separate product raised for California. See COURT, Page 13 High court rejects challenge to state farm animal law

Peter de Jong, owner of Cloverdale Dairy in Hanford, stands with a herd that returned to the property after more than 5,000 animals were evacuated amid heavy rains and flooding in March. Employees furloughed following the storms are returning to work.

Dairies are returning to work after floods

By Lisa McEwen Dairy operators in Tulare and Kings counties say they are thankful to return to the normal rhythms of feeding, milk- ing and calving after historic flooding in March burst levees and forced dairies to rapidly evacuate their cows. The resumption of dairy activities is welcome news in two neighboring coun- ties where milk and milk products are top

commodities. Tulare County is the state’s leading milk and milk products producer. Kings County ranks fourth. Peter de Jong, owner of Cloverdale Dairy in Hanford, evacuated 5,000 cat- tle over two days in pouring rain in March, a feat he and his staff say they never want to repeat. After spend- ing most of April fortifying the Kings County dairy with 1.5 miles of elevated

permanent berms, de Jong has slowly brought his livestock back. He said he expects his remaining 350 cattle to return soon from a relative’s dairy. With the waters of the resurgent Tulare Lake lapping a shoreline a few miles from his dairy, de Jong is cautious when speak- ing about the epic Sierra Nevada snow- melt. Some of that will flow into Cross

See DAIRIES, Page 5

n e w s p a p e r

Comment.......................................2 Trees & Vines...........................7-8 Dairy & Livestock...............11-12 Classifieds........................... 18-19 Inside

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Advances for farms, workers blocked by a 1977 rule

By Bryan Little California’s high concentration of tech inventors and engineers, venture capital

autonomous agricultural vehicles—none but California, home of the Silicon Valley technology hub and America’s largest ag- ricultural production state. At its March meeting in Los Angeles, California Occupational Safety & Health Standards Board denied a request to even bring together stakeholders, including farmers, tech entrepreneurs, engineers and farm employee advocates, to begin talking about how autonomous technolo- gy can be deployed safely. Empaneling such an advisory committee might result in regulatory proposals, which could be beneficial if all stakeholders reach a consensus around safe-use practices. My hope is that such a discussion could be pro- ductive, perhaps allowing for some excep- tion to 1977 rules for advanced machinery or for setting minimum safety-practice stan- dards for the use of such technology. It’s truly unfortunate that so-called worker advocates adamantly oppose an advisory committee, taking a position that there is no way such technology can be safely used. They used their considerable influence before the Cal/OSHA standards board to ensure no conversations even oc- cur to discuss how such technology can be properly deployed. The California Farm Bureau and oth- er organizations representing our state’s farmers and ranchers are ready to sit down with our labor and regulator counterparts to talk about how autonomous agricultural technologies can be used with appropriate safeguards. Preventing the progress—and safety—offered by these advancements is not the answer. (Bryan Little is director of employment policy for California Farm Bureau and chief operating officer of Farm Employers Labor Service, or FELS. He may be contacted at blittle@cfbf.com.)

firms and farmers are only beginning to imagine the ways autonomous tech- nology can bring new efficiency to agriculture, contin- ue improvements in farm safety and boost earnings. It’s the story of the last

An autonomous tractor that requires no driver on board is equipped to work in vineyards. But its use clashes with a ‘70s order requiring an operator at the vehicular controls.

Bryan Little

500 years of human history, writ small in a California lettuce field or a strawberry patch. Autonomous or remote-controlled tractors can perform many of the tasks that farmers use tractors for now, from towing an air-blast sprayer through an or- chard to hauling bins of hand-harvested winegrapes from a vineyard to a winery. Yet, sadly, the prowess offered by driverless tractors is being blocked by state regulators under pressure from labor groups seeking to exploit antiquated rules to advance a false argument over saving jobs. These technologies increase safety be- cause they do not require a tractor driver, who normally would have to worry about protective clothing and a properly fitted respirator. Autonomous tractors or sprayers or weeders rely on GPS coordinates, visual recognition technology, laser-based detec- tion of objects and obstacles, infrared sen- sors and other tech to guide them through rows of orchards or vineyards. Their visual detection technology can spot-check the health of trees and vines and precisely tar- get a chemical application. Autonomous weeders are already in use, employing visual recognition to separate newly sprouted lettuce from weeds and us- ing lasers to burn weeds down to the root,

removing the need for large crews of field workers wielding hoes or bending over seed beds to distinguish between sprouts and weeds. This technology can be applied to assis- tive devices such as so-called mules, small electric vehicles that can follow a strawber- ry picker into a row and transport a full bin back to the end of the row to be checked in, examined for quality and recorded to en- sure the picker receives appropriate credit when picking on a piece-rate. This spares the picker the physical burden of carrying each full bin to the end of the row, which adds rest and helps maximize earnings. Yet the California Labor Federation and other purported advocates for work- ers assert that autonomous technology will eliminate jobs. Never mind that the California Employment Development Department tells us California has only about half as many tractor drivers as it needs. Labor unions and advocates also assert that such technology is dangerous to employees. Never mind that a driver is ob- viously safer when not even on the tractor.

The benefits of autonomy in agriculture are, unfortunately, being stymied by a nearly 50-year-old regulation dating to the groovy decade of the 1970s. General Industry Safety Order 3441(b) of 1977 was implemented to provide for safe operation of furrow-guided tractors creeping through fields at 2 miles per hour, not high-tech tractors or weeders. The regulation requires that all “self-pro- pelled equipment shall, when under its own power and in motion, have an oper- ator stationed at the vehicular controls.” The regulation describes detailed safe- ty requirements for such tractors carrying harvesting platforms, seedling planters and other equipment that typically would have people working in close proximity. Steering controls are to be provided in an alternative location on the tractor if the tractor relies on furrow steering. Yet autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles had not been dreamed of when this regulation was written. They cannot comply with operator requirements of the 1977 or- der because they require no operator. No other state or nation regulates

VOL. 50, NO. 20

May 24, 2023

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2 Ag Alert May 24, 2023

Farmers seek rebound after floods, virus hit lettuce crop

“Most are remaining optimistic because we now have water instead of drought, so the future outlook is improved for several years.” Nonetheless, lettuce growers in the county have endured multiple years of hardships, with impatiens necrotic spot virus, or INSV, causing an estimated $100 million in crop losses in 2020 and even greater losses in 2022. “It’s always about expecting the un- expected,” said Mark Mason, manager of Nature’s Reward, which farms 9,000

acres stretching from the Spreckels area of Salinas south to Soledad, with about 60% planted as various lettuces. In the face of crop challenges, Mason said Nature’s Reward has stepped up plantings in recent years and increased acreage. “This year is up there be- cause we were hit in so many ways,” he said. “It’s not just one problem; it’s multiple problems.” After a winter of accelerated weed

By Caitlin Fillmore Things were challenging enough for lettuce growers in Monterey County’s Salinas Valley before Mother Nature dealt a one-two punch in this year’s storms. Farmers in 2022 had suffered an es- timated $150 million in crop losses as impatiens necrotic spot virus—a destructive plant disease spread by thrips—moved from field to field. Then this year, vast flooding from at- mospheric storms damaged multiple crops, with lettuce growers suffering an additional $54.4 million in losses, accord- ing to figures released by the Monterey County agricultural commissioner. The flooding is seriously testing let- tuce farmers growing the signature crop in the Salinas Valley, renowned as “the Salad Bowl of the World.” “We’re pretty dejected,” said Ryan Kelly, vice president and general man- ager of Boutonnet Farms. “Just getting your butt kicked all the time.” Early this month, Boutonnet Farms was still replenishing topsoil washed away by a deep channel that ripped through farmland between Chualar and Castroville. “We have a channel flowing through two of our ranches,” said Kelly, who oversees 4,600 specialty crop acres, of which 2,200 is iceberg, romaine and mixed lettuce greens. “Any ground that was flooded, it’s going to be a struggle to get a lettuce crop off of it. It’s go- ing to take a pretty significant amount of time.” For lettuce growers, flood impacts can last months, as food safety regula- tions for leafy greens require farmers to destroy crops exposed to floodwa- ters and then test the soil for pathogens before replanting the fields a month or two later. All told, flooding in January and March caused $600 million in agricul- tural damage in Monterey County, with 15,507 acres of farm fields flooded in January and 8,736 in March. “This has proven to be one of the most difficult winters many of our growers and communities have expe- rienced in our area,” Monterey County Agricultural Commissioner Juan Hidalgo said in a statement as he re- leased the latest damage accounting this month. Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau, said the county toll could hit $1 billion because the current figures “don’t include every damaged farm” because data submis- sion was voluntary. “There will be more expenses to reme- diate flooded fields, repair equipment and fix levees,” Groot said. But Groot is quick to point out that the vast majority of lettuce acreage in Monterey County, which normally

accounts for $1.2 billion in annual pro- duction, was spared from flooding. He also noted that growers this year will have an ample water supply for the planting and growing season. “Many of our growers have fields that were not impacted by flooding and are currently in production,” Groot said.

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Lettuce Continued from Page 3

Floodwaters inundate farm fields, left, in Monterey County in March. Below, a lettuce crop falls victim to impatiens necrotic spot virus, a plant disease that caused con- siderable losses to the region’s lettuce farmers last year.

growth from the rains, he worries about a return of INSV, which is spread by millimeter-long thrips that feed on vegetation such as weeds and transmit the virus to delicate crops, especially lettuce. “We’ve had it every year for the last five years and we’re already seeing it,” Mason said. “How can we not have it? It’s not a problem we can spray our way out of.” Early intervention and cool tem- peratures, which lasted this year well into the spring, are most effective to control thrips. “Because of the cold, wet weather we had this winter, we are starting the season with a low thrips popula- tion, which should bode well for INSV risks,” said Jennifer Clarke, executive director of the California Leafy Greens Research Board. But there are still concerns as the sea- son progresses. “The wet weather has

Photo/Caleb Hampton

presented challenges in weed manage- ment, and the management of weeds is a critical component to managing INSV,” Clarke said. Kelly of Boutonnet Farms is watching

INSV and the fungus that causes verticil- lium wilt in lettuce, as well as water-mold threats from pythium wilt. Pythium wilt and INSV can join forc- es to impact vast acreages of lettuce. In 2020 and 2022, the combination result- ed in total crop losses for some Salinas Valley lettuce farmers. Those crop threats complicate plant- ing decisions, particularly when adding in flooding impacts, Kelly said. “You go into a year to place crops where they will be best suited to with- stand those pressures, and then you get a flooding event like you had this year and those plans go right out the win- dow,” he said. “There’s ground this year I planned to get two crops on and I may only get one.” Instead of preparing fields in 60 days for a new crop, Kelly’s teams are at- tempting to do it in 15 days, he said. This demands tinkering with blends of fertilizers and pesticides to nurture the new crop while the previous one is still decomposing. “We’re grading on a curve this year,” Kelly said. “We have to look at things through the lens of, ‘Yes, they don’t look as good as I’m normally used to, given an extreme amount of challenges we have to work around.’” Some smaller farmers do not have the same resources to facilitate speedy crop recovery, or any recovery at all, Groot said. “Many of our growers are continuing

to produce on fields that were not im- pacted by flooding, but many small growers and farms are not able to re- cover their losses in the same manner,” Groot said. “Overall, we may experience some financial stress on these small farms as they work to get their fields back into production.” Groot said some smaller operations may have to lease out land to larger ones that can spread out costs over larger acreage. After the string of catastrophic events, Kelly said he is encountering a new chal- lenge in the marketplace: doubt. He is having to assure skeptics as he promises to deliver a successful crop. “We’ve had a couple of folks come to us and say, ‘We don’t think there is any way you can make your (crop) com- mitments with all the damage that has happened,’” Kelly said. “My response has always been, ‘Watch me.’ We didn’t get to where we’re at by being quitters.” Mason of Nature’s Reward also felt the heat in late April as he was moving for- ward with the saturated ground he had to work with. “There comes a time when we run out of ground we can plant and it does worry us,” he said. “But we are getting out in the fields. We are planting. We have contracts to fill for our buyers.” (Caitlin Fillmore is a reporter based in Monterey County. She may be contacted at cslhfillmore@gmail.com.)

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4 Ag Alert May 24, 2023

Dairies Continued from Page 1

“We haven’t seen any huge spikes yet in diseases,” he said. “That’s part of our job— keeping our eye out for any disease asso- ciated with flooding.” According to the California Dairy Quality Assurance Program, those dis- eases can include blackleg, anthrax and leptospirosis. Flooding can increase pop- ulations of nematodes and other para- sites such as snails hosting liver flukes. Kings County Farm Bureau Executive Director Dusty Ference said much more flooding is anticipated. More than 77,300 acres are underwater in the county, the majority of which is cotton, safflower and wheat ground. Including nonpermitted land, that number stands at 103,698 acres. The Kings County Agricultural Commissioner’s office estimated crop losses at $300 million. “It appears that at least part of Tulare Lake will exist for the next year and may- be longer,” Ference said. “That means far fewer planted acres and on-farm jobs. That will impact our local economy great- ly. The cleanup after this is said and done is going to be a huge project with a huge price tag.” De Jong of Hanford estimated he spent at least $150,000 on dirt work during the past few months. Looking ahead, he said he will continue to check berms for seep- age and be ready to evacuate if necessary. “With lake bottom coming up, we have weeks to consider our plans,” he said. One solace is that he and fellow farmers have ample water for growing feed crops. “It means we will have a ready supply of feed coming,” he said. “We are able to restock on feed at more reasonable pric- es, putting some up for the lean years to come.” (Lisa McEwen is a reporter in Tulare County. She may be contacted at mcewenlisamarie@gmail.com.)

Creek not far from his dairy. It is expected to peak in June and July. “I just don’t know what’s going to hap- pen,” he said. “But at least this time we will have more time to react. Our berms will keep the water away. It all just de- pends on how fast the lake fills.” De Jong is a 10th-generation dairy farmer who moved from Southern California with his wife, Ingrid, in 1995. He recalls the Tulare Lake bed refilling in 1998. But he said, “I’ve never seen any- thing like this.” Although electric pumps continued removing water from low-lying land in front of the dairy, the regular tasks of running a dairy were on full display last week. Wheat silage and oat hay, plant- ed late but growing on land that was not flooded, was being harvested. Six of the eight workers who had been laid off were back on payroll. “We are farming, we are dairying,” de- Jong said. He said he anticipates being back at full staff once the last heifers arrive. About 1,000 acres are still too wet for planting. Additionally, he lost 2,200 acres of wheat that was being grown for silage when the fields flooded in March. During that time, he and his staff relocated 240 truckloads of hay to a neighboring dairy. Manager George Wilgenburg was di- recting trucks at the entrance. “We had cattle and feed trucks com- ing in and out in heavy rain,” Wilgenburg said. “It was a total logjam of traffic. But fortunately, we didn’t lose any cattle due to flooding.” To the southeast in Tulare County, dairy farmer Joseph Goni of Tulare was forced to evacuate his cows after Lake Success exceeded its capacity and a levee burst on the Tule River in the middle of the night. Now he is focused on recovery. “It’s been a roller coaster,” said Goni, owner of Lerda-Goni Farms. “But

Peter de Jong shows how high floodwaters were at his dairy in Kings County. More than 77,300 acres of farmland remain underwater this month, according to the Kings County Farm Bureau.

we’re getting there. The cows are back. Production is back somewhat. The cows are happy to be home. I’m happy to be home. All things considered, we’re fight- ing one day at a time.” Goni, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, said he is navigating government assis- tance programs to try to recoup some of his losses amid harvesting wheat, paying bills for cattle hauling, repairing fences and fixing roads. Geoff Vanden Heuvel, director of regulatory and economic affairs at the Milk Producers Council, a nonprofit or- ganization representing dairy families throughout California, said while some challenges remain for impacted dairies and a few have ceased operations due to flooding, the rest of the industry contin- ues to operate as normal. “We are learning a lot from this wet year, and those lessons will be very valu- able to all of us in the future,” he said, adding that canal maintenance is a criti- cal component of managing floodwaters and needs to be addressed. Ten minutes west of Goni’s family farm, the California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab in Tulare is also recovering after floodwaters inundated its two-sto- ry basement, which housed not only lab

equipment but the building’s operation control system. Todd Cornish, branch chief, said the lab conducts livestock and avian testing and research, as well as the majority of the system’s commercial dairy services. It was closed for more than a month. Local dairy operators had to turn to the Turlock or San Bernardino labs for help. It has since temporarily relocated to its former site inside the Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center, run next door by the University of California, Davis. “The month that we were down, it meant that dairies did not have us with- in an hour or two of their premises when they were experiencing sick or dead cows,” he said. “To transport them meant a lot more work for them.” To compensate, staff conducted phone consultations and started a field necrop- sy service with two teams. “Life is a bit more challenging for dairymen and our staff in diagnosing an- imal health problems, but there is a big push to get us back up to speed as soon as possible,” Cornish said. He said evacuated cattle experience stress when moving from wet to dry con- ditions, which can open doors for disease.

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May 24, 2023 Ag Alert 5

A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ® CALIFORNIA Trees & Vines ®

Winegrape acreage fans out in Monterey County’s Santa Lucia Highlands, including the vineyards of Mer Soleil, foreground. The region has become renowned for growing pinot noir and chardonnay.

Monterey County winds a blow to area wine tourism

By Caitlin Fillmore In marketing its wine region, including vineyards from the Pacific shores to the Santa Lucia Highlands and Salinas Valley, the Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association highlights evocative phrases to depict the coastal geography and climate. One of the deepest underwater ravines on the West Coast lies off Monterey Bay. Vintners say these cool depths, called the Blue Grand Canyon, deliver a dependable, cool fog most every morning. They say strong, consistent winds push the fog through the valley’s natural funnel, gradually warming to produce the region’s “thermal rain- bow” of microclimates. The valley’s heat in turn encourages proper maturation of the fruit, and then the daily winds close the plant’s stomata, a winegrape leaf structure similar to pores on the skin. When the stomata are closed, photosynthesis stops and winegrapes can slowly develop on the vine. “Our plants get enough heat to ripen, but we have this prolonged season,” said Kim Stemler, executive director for the vintners and growers association. “That is really good for the phenolic development of the fruit and the ripening. There is such a big, diurnal shift throughout the day. The fruit we have here really likes that pattern.” Monterey County has more than 42,000 acres of planted vineyards, more than some

of its far more famous coastal wine-producing neighbors. It cultivates more than 50 different varietals, from Albariño to Zinfandel. But the county’s climate, particularly its winds, can create some challenging con- tradictions for a wine region trying to build its brand and attract more tourism. Some winegrape producers say they fear the same winds that push the fog and help cool vineyard leaves can also discourage winery construction and dissuade tourists who may not want to sip fine wine varietals in gusty settings. “It’s not a breeze, it’s 15 to 20 knots. It’s a nuisance for people who might not otherwise be used to it,” said Steve McIntyre, owner of McIntyre Vineyards and Kimberly Vineyard. He is a 40-year wine industry veteran farming 12,000 acres in several viticulture areas of Monterey County, including the Santa Lucia Highlands, Arroyo Seco, San Bernabe and Hames Valley. “It’s so windy every afternoon, it discourages developers and wineries that want to establish a hospitality element,” McIntyre said. The vintners and growers association website features a photo on its “visit” page of a laughing woman with hair visibly sweeping around her face. With winds blowing through the picturesque wine country, in “over three decades of See WINE, Page 8

May 24, 2023 Ag Alert 7

Wine Continued from Page 7

our tasting room and hospitality, we never had a customer come to the tasting room and the Salinas Valley and marvel at the beauty,” quipped Jason Smith, president and CEO of Valley Farm Management. The firm oversees 800 acres of vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands. “My standing joke is that a lot of the time you have to do that behind a sliding glass door,” Smith added. Smith’s parents, Rich and Claudia Smith, were among the first modern vint- ners to explore the Santa Lucia Highlands, where Spanish missionaries planted grapes long ago. The Smiths started Paraiso Vineyards in 1990. A tasting room and winery in Soledad followed in 2005. “My parents started the winery to showcase our great Monterey wines, and others followed,” Smith said. The Santa Lucia Highlands is now win- ning acclaim for its pinot noir and char- donnay. In the rugged, remote Cachagua region, vineyards grow robust red wines such as Bordeaux and merlot. On the oth- er side of the mountain, gravelly soils of the Arroyo Seco region produce a sau- vignon blanc known for high minerality and acidity. Stemler said Monterey County ranks as the largest grower of pinot noir and “premium, coastal, cool-weather char- donnay” in the state and the second

Visitors tour Folktale Vineyard in Carmel Valley of Monterey County. At least 59 wineries operate in the county, but the re- gion hasn’t been able to attract wine tourism on par with neighboring Central Coast regions. Some Monterey County vintners say development of a new luxury resort and additional wineries may help.

largest grower of chardonnay. The wine sector produces $1.4 billion in economic activity for the county and pro- vides 10,491 jobs, according to a February report by the Wine Institute and California Association of Winegrape Growers. Yet those figures fall well short of goals the county set in its 2010 general plan. “We all envisioned much more de- velopment than we currently have,” McIntyre said. “On one hand, we are dis- appointed in our progress. But in other ways, we are not.” McIntyre said he is bullish on Monterey County vineyards and its wine quality.

Yet he expresses envy about the tourists that flock to more than 200 wineries in the Paso Robles area of San Luis Obispo County. Santa Barbara County, with less vineyard acreage than Monterey, is also a significant wine tourism destination. In Monterey County, home to at least 59 wineries, McIntyre said he would like to see a half dozen more added to the county’s signature River Road Wine Trail to attract more visitors. McIntyre and Stemler of the vintners and growers association say they hope for development of the Paraiso Springs Resort, a proposed, long-delayed luxury lodging project that is intended to be a destination for wine tourists in the Salinas Valley.

For now, the vintners and growers asso- ciation markets the Monterey wine sector as “farmer focused” and “authentic.” For his part, McIntyre recently settled on “Cinderella” to describe the under-ap- preciated nature of the vineyards he has worked for decades. “We’re happy to be under the radar. There’s a downside to being popular,” he said. “It’s like a studio musician. They’re the highest quality musicians in the world, and you don’t know who they are. But the stars do, and the stars want to play with them.” (Caitlin Fillmore is a reporter in Monterey County. She may be contacted at cslhfillmore@gmail.com.)

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8 Ag Alert May 24, 2023

Florent Trouillas, a University of California, Davis, plant pathologist, inspects a cherry tree in Lodi. Researchers say threats may be rising for diseases in tree crops after heavy storms. Researchers probe orchards for storm-related pathogens

Researchers say the wave of atmo- spheric rivers that swept across the state this past winter has created the right con- ditions for plant pathogens that haven’t been seen for decades in California. Florent Trouillas, a plant pathologist at the University of California, Davis, said he is getting more calls from grow- ers and farm advisors concerned about potential crop damage. “Generally, whenever you have rain events, you’re going to have prob- lems,” said Trouillas, a Cooperative Extension specialist based at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier. “In wet years, we get really busy because most pathogens need and like water.” Trouillas and other researchers are working to diagnose pathogens, diseas- es and other ailments that strike fruit and nut crops such as almonds, cherries, ol- ives and pistachios. They are tracking potentially destruc- tive tree threats that may be enhanced by the 2023 storm surges. On a recent visit to an almond or- chard near Fresno, Trouillas joined Mae Culumber, a nut crops farm advi- sor in Fresno County. A few weeks earli- er, the two had walked the orchard, tak- ing note of the base of some trees that had gumming—a thick, jelly-looking substance indicating a pathogen had taken hold. “A lot of what Florent is doing is try- ing to assess patterns on a landscape,” Culumber explained. “Sometimes things may look like they are one thing, but it could be another problem.” When the two returned weeks later, the amber-colored gumming had moved into the canopy, looking like gumballs stuck to branches, some of which were already dead. “It’s getting out of control from before,” Trouillas said, noting the changes. “This branch was killed. This is widespread.”

Lab testing later confirmed what Trouillas said he believed was the culprit: Phytophthora syringae, a pathogen that can affect almond crops but is rarely seen in California. The infection is generally found in tree wounds caused by pruning. But that was not the case in this inspection: The in- fection began in the canopy at twigs, or small branches. Researchers are working to keep the pathogen from impacting California’s $5 billion annual almond crop. The last time Phytophthora syringae hit California was in the 1990s after a series of El Niño-influenced storms. “It’s rare for California and one that we see mostly following atmospheric rivers,” Trouillas said. “The disease will only happen following these extremely wet winters.” Phytophthora is soil borne, mostly found in tree roots and doesn’t generally spread up into branches. But Trouillas said the intense storms created the right conditions for the pathogen to “swim” up trunks as winds blew spores into the air and rain dropped them back down into the canopy. He said some of the trees in the or- chard he visited will die. However, he added, others can be saved by pruning infected branches and applying a rec- ommended fungicide. Besides inspecting orchards of late, Trouillas works with pest control advi- sors and others in agriculture on ways to manage potential threats and pre- vent crop damage. Trouillas typically conducts one or two site visits a week, usually after a farm ad- visor reaches out about a problem. One of those calls recently took him to a cherry orchard in Lodi. “These guys help me quite a bit,” said Andrew Vignolo, a pest control advisor

See PATHOGENS, Page 10

Vaccine use approved to protect California condors

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is taking emergency action to help protect endangered California con- dors after several have died from highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI. APHIS has approved the emergency use of HPAI vaccine in an attempt to pre- vent additional deaths of the birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ap- proached APHIS about vaccination after

a California condor was found dead in late March and then confirmed positive for HPAI at APHIS’ National Veterinary Services Laboratories. Since then, 13 condors have died and were confirmed to have had HPAI. Two others are in re- covery at a rehabilitation center. The authorized vaccine is a product conditionally licensed by APHIS Center for Veterinary Biologics in 2016. Since the vaccine has not previously

been tested against this strain of the virus in these species, the first step in the vac- cination program is a pilot safety study in North American vultures, a similar spe- cies, to investigate if there are any adverse effects before giving the vaccine to the endangered condors. The trial is funded by the Fish and Wildlife Service and will be carried out with the surrogate vultures in North Carolina beginning this month.

APHIS grants emergency-use ap- provals, which exempt products from one or more regulatory requirements normally applied to licensed vac- cines to prevent, control or eradicate animal diseases. APHIS approved this emergency vac- cination of the condors because the birds are critically endangered, closely monitored and their population is very small. Vultures and California condors are wild birds, not poultry as defined by the World Organization of Animal Health, and APHIS does not expect their vaccination to result in impacts to poultry trade. The emergency-use approval is limited to the endangered California condors. USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists continue to research vaccine options that could protect poultry from HPAI, should vaccination be necessary for additional birds in the U.S. Currently, biosecurity measures re- main the best, most effective tool for miti- gating the virus in commercial flocks, and improved biosecurity measures by the commercial industry have vastly reduced the number of detections compared to previous outbreaks.

Pathogens Continued from Page 9

who asked for a consultation. “I bug them a lot.” During the visit, Trouillas walked around the Lodi orchard where branches were dying. There was gumming, and the trees appeared stressed. Some looked to be sunburned from exposure. Old prun- ing wounds showed cankers, indicating that past disease treatments didn’t get rid of whatever was affecting the trees. Trouillas asked about the cultivar of the trees, explaining that some varieties are more susceptible to pests or diseases. He said he is focused on stress because that opens the door to disease. “I’m trying to figure out how they got infected so bad,” Trouillas said. “Bacterial canker is a very mysterious disease.” He said he thought it might be a bac- terial canker disease and shaves some bark to take to the lab for testing. He said he wants to come back next winter to take some samples to see where the pathogen is overwintering. “We’ll know in a few weeks if we have a fighting chance,” Vignolo said. The PCA said what is learned in one field can be passed on to others, provid- ing early warnings or advice for those in similar situations. “All these efforts at collaboration, from the field, to the lab, going through research projects, there’s only one goal here: to help the farmers of California,” Vignolo said. (This story was adapted from an article originally published by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis.)

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10 Ag Alert May 24, 2023

A SPECIAL PRODUCERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ® CALIFORNIA Dairy & Livestock ®

Milking cows at Lima Ranch Dairy in Lodi receive a blend of alfalfa and oat hay and corn silage. The dairy also feeds byproducts including distillers grains, whole cotton seed and ground-up bakery items.

Farm byproducts add to feed options for dairy cows By Nancy Vigran

weeks. He spends time observing the cows and analyzing their needs by age, time in their milk cycles, weather conditions and feed ingredients. He takes samples of the feed to analyze after each farm or dairy visit and makes recommendations on adjusting nutritional content as needed. The value of California milk and dairy products totaled $7.57 billion in 2021, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The Golden State remains the nation’s leading milk producer, and dairies represent California’s larg- est agricultural sector. These days, more California dairy farmers turn to agricultural byproducts for a share of their feed. In the San Joaquin Valley, home to roughly 90% of the state’s dairy cattle, byproducts became increasingly important during recent drought years, DeGroff said. “It isn’t like we had a lot of alternatives,” the dairy nutritionist said. While this year’s atmospheric storms replenished water supplies and nourished pastures, there appears to be no slowdown in the use of byproducts in feed. “Byproducts are essential,” said Rollin. Recently, he said, his cows seemed to appear bewildered when they were first See FEED, Page 12

With feed costs rising in recent years and drought conditions impacting state hay acreage, California dairies are working to provide diverse diets for their cows, including relying on agricultural byproducts for feed. At Rollin Valley Farms in Riverdale, dairy farmer Donny Rollin provides rolled corn and alfalfa hay as main staples for his cows. He also may offer almond hulls, canola, cotton seed, dried distillers grains, molasses, garlic and, this year, onions. Rollin said byproducts these days provide about 65% of the feed for his 2,150 milking cows. “We are the biggest recyclers in the whole world,” Rollin said. “There is nobody that does more than we do.” While some byproducts, such as those from corn and beans, are often used as feed in the Midwest, Fresno County offers far more abundant selections of crops from which many byproducts can be used to feed dairy cattle. Rollin said all commodities used must be approved by his dairy nutrition consultant. Rollin Valley Farms is one of nearly 20 dairies that works with Doug DeGroff, founder and owner of Diversified Dairy Solutions in Tulare. DeGroff meets with the owners or herd managers of each dairy every two to three

May 24, 2023 Ag Alert 11

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fed garlic. They soon relished it. Rollin said he is now hoping for the same result when he introduces some to onions. However, what is used to feed milking cows versus heifers can be quite different, Rollin said. Asparagus, garlic or onions could give a distinctly unfavorable flavor to a cow’s milk. As a result, they are offered only to heifers. For his milking cows, Rollin said he sticks with byproducts that don’t alter the flavor or smell of the milk. When searching for feed byproducts, DeGroff said location matters and so does the product weight. The closer the feed material is lo- cated, the less expensive it is for dairy farmers. Wetter byproducts such as car- rots weigh more and cost more to haul. Drier products such as almond hulls reduce hauling costs. Almond hulls are considered the top byproduct feed, according to DeGroff. He rates canola as the second-most used byproduct by dairies he works with and said dried distillers grains remain the third-most desired. Other byproducts drawing interest for dairy cow diets include soybean meal, cotton seed, rice, wheat, oats, citrus fruit and whey, he said. This month, the commodity barn for

Donny Rollin, shown with his dairy cattle in 2014 at Rollin Valley Farms in Riverdale, now provides nearly two-thirds of feed from agricultural byproducts. All feed additives are reviewed by a dairy nutritionist.

Jack Hamm, owner of Lima Ranch Dairy in Lodi, was filled with feed byproducts, including wheat mill run, canola and corn gluten pellets, whole cotton seed and distillers grains. One week prior, the dairy had used up its rice bran. It had backed off use of al- mond hulls due to pricing. “It changes all of the time,” Hamm said of selections he considers. The dairy used a lot of grape pomace in the fall. At times, it also receives ground- up bakery items, including cookies, cakes

and candies that are not corn-based. While citrus fruit is less available in his area, Hamm said the dairy will use stone fruit byproducts. All the dairy’s 2,000 milking cows re- ceive the same mix, but rations differ be- tween heifers versus newly lactating cows or heavy milkers. Its current feed mix in- cludes alfalfa and oat hay, with about 90% being grown on site. A blend of byproduct commodities is combined with the ranch’s mineral mix and corn silage. Winter grass, corn and

rye grass are also grown at the ranch and used at different times of the year. Heavy milkers receive less fiber in their diet than newly lactating cows and heifers. The dairy’s nutritionist “stays on top of what and how we feed it,” Hamm said. “It’s always a changing environment. We’re always looking out for the health of the cow.” (Nancy Vigran is a reporter based in Placer County. She may be contacted via news@cfbf.com.)

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12 Ag Alert May 24, 2023

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