Ag Alert. July 6, 2022

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.

Farmers markets Customers return to buy from favorite growers

High-yield berries Strawberry trials show promising varieties

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www.cfbf.com • www.agalert.com JULY 6, 2022

Vegetables ®

special report

By Ching Lee With milk prices reaching record-high levels this year, dairy farmers should be feeling optimistic about the business. But impacts from the ongoing drought and soaring production costs are crimping profit margins and dampening spirits as they navigate a volatile market landscape. Many remember too well the crisis of 2008-2009, when plunging milk prices coupled with elevated feed costs led to un- precedented loss of producer equity and dairies closing their doors. With fears of another recession looming, dairy farmers are biting their nails about the sustainabil- ity of current market conditions. Already, a growing number of market reports indicate higher milk prices have begun to zap demand, with sales of milk and dairy products slipping. “I’ll be honest, being in operation is scary,” said Merced County dairy farmer David Barroso, “just knowing what input costs are as far as feed, as far as fuel and anything else, if milk prices decide to fall.” In its June report, Rabobank said it ex- pects milk prices have peaked and will be- gin to retreat through the rest of the year and into 2023. “However, the decline in prices will be modest,” the bank said. Several factors have led to the re- cord-setting milk prices. Perhaps the big- gest is the decline in national milk produc- tion, which has led to tighter supplies. With rising feed costs, dairies are milking fewer cows. A stronger cattle market has also in- centivized dairies to raise more bulls for beef rather than dairy replacement heifers, lowering U.S. cow numbers, Kings County dairy farmer Joaquin Contente said. In California, water restrictions due to the multi-year drought have shortened the supply of feed available to dairies. Contente, who grows most of his own for- age crops, said he will need to leave some of his land fallow. He did not plant about 40 See DAIRY, Page 12 Worries of milk price drop weigh on dairy farmers

A crew harvests watermelons from one of Bryan Van Groningen’s fields outside Stockton. Van Groningen, whose family sells watermelons under the name Yosemite Fresh, says he anticipates a stronger season with better prices this year. The upbeat forecast comes after an uneven 2021 season.

‘Steady’ melon crop is ready for summer

By Kevin Hecteman As this week’s Independence Day hol- iday approached, watermelon farmers were anticipating booming business. “We’re encouraged because we like the way the crop looks, and it probably is go- ing to be a steady crop,” said Joe Colace, a Brawley-based farmer with fields in the desert and in the San Joaquin Valley.

“We don’t, at this point, see it bunching up anywhere, but that can change. You get three weeks out, that certainly could change if it got real hot or if it cooled down a lot.” Colace said his Los Banos- area fields were anticipated to begin har- vest at the end of June. Watermelon grower and handler Art Perry said melons from fields in

Bakersfield, the Coachella Valley and else- where are of good quality, with Manteca- area fields now gearing up. “The fields are looking good,” he said. “We cool down in the evenings,” Perry said from his Manteca headquar- ters. “When you cool down in the eve- nings, more sugar gets in that fruit, and

See MELONS, Page 10

n e w s p a p e r

Comment.......................................2 From the Fields........................4-5 Vegetables....................................7 Classifieds........................... 14-15 Inside

Published by

Sites Authority closing in on fulfilling water promise

By Fritz Durst Preparing for drought is an everyday part of life for every Californian. Water conservation and efficient water manage- ment are now, and will continue to be, the

Proposition 1 funding and a $449 million U.S. Department of Agriculture loan. Our goal is to begin construction in 2024, and we are closer than ever to final approv- al on the project. The California Water Commission is- sued a feasibility determination in late 2021, an important regulatory step. And the Sites Project Authority and our federal partners issued a revised draft Environmental Impact Statement for pub- lic review earlier this year. We are close to finalizing that process. There are addition- al regulatory and permitting processes underway, including consideration of the project’s water rights application. The project is widely supported across the state. Gov. Newsom, local counties where the project is located, cities and irri- gation districts throughout the Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California have all expressed their support. Collectively, the participants in this project serve wa- ter to more than 24 million Californians and more than 500,000 acres of farmland throughout California. In the face of crushing drought con- ditions, the need for Sites is clearer than ever. Even in dry California, there are times when flows in the Sacramento River are greater than the system can handle, pre- senting an unrealized opportunity to store significant amounts of water generated by stormwater and flood flows. It isn’t the only solution, but it’s an im- portant part. We need an all-of-the-above approach. Sites is the modern, smart type of water storage we need to get through the next century. (Fritz Durst is a Yolo County farmer and chairman of the Sites Joint Power Authority. He may be contacted at fdurst@rd108.org.)

focus for everyone as drought be- comes more per- sistent in the state. This could not be truer for our state’s farmers and agri- culture industry. We are fortunate to live in a portion of the nation ca-

Fritz Durst

Sites Valley, north of Sacramento, is the location of the proposed Sites Reservoir in Colusa and Glenn counties. The project is nearing final approval, with a goal of starting construction in 2024.

pable of producing more than a third of the country’s vegetables and two-thirds of the country’s fruits and nuts. However, impacts of a changing climate, including less snowpack and extreme drought like the one we are in today, and challenges related to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act are causing farmers to fallow once-productive fields and experi- ence the financial hardships as a $50 bil- lion industry continues to decline. Over the past 20 years, Californians have raised the bar when it comes to water con- servation and innovative local water supply projects, including world-class water reuse, groundwater replenishment and imple- menting new efficiency tools. However, there is more we must do as a state to create a truly resilient and reliable water future. California’s current water infrastructure was not designed with current or future cli- mate conditions in mind. In recent years, the West Coast experienced a series of atmo- spheric river events. These storms produced powerful runoff in the Sacramento River that overtopped the flood control system, caus- ing tremendous flooding and significant damage throughout Northern California.

It is these periods of large rainfall and runoff that we need to better capture. This is where Sites Reservoir comes in. There is no existing infrastructure in place to capture and store excess water flows from the Sacramento River when they happen. Had Sites been in place during storm events since 2017, many flood impacts could have been avoided, and the reservoir would have stored nearly 1 million acre-feet of water to help mitigate impacts of today’s difficult drought. Sites Reservoir will be a multi-benefit, off- stream water storage facility located north of Sacramento in rural Colusa and Glenn counties. The reservoir will serve to capture and store stormwater and flood flows in the Sacramento River after all other water rights and regulatory requirements are met. With a capacity of approximately 1.5 million acre-feet, Sites can store the excess stormwater without the need to dam any major rivers. Extensive modeling indicat- ed Sites performs best and provides even greater water supply benefits to farms, people and the environment of California,

under even the most challenging climate change scenarios. Water storage flexibility is the reason Sites works well for so many varied partic- ipants. The water reserved for the environ- ment will be managed by the state through its investment under Proposition 1, the 2014 water bond approved by California voters. The water can then be used for en- vironmental purposes when it is needed. The reservoir’s storage flexibility, work- ing in concert with our existing water management systems, could also help us respond more rapidly and in an adaptive fashion to the changing hydrologic con- ditions and the changing needs. This be- comes a win-win for the environment and statewide water operations. The Sites Project team has made con- siderable progress over the past several years. We achieved critical funding objec- tives, including an invitation to apply for a $2.2 billion Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan. This low-in- terest loan will cover half of the project’s cost. This is in addition to $875 million in

VOL. 49, NO. 25

July 6, 2022

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2 Ag Alert July 6, 2022

Farmers markets rebound, but pandemic effects linger

By Edgar Sanchez Michael and Nancy Neils knew exactly what they wanted—and where to find it— at the certified farmers market at Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento. The Sacramento couple marched from booth to booth at the outdoor market, pur- chasing $70 in fruits, vegetables and eggs in a mere 15 minutes, while chit-chatting with their favorite farmer vendors. “We’ve been coming to this farmers market for many years,” Michael Neils, a retired electrical engineer and entrepre- neur, said. “Everything here is fresh, and we’re supporting the local farmers.” These days, California’s farmers markets depend on loyal customers like the Neils to navigate through difficult times. Many ven- dors at the markets are recovering from ear- ly months of the pandemic in 2020, when markets closed. The closures hurt many farmers who were cut off from customers. Now, farmers face a third year of drought and sky-high fuel and fertilizer costs. But the farmers-market sector is rebounding, reaffirming its place in California agriculture and its appeal with the produce-shopping public. According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the state boasts 750 certified farmers markets and 2,700

certified producers. Sixty percent of the markets are year-round, and most season- al markets operate from April to October. Crowds are now peaking with summer’s arrival, along with popular seasonal items such as watermelons, peaches, oranges and cherries. “We’re doing very well right now,” said Amy Arnold, who manages four farmers markets in Los Angeles County’s San Gabriel Valley. “All the summer fruit is out, beautiful stone fruit, cantaloupes, watermelons, nec- tarines, and everybody’s looking.” Despite being declared essential businesses during the pandemic, many farmers markets collapsed as pro- duce-buying customers vanished or as cities imposed restrictions. Three of Arnold’s farmers markets were shut down in March 2020 as a precaution by the cities of Monterey Park, Covina and Rosemead. All reopened two months later with COVID protocols in place. Arnold’s West Covina market, which had set proto- cols in place, never closed. “COVID was very hard,” Arnold said. “We had to follow the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) guidelines. Everybody had to wear masks. We had caution tape, signs with instructions for people to follow.” The pandemic cut some of her vendors’

Vincent Garcia of J&J Ramos Farms sells oranges to Michael and Nancy Neils at the certified farm- ers market at Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento, where several markets closed during the pandemic.

profits, to the point they are still trying to recover, Arnold said. “With the higher price of gasoline and the water shortage,” she said, “they hate to raise their prices for cus- tomers, so that makes it even harder, trying to balance between the farmers making a profit and providing affordable fruits and vegetables to the community.” Leonard Lozano, who runs four farmers markets throughout Los Angeles County, is seeing a business resurgence—though challenges remain. All four of his markets closed as cus- tomers scattered in the early days of the pandemic. One in Torrance reopened after

being closed five months in 2020 and the others in Glendale, Sylmar and Downey came back to life in ensuing months. “COVID hit us pretty hard,” said Lozano, who noted that three of his markets are do- ing well now that customers have returned. The exception is the Glendale market, where sales are down 90% in a financial center that formerly bustled with workers. “People continue to work at home,” Lozano said. “Right now, it’s also a transi- tion from COVID to high gas prices.” In Sacramento, the transfer of workers,

See MARKETS, Page 12

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July 6, 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/Paolo Vescia

Photo/Paige Green

Jennifer Beretta Sonoma County dairy farmer

Greg Panella Lake County pear grower

We’re full force in our irrigation. This year, we got 2 extra acre-feet of water from the city of Santa Rosa. It’s tertiary treated, reclaimed wastewater, so we’re really fortunate. We’ve been irrigating, trying to get our second cutting. We planted some sudan this year, so that’s new for us. We planted it because my dad wanted to try something new to put in silage. It doesn’t need as much water, and with our hotter weather that we’re having in Sonoma County, we fig- ured it would do really well, so we’re giving it a try. Our nutritionist helped us as we were deciding what to put in. We were trying to decide what to put in for a second cutting with us having a little extra water last October-November. All of our pastureland is starting to dry up, so we’re bringing animals home to start to supplemental feed them. We’re preparing for hotter days. Our cows aren’t used to 100-degree days, so we’re having conversations about how to keep them comfortable. I never thought we’d even have that conversation right here in Sonoma County. We want to make sure that our cows are comfortable. We did get a little bit of a raise from our creamery maybe two months ago, but fuel prices are high, and everybody’s dealing with that, so hopefully we’ll see another raise.

Our Bartlett pears are decent, and I think we’re going to have a reasonable crop. They’re starting to size up pretty well and show in the foliage, so when you stand back and look at the trees, it’s starting to look like a pretty decent crop. Based on heat hours during bloom and the 30 days following, the original estimated (harvest) date for pears is around Aug. 5 or the first part of August for the Big Valley area. In preparing for pear harvest, I’ve spoken to the labor con- tractor, and he said they have the same crew as last year, and they don’t see any issues with finding people to harvest the crop. We’re being very careful with our water. We’re staggering our irrigations out a little bit more to keep the aquifers from drawing down, and so far, we haven’t had any issues. We did have some issues last year towards the end of the year. We’ve had less rain this year, so I’m assuming we’ll have to be really careful towards the end of the growing season. We do our own trucking, so I haul my own pears to the packers, and then the packers handle the trucking from there. Hauling fruit to the packers this year is going to be expensive with the high fuel costs. That is going to be a tough one, but if we keep the water on the trees, we’ll be good.

Stuart Mast Calaveras County winegrape grower and vintner

Farming at 3,300 feet elevation can have its challenges, but for the past 29 years, we have been fortunate to be able to produce premium Bordeaux varietals. We have had a couple of years when smoke from nearby forest fires has affected the fruit; it will always be a concern. Our first smoke taint was in 2013, the Yosemite-area Rim Fire, when it was a novelty. The nov- elty has worn off as fires have become endemic in the West. We had some concern, but the vintage pulled through, and sales were brisk with the Fire Season Red label. We added an early-spring irrigation from our wells because of ongoing drought conditions: 20 inches of rainfall instead of the usual 50 inches. We still follow our regimen of mildew control by spraying sulfur every three weeks. This year, for the first time, our bud break took place ear- lier than normal with 80-degree temperatures in April. Then came two nights of freezing, 26-de- gree temperatures that burned off most of the new shoots. The vines now have a lot of new growth, but the crop load is about 30% of normal. We hope to harvest the first week in October. In conference with other foothill growers, I learned nearly everyone is looking for grapes from out of the area to keep their wine programs on track. Here at Brice Station Vineyards, we normally sell about half of our crop but will be unable to supply others this year. Over the past 10 years, we have diversified by adding agritourism, including concerts, weddings and theater. Tasting-room sales are improving. We owe a debt of gratitude to our wine-club members who kept us going with case orders during the heavy restrictions of COVID-19. I am a fifth-generation California farmer, and I have seen the ups and downs of agricul- ture. I still wouldn’t give it up.

Photo/Leda Mast

4 Ag Alert July 6, 2022

Darrell Cordova Stanislaus County tree nut farmer

In almonds, when the hull splits, we’ll be putting in product for the navel orangeworm, and we’ll be putting the fungicide on the Independence, which is a little more susceptible to alternaria (leaf spot). The heat stresses them pretty fast. We don’t want to stress the trees be- cause we’d lose crop that way. We’ve been having to irrigate. It’s so hot in the afternoon that we’ll start the water in the evening, let it run through the night and shut it off at noontime. We’ve also had a lot of wind, especially on the old- er trees, that we’ve reduced the amount of water time, because if they get too much water, it’ll knock trees over. We’ve been adjusting our irrigation schedule because of the heat and wind. We were trying to do weed spraying, but with this wind, it’s been hard to find days that were calm to even get out there and do any weed spraying. We don’t have any surface water. We have a deep well. Our water district fi- nally had to submit a plan this year, so we’ll see what happens. We had to pay $30 an acre every other year to have the district do groundwater recharge. We’re hoping that groundwater recharge shows that we’re being proactive and we won’t have the severe cutbacks. We’re going to be doing pistachios to diversify. We planted some pistachio rootstock the end of March. They’re about pencil size. We’re going to be budding them the middle to the end of July. We’re trying to get them to grow right now because the rootstock has to be a certain size to be able to do the budding. The heat makes them grow, but for a long time the weather was on the cooler side, so the trees weren’t growing. Now that it’s warmed up, they’re finally getting some growth on them.

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July 6, 2022 Ag Alert 5

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CALIFORNIA

Vegetables A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®

Glenn Cole of the University of California, Davis, strawberry breeding program says researchers are breeding new varieties in hopes of building resistence to soil-borne diseases. At right, strawberries from test plots grow at Elkhorn Berry Farms in Prunedale.

Trials of strawberry varieties show promising yields By Bob Johnson The next generation of strawberries is growing in test plots at a sprawling Naturipe field between Castroville and Prunedale. In June, he joined researchers in discussing strawberry breeding efforts during the first University of California strawberry field day in Monterey County since the start of the pandemic.

Five numbered varieties in the trial have yielded between 15% and 51% more than Monterey strawberries in two years of trials at the Prunedale area field. They also demonstrated superior resistance to important diseases. Still, only a few of them are slated for early release. “We’re only going to go forward with a couple of these,” said Glenn Cole, field man- ager for the UC Davis strawberry breeding program. “We’re getting this out as fast as we can.” This revival of strawberry breeding research came thanks to a $4.5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture specialty crops research grant under the 2017 Farm Bill. The grant was intended to help manage diseases that have increased with the loss of methyl bromide. “The loss of methyl bromide as a chemical for controlling soil-borne pathogens, as well as increasing resistance of pathogens to fungicides, is severely limiting the ef- fectiveness of chemical measures for managing disease pressure in strawberry,” said Steve Knapp, director of the UC strawberry breeding program, in announcing the grant.

Five numbered experimental cultivars in the trial are outyielding Monterey, the pop- ular strawberry variety planted statewide this year on more than 10,000 acres, according to the California Strawberry Commission acreage survey. During the 2020 season, Monterey berries in the Elkhorn Berry Farms Meridian ranch yielded a little more than 10,500 marketable trays per acre, while the experimental varieties produced 15,000 to 16,000 trays. Production of Monterey increased to more than 14,000 trays last year, but the exper- imental varieties also increased their yields, from 16,000 to 19,000 trays. The next generation of strawberry varieties also have superior resistance to soil- borne diseases such as fusarium and verticillium that have challenged growers since fumigation with methyl bromide was regulated out of existence. Naturipe ranch manager Nazario Mozqueda liked what he saw in the plots of exper- imental varieties growing next to the Monterey plant. “This has fewer runners and more berries than Monterey,” Mozqueda said as he looked at one of the numbered varieties growing in test plots in the field between Castroville and Prunedale.

See STRAWBERRIES, Page 8

July 6, 2022 Ag Alert 7

Knapp said the “long-term goal is to increase the economic sustainability of strawberry fruit and nursery stock production under increasing patho- gen pressure.” “The elimination of methyl bromide fumigation,” he said, “has threatened the economic outlook for strawberry grow- ers and created an urgent need for the development and deployment of culti- vars resistant to soil-borne and above- ground pathogens that cause losses in both fumigated and nonfumigated pro- duction systems.” The grant has also allowed the UC sys- tem to train 110 strawberry researchers while improving breeding materials. “Training the next generation is an im- portant part of what we do,” Knapp said. Current strawberry breeding re- search is focused on disease resistance, but also aims to make the crop viable in other ways. “One of the first traits we focused on was resistance to fusarium, which is a problem now,” Cole said, adding re- searchers did their first sets of cross breedings in 2016. Fusarium is one of the diseases that has become more troublesome in straw- berries since fumigation with methyl bromide was phased out because it is an ozone depleter. Strawberries Continued from Page 7

bromide. But breeders are also looking to come up with generally better berries. “There’s more than just diseases; there’s also yield, taste and plant archi- tecture,” Cole said. One of the numbered variet- ies—16C108P060—had 48% better yields than Monterey in 2020 and 14% better in 2021. This promising variety has improved resistance to fusarium, verticillium, phy- tophthora and macrophomina. It has superior firmness and good brix levels, though not quite as high as Monterey. “It has broad adaptability and good yield performance in Santa Maria, Watsonville and Oxnard,” the breeders wrote in a summary. Although all five experimental varieties showed promise, especially in the areas of disease resistance and yield, only a few of them will make it through to commer- cial release. (Bob Johnson is a reporter in Monterey County. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)

Steve Knapp, director of the University of California, Davis, strawberry breeding program, says growers are looking for varieties to resist pathogens that used to be handled with methyl bromide.

Resistant varieties are essential be- cause once fusarium is in the ground, fungicides do not help, and the patho- gens remain viable for many years. The five experimental varieties are all rated as resistant or moderately resistant to fusarium, while Monterey is suscepti- ble to the disease. “Probably 95% of the plants in the trial are fusarium resistant,” Cole said. “We are also working on verticillium and macro- phomina resistance.” Fusarium causes wilting and stunting

that is particularly severe in plants carry- ing a heavy fruit load. The search continues for genetic sources of resistance to macrophomi- na charcoal rot, the second soil-borne disease that has spread without methyl

State awards $66 million for farm, rangelands projects

The California Department of Food and Agriculture has awarded $66 million in grants to fund 940 projects under its Healthy Soils Program. According to CDFA, the projects will cover 82,000 acres of California agricul- tural and rangelands and are aimed at im- proving soil health, sequestering carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The projects receiving fund- ing are listed online at cdfa.ca.gov/ oefi/healthysoils/docs/ 2021-HSPIncentive-SelectedProjects.pdf. The Healthy Soils Program incentivizes carbon-capturing practices that provide additional benefits such as improving wa- ter retention and water quality. The latest grants bring the total award- ed for Healthy Soils projects to more than $107 million since the program began

in 2017, with funded projects covering 136,254 acres of agricultural land. In April, the program awarded $1.1 mil- lion in demonstration project grants. Those fund on-farm initiatives that showcase con- servation management practices that curb emissions and increase soil health. The Healthy Soils Program is part of California Climate Investments, a state- wide initiative that uses money raised by the state’s cap-and-trade emissions offsets program for projects that improve public health and the environment. Other California Climate Investment projects include affordable housing, re- newable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration and sustainable agriculture For more information, visit caclimateinvestments.ca.gov.

The Produce Safety Rule is Here; ARE YOU READY?

Farm Employers Labor Service (FELS), an aliated company of the California Farm Bureau (CAFB), has partnered with the Safe Food Alliance through a California Department of Food and Agriculture grant contract, as their designated training provider for Central and Southern California, to conduct the required Produce Safety training for growers. Presented in a free two-day remote delivery webinar format! What sets Safe Food Alliance, FELS, and Farm Bureau apart is their total of over 100 years of experience and our dedication to providing technical guidance and leadership to the California agriculture community. Most farms are required to have at least one designated supervisor who has been trained in accordance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety rule. Upon completion of the course, attendees will receive an ocial certicate from the Association of Food & Drug Ocials.

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8 Ag Alert July 6, 2022

Egg Board seeks nominees for open positions by Aug. 5

and promotion program authorized by the Egg Research and Consumer Information Act of 1974. For more information, con- tact Barbara Josselyn at 202-713-6918 or Barbara.Josselyn@usda.gov. Since 1966, Congress has authorized the development of industry-funded re- search and promotion boards to provide a framework for agricultural sectors to pool their resources and combine efforts to develop new markets, strengthen ex- isting markets and conduct important research and promotion activities. USDA said its policy is that the boards, councils and committees it oversees should reflect

the diversity of their industries in terms of the experience of members, methods of production and distribution, market- ing strategies and other distinguishing factors, including individuals from his- torically underserved communities, that will bring different perspectives. Throughout the full nomination pro- cess, USDA said the industry must con- duct extensive outreach, paying particular attention to reaching underserved com- munities, and consider the diversity of the population served and the knowledge, skills and abilities of the members to serve a diverse population.

The American Egg Board is seeking nominees to fill 10 member and nine alter- nate-member vacancies. One appointed member will serve a one-year term due to a resignation, and the remaining nine mem- bers and nine alternate members will serve two-year terms beginning March 2023 and ending March 2025. Deadline for nomina- tions is Aug. 5. Any egg producers owning 75,000 or

more laying hens may be nominated by a certified eligible operation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will select ap- pointees from the nominated producers. Nomination forms, a list of the three ar- eas and the certified eligible operations within each area are available on the USDA American Egg Board webpage. The board is composed of 18 members and 18 alter- nates, and administers the egg research

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July 6, 2022 Ag Alert 9

Melons Continued from Page 1

make long-term plans.” Acreage is increasingly influenced by how much water a farmer has, Colace said. “We’re good this year,” he noted. “We have ample acreage planted, but we don’t know what that means for next year.” Van Groningen said his fields use deep- well water, adding, “As far as the deep well goes, yeah, we have good supply.” Perry said those with access to ground- water are pumping it, “but the cost of pumping has gone up, because electricity’s gone up.” Elsewhere depends on the se- niority of a farmer’s water rights, he added. “I think we’ll make it through as long as we have the rights to go along with the river, the riparian rights,” he said. “I think most of the land that’s planted in water- melons is safe for this year.” As to next season, Perry said, “We do a lot of praying around here.” Perry, part of a fourth-generation farm- ing operation going back to 1925, said he likes to think his family grows, packs and ships “the two crops that children like the most”—watermelons and pumpkins. “We’re pretty proud of that, that we’re actually handling a product that’s maybe the top two items that children enjoy,” Perry said. “We need enjoyment right now in our life. If we can make some children happy, or even families happy, with our products, it’s something to be proud of right now, because we need it.” (Kevin Hecteman is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)

it’s actually better-eating fruit.” Bryan Van Groningen’s harvest crews have been hard at work on his melon fields outside Stockton, and so far, he’s pleased. “I’d say our fields are producing a decent crop at this point in time,” Van Groningen said. “We’re harvesting as much as we can prior to the Fourth of July holiday.” Van Groningen said harvest began June 20. He was aiming to have melons moving through his Manteca packing shed sooner than that, but cooler spring weather de- layed his plans. “We had a few weeks there that really kind of set the maturity dates back a little bit,” Van Groningen said. Colace said the majority of watermelon consumption is of 18- to 20-pound seed- less varieties. If all goes well, he expects the Northern California harvest to go until mid-October. Watermelon prices for the San Joaquin Valley crop are running ahead of last year’s pace, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service. As of June 30, a 35-count carton of valley seedless water- melons was selling for $150 to $154, while the 45-count carton went for $158 to $161. That’s up $119 to $126 from June 2021. Seedless miniatures—“personal size,” as Van Groningen calls them—were going for $12.95 to $13.95 for cartons of six- to nine- count melons at the end of June 2022, ac-

Van Groningen and Sons employees sort watermelons being unloaded at the farm’s Manteca packing shed. Bryan Van Groningen says the harvest in San Joaquin County began June 20.

cording to USDA. Last year, the price was $8.95 to $10.95 per carton of six- to eight- count melons. Van Groningen said oversupply was a factor in last year’s market, noting that 2021 was a lower-price, lower-volume year. Colace agreed that 2021“was a really chal- lenging year.” “It was overplanted, as it turned out; there was more supply than there was demand,” Colace said. “Currently, there is very good demand for watermelons.” Colace said the watermelon market is better off with Independence Day being part of a long weekend. “You’re going to have the three-day weekend,” he said, “and that gives fami- lies the opportunity to come together for larger celebrations.”

Perry said miniature watermelons may gain popularity over time because of cost. “There’s definitely a certain clientele that will pick up the minis,” he said, but with the larger seedless melons, “that’s where you’re going to see the cut fruit in the stores … the trays, the cups, the halves, the quarters—that all adds up to a lot of usage of the big seedless.” At the top of most melon growers’ minds is water. Colace calls the situation “very dire.” “Everybody grows watermelons with drip irrigation, which is your most efficient application of water,” Colace said, noting that managing available supply takes effort . “This is the first time that we really are going to witness restrictions, because the lower Colorado River basin really is at a critical low level,” he said. “The San Joaquin Valley has been dealing with this now for several years. Whenever the farmer has to wait for the winter outcome of snowpack (and) rain, it’s very difficult to

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Agricultural Market Review

Quotations are the latest available for the week ending July 1, 2022 Year Ago Week Ago Latest Week Livestock Slaughter Steers – 5-Area Average Select & Choice, 1050–1150 lbs., $ per cwt. No Quote 138-140 138 Hogs – Average hog, 51-52% lean, Iowa-Minn. market, $ per cwt. 107.60 108.81 107.63 Slaughter Lambs – $ per cwt. 125–175 lbs. National weekly live sales 195-281.56 180-208.30 160-204.44 Field crops – basis prompt shipment Barley – U.S. No. 2, $ per cwt. Truck, Stockton-Modesto-Oakdale-Turlock No Quote No Quote No Quote Cotton – ¢ per lb., Middling 1 3/32” Fresno spot market 78.87 84.21 82.76 Corn – U.S. No. 2 yellow $ per bu. trucked 8.67 9.81 9.78 Alfalfa Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Region 1, Northern Inter-mountain 250-260 (P/S) 17-17.50 (per bale) 350-355 (P/S) Region 2, Sacramento Valley 230-260 (P/S) 428 (G/P) No Quote Region 3, Northern San Joaquin Valley 225-280 (P/S) 22.50-23.50 (per bale) 440 (S) Region 4, Central San Joaquin Valley 235-320 (P/S) 408-470 (G/S) 470 (S) Region 5, Southern California No Quote 22-28 (per bale) 22 (per bale) Region 6, Southeast Interior 185-230 (G/P) 355-365 (G/P) 370-375 (P) Oat Hay – $ per ton, quality*, FOB Northern California, dairy No Quote No Quote No Quote Oats – U.S. No. 2 white, $ per cwt. Statewide, trucked price No Quote No Quote No Quote

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Dry Beans – Grower FOB prices Baby Limas, $ per cwt, (sacked) Large Limas, $ per cwt. (sacked) Blackeye, $ per cwt. (sacked)

No Quote No Quote No Quote

Rice – Milled No. 1 Head, FOB No. Calif. mills Medium grain, $ per cwt. Wheat – U.S. No. 2 or better, winter, $ per cwt. 13% protein, Los Angeles, trucked price

42-44

58-62

13.75 No Quote Provided by the California Farm Bureau as a service to Farm Bureau members. Information supplied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market News Branch. * ADF=Acid detergent fiber; (S) = Supreme/<27%ADF; (P) = Premium/27-29; (G) = Good/29-32; (F) = Fair/32-35. No Quote

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10 Ag Alert July 6, 2022

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