Are you struggling to meet the labor needs in your vineyard and having difficulty converting to a mechanized approach? Watch this brief interview with Craig Edwards from Acampo Machine works as he shares some of the struggles and solutions growers are experiencing on the journey to a completely mechanized vineyard canopy management system. Read more about it in American Vineyard Magazine.On July 17th, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced the appointment of 25 new members to serve on seven agricultural trade advisory committees, including some of our friends in California. This will bring a greater voice and trade opportunities for specialty crop growers in California.
The Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee is comprised of senior representatives from across the U.S. agricultural community who provide advice to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on trade policy matters including the operation of existing trade agreements and the negotiation of new agreements. Members of the six Agricultural Technical Advisory Committees (ATACs) provide technical advice and guidance from the perspective of their specific product sectors.
The newly appointed advisors will serve until 2024. Each committee will be supplemented by additional appointments over the next four years. Applications are encouraged at any time. A complete list of committee members and application information is available at www.fas.usda.gov/topics/trade-advisory-committees.
Following is a list of the new advisors, by committee:
Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee
Constance Cullman, American Feed Industry Association
David Puglia, Western Growers
David Salmonsen, American Farm Bureau Federation
ATAC for Trade in Animals and Animal Products
Robert DeHaan, National Fisheries Institute
Mallory Gaines, American Feed Industry Association
David Herring, Hog Slat Inc./TDM Farms
James Parnell, Alabama Farmers Federation
Maria Zieba, National Pork Producers Council
ATAC for Trade in Fruits and Vegetables
William Callis, U.S. Apple Export Council
Casey Creamer, California Citrus Mutual
Jodi Devaurs, California Table Grape Commission
Jonathan Maberry, Washington Red Raspberry Commission
Caroline Stringer, California Fresh Fruit Association
ATAC for Trade in Grains, Feed, Oilseeds and Planting Seeds
Peter Bachmann, USA Rice Federation
William Gordon, American Soybean Association
Derek Haigwood, D.I.D. Farms
Patrick Hayden, North American Export Grain Association
Dalton Henry, U.S. Wheat Associates
Edward Hubbard, Renewable Fuels Association
Tina Lyons, Double River Forwarding, LLC
ATAC for Trade in Processed Foods
Kevin Latner, National Industrial Hemp Council
Richard (Denton) McLane, McLane Global Trading
Max Moncaster, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
Bernadette Wiltz, Southern United States Trade Association
ATAC for Trade in Sweeteners and Sweetener Products
(No new members.)
ATAC for Trade in Tobacco, Cotton and Peanuts
Karl Zimmer, Premium Peanut
Regarding the news, Kathleen Nave from the California Table Grape Commission report, “The appointment of Jodi Devaurs, California Table Grape Commission trade policy director, to ATAC where she will serve as a trade advisor to USDA and USTR is important for the California table grape industry and represents an expansion of its direct involvement in trade matters of import.”
David Puglia from Western Growers shared, “I am honored to be appointed to the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee. International markets are vital to the growth of the fresh produce industry, accounting for more than $23 billion in fruit, vegetable and tree nut sales in 2019. However, tariff and non-tariff barriers continue to restrict access to key export destinations. I look forward to working with USDA, USTR and my committee colleagues to help formulate durable trade policies that benefit our domestic growers.”
Casey Creamer from California Citrus Mutual stated, “I’m looking forward to continuing California Citrus Mutual’s service to this important advisory committee. Trade issues have significantly impacted the citrus industry over the years and I’m glad to make sure our growers have a seat at this important table.”
President of the California Fresh Fruit Association, Ian LeMay said, “We appreciate Secretary Perdue’s appointment of Caroline Stringer to the ATAC for fruits and vegetables and look forward to her continuing the long history of representation for CFFA and California agriculture on this important advisory group.”
Congress established the advisory committee system in 1974 to ensure a private-sector voice in establishing U.S. agricultural trade policy objectives to reflect U.S. commercial and economic interests. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative jointly manage the committees.
The implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and and other anticipated water restrictions pose major challenges for California agriculture. Without effective solutions, economists have estimated that up to one million acres of farmland will be fallowed, resulting in a revenue loss of $7.2 billion per year. As the state’s top agricultural commodity, dairy farming is an important part of the SGMA challenge. Fortunately, dairy farmers have an excellent track record for water savings and are continuing to adopt innovative strategies to advance environmental sustainability and help meet the water conservation challenges ahead.
According to researchers at University of California, Davis, the amount of water used per unit of milk produced in the state has decreased more than 88 percent over the past 50 years. This is primarily due to improved feed crop production and water use efficiency. A large portion of the water savings can be attributed to the use of byproducts as feed.
More than 40 percent of feed ingredients used on California dairy farms are byproducts of other agricultural and food production processes, which are provided as dairy feed without any additional water needed for production. This includes materials such as almond hulls, tomato and citrus pulp, cotton seed, and brewer’s grain, which could otherwise be wasted. Dairy farmers work with nutritionists to incorporate these materials into well-balanced, nutritious rations for cows. In this way, dairy farms work in harmony with the state’s other agricultural and food production industries—making for efficient use of water resources.
While dairies typically grow the majority of their non-byproduct feed ingredients using recycled water from the dairy, feed is also grown out-of-state, further reducing in-state water use by more than 30 percent. Over the past 50 years, California dairy farmers have also significantly increased the amount of feed crops they grow per acre of land, providing tremendous environmental benefits—reducing the amount of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides needed, while also reducing the energy to irrigate crops, and the amount of fuel used by tractors. Water use and feed production will remain an important topic moving forward, which is why California dairy farmers continue to implement new strategies and technologies to boost water use efficiency and promote overall sustainability.
One example of these efforts was recently awarded a prestigious sustainability award from the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. Sustainable Conservation and Netafim partnered with De Jager Dairy and two other California dairies to develop and demonstrate a new way to grow dairy forage crops: a subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) system that uses manure effluent. The system delivers plant nutrients found in dairy manure beneath the soil surface, improving irrigation water use efficiency and nutrient use efficiency, while providing other environmental benefits. Thanks to this partnership effort and grant funding now being provided by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), more dairy farms will soon be able to implement this approach.
The manure SDI system will serve as an important tool in the implementation of SGMA for two reasons: the conservation of water (nearly 40 percent more crop produced per drop of water) and a more efficient use of manure nutrients as fertilizer. As acres of farmland will need to be fallowed to meet SGMA requirements, dairy farmers will need to ensure manure nutrients produced on their farms continue to be used in ways that best to protect water and air quality, while helping build healthy soils. The organic matter and nutrients found in dairy manure have potential to help improve the health and water-holding capacity of soils throughout the state.
Dairies are an integral part of any sustainable food system. The state’s dairy farms play an important role—from providing nutritious dairy foods and180,000 year-round jobs, to utilizing thousands of tons of byproducts as feed, while offering a source of organic matter that can help promote healthy, more resilient soils. California dairy farms also continue to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability—reducing water use by adopting innovative practices. Likewise,
dairy farms will continue to be an important part of the conversation—as farmers, stakeholders, and officials at both the local and state level continue developing plans to achieve sustainability in groundwater use and protect the environment. — Article Courtesy of Dairy Cares
The Animal Agriculture Alliance is excited to announce the launch of the Animal Ag Allies program to empower farmers, ranchers and practicing veterinarians to be outspoken advocates for agriculture online and within their communities. The Alliance is currently seeking participants to enroll by August 7.
The Animal Ag Allies program provides opportunities for networking, training, and continuous development of issue expertise and communication skills. Allies will be on the front lines of responding to emerging issues and sharing positive content about animal agriculture.
“The Animal Ag Allies program was created to connect agriculture advocates and arm them with the issue expertise and communications skills they need to engage with influencers and consumers online and in their communities,” said Hannah Thompson-Weeman, Alliance vice president of communications. “Our goal for this program is to make sure the voices of farmers, ranchers and veterinarians are being heard when it comes to important issues related to animal agriculture.”
The program consists of two phases: online training and a private forum to discuss engagement strategies and emerging issues. The training modules are available online and may be completed at the participant’s own pace. Modules include: overviews of each sector of animal agriculture, hot topics and emerging issues facing animal agriculture, how to address contentious issues, growing your social following and reaching outside the choir, and public outreach. Following the completion of the training modules, participants will be invited to a private online group where they will have the ability to interact with one another as well as industry professionals.
“I am so thankful for this opportunity,” said Markie Hageman, a California beef advocate who completed the training modules during the program development process. “Everything was useful! I love learning new things and being able to recap things I have learned before, so all of the information was very valuable to me.”
Farmers, ranchers, practicing veterinarians, and industry professionals who want to make a difference in public understanding and perception of animal agriculture are encouraged to indicate their interest in enrolling in the program. The ideal participant has already demonstrated their commitment to engaging on relevant issues and is ready to take their efforts to the next level. For more information on the program and participant guidelines, visit https://animalagalliance.org/initiatives/animal-ag-allies/.
The deadline to indicate your interest in enrolling in the next round of the program is August 7. Interested individuals are encouraged to complete the program interest form available at https://animalagalliance.org/initiatives/animal-ag-allies/.
The Animal Ag Allies program would not be possible without the generous support of our founding sponsor, Zoetis, and program sponsors Animal Health Institute, Seaboard Foods, National Turkey Federation, Merck Animal Health, Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER), and Professional Dairy Producers Foundation.
“Zoetis is proud to be the founding sponsor of the Animal Ag Allies program, helping to equip people who care for animals with communications resources,” said Christina Lood, Zoetis senior director of external communications. “We look forward to seeing the growth and development of each Ally as they continue to share their personal stories and engage with their communities in conversations about livestock’s role in our sustainable food supply.”
To become a sponsor of the program, contact Casey Kinler, director of membership and marketing, at ckinler@animalagalliance.org
About the Alliance:
The Animal Agriculture Alliance is an industry-united, nonprofit organization that helps bridge the communication gap between farm and fork. We connect key food industry stakeholders to arm them with responses to emerging issues. Weengage food chain influencers and promote consumer choice by helping them better understand modern animal agriculture. We protect by exposing those who threaten our nation’s food security with damaging misinformation. Find the Alliance on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Researchers across the nation are struggling to end the scourge of citrus greening disease, also known as huanglongbing. The disease renders citrus fruit inedible and eventually kills entire orchards. In Florida alone, from 2012-2016 the disease caused production losses of $4.4 billion and eliminated about 7,900 jobs.
With economic impact like that, it’s no wonder that previous citrus greening research and mitigation efforts have mainly focused on commercial production. Now, researchers with the Agricultural Research Service’s (ARS) Horticultural Research Laboratory in Fort Pierce, FL, and their collaborators are bringing the citrus greening fight to the suburbs, where citrus trees are popular landscape plantings.
The Asian citrus psyllid, an insect about the size of an aphid (roughly 1/8 of an inch), carries the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus in its salivary glands. As it feeds on citrus leaves, the psyllid transmits the bacterium to the tree. The bacterium then prevents sugars created through photosynthesis from traveling throughout the tree. The result is yellowed leaves, bitter fruit, and eventual tree death.
Spraying insecticides is not really an option in residential areas because many homeowners either have concerns about insecticides or find it too difficult to adequately treat backyard trees, said ARS research entomologist Joseph Patt.
“There are virtually no control measures being taken against psyllids in citrus trees growing in residential and commercial landscapes,” he said. “This is important because the psyllid can fly from residential areas to commercial citrus groves. In other words, residential areas provide a kind of refuge for the psyllids because homeowners haven’t had a way to control them in their backyard trees.”
Patt and Texas A&M-Kingsville entomologists Andrew Chow and Mamoudou Setamou developed “attract-and-kill” traps to prevent this hide-and-seek, back-and-forth migration of psyllids. The traps, which are hung from citrus trees, are the same color as young citrus foliage and contain a fast-acting insecticide that kills the psyllid. According to Patt, the traps provide an environmentally friendly way for homeowners to help control Asian citrus psyllid and citrus greening disease. The insecticide remains in the device and does not spread to the surrounding foliage. The active ingredient is not toxic to mammals or birds and does not persist in the environment.
Initial testing was completed last year in the Rio Grande region of Texas. “The results are promising,” Patt said. “Deployment of 20 attract-and-kill devices per test tree resulted in a 90-percent decrease in psyllid eggs compared to unprotected test trees. We are currently working on a design for use in commercial citrus. Psyllids invade citrus groves by first landing in the trees growing along the edge of the grove, so we will run tests to determine if devices placed only on border trees are effective in controlling the psyllid throughout the grove.” – by Scott Elliott, USDA-ARS Office of Communications
Have you met Stephan Sommer, Fresno State Director of Viticulture & Enology? He joined the team at Fresno State last year, and growers will get to hear from him at Fresno State’s Grape Day coming up on August 4th, 2020 in a virtual format for the first time ever. Watch this brief interview with Sommer, and read more about what’s going on at the Viticulture & Enology Research Center in American Vineyard Magazine.Got vine mealybug in the vineyard? Consider mating disruption in your IPM program. Watch this brief interview with Kent Daane from the UC Cooperative Extension as he shares how it works and how effective their research trials have been throughout the state in utilizing this technology. Read more about vineyard pest management in American Vineyard Magazine.
UC Riverside scientists have found the first substance capable of controlling Citrus Greening Disease, which has devastated citrus farms in Florida and also threatens California.
The new treatment effectively kills the bacterium causing the disease with a naturally occurring molecule found in wild citrus relatives. This molecule, an antimicrobial peptide, offers numerous advantages over the antibiotics currently used to treat the disease.
UCR geneticist Hailing Jin, who discovered the cure after a five-year search, explained that unlike antibiotic sprays, the peptide is stable even when used outdoors in high heat, easy to manufacture, and safe for humans.
“This peptide is found in the fruit of greening-tolerant Australian finger limes, which has been consumed for hundreds of years,” Jin said. “It is much safer to use this natural plant product on agricultural crops than other synthetic chemicals.”
Currently, some growers in Florida are spraying antibiotics and pesticides in an attempt to save trees from the CLas bacterium that causes citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing or HLB.
“Most antibiotics are temperature sensitive, so their effects are largely reduced when applied in the hot weather,” Jin said. “By contrast, this peptide is stable even when used in 130-degree heat.”
Jin found the peptide by examining plants such as the Australian finger lime known to possess natural tolerance for the bacteria that causes Citrus Greening Disease, and she isolated the genes that contribute to this innate immunity. One of these genes produces the peptide, which she then tested over the course of two years. Improvement was soon visible.
“You can see the bacteria drastically reduced, and the leaves appear healthy again only a few months after treatment,” Jin said.
Because the peptide only needs to be reapplied a few times per year, it is highly cost effective for growers. This peptide can also be developed into a vaccine-like solution to protect young healthy plants from infection, as it is able to induce the plant’s innate immunity to the bacteria.
Jin’s peptide can be applied by injection or foliage spray, and it moves systemically through plants and remains stable, which makes the effect of the treatment stronger.
The treatment will be further enhanced with proprietary injection technology made by Invaio Sciences. UC Riverside has entered into an exclusive, worldwide license agreement with Invaio, ensuring this new treatment goes exactly where it’s needed in plants.
“Invaio is enthusiastic to partner with UC Riverside and advance this innovative technology for combating the disease known as Citrus Greening or Huanglongbing,” said Invaio Chief Science Officer Gerardo Ramos. “The prospect of addressing this previously incurable and devastating crop disease, helping agricultural communities and improving the environmental impact of production is exciting and rewarding,” he said. “This is crop protection in harmony with nature.”
The need for an HLB cure is a global problem, but hits especially close to home as California produces 80 percent of all the fresh citrus in the United States, said Brian Suh, director of technology commercialization in UCR’s Office of Technology Partnerships, which helps bring university technology to market for the benefit of society through licenses, partnerships, and startup companies.
“This license to Invaio opens up the opportunity for a product to get to market faster,” Suh said. “Cutting edge research from UCR, like the peptide identified by Dr. Jin, has a tremendous amount of commercial potential and can transform the trajectory of real-world problems with these innovative solutions.”
While the long-term effectiveness of this research has not yet been confirmed or published in a scientific journal and the project is still in its early stages, Dr. Jin’s promising findings have resulted in a commercial licensing agreement between UCR and Invaio Sciences. It is not uncommon for researchers to team with commercial licensing partners during the early phases of their studies. In this case, more work still needs to be done to confirm the robustness and viability of this treatment. Additional greenhouse trials are being initiated by Dr. Jin and her team at the citrus-specific Bio-Safety Level-3 Laboratory in Riverside, California. It also is expected that field trials will be conducted to show the effectiveness of the treatment under commercial grove conditions. — By Jules Bernstein, UC Riverside
Regarding the announcement, Marcy Martin from the California Citrus Research Board shared, “While the release was understandably enthusiastic about potentially promising research and we are heartened by the commercial interest in this peptide, we are looking forward to reviewing complete studies on the effectiveness of this therapy in greenhouse and field studies.
Importantly, this is not the time to let down our guard. It continues to be critical for all citrus growers in the state to remain extremely vigilant in protecting their groves against the Asian citrus psyllid and HLB. The psyllid arrived from Mexico in 2008 and is now firmly established in southern California. The first HLB-positive tree was found in residential Los Angeles County in 2012. As of July 3, 2020, 1,926 HLB-affected trees have been identified and removed to slow the spread of the disease in residential areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Unlike Florida, where HLB has decimated commercial citrus groves, California growers invested in research early through the CRB and have been diligent in applying best-management practices; therefore, the disease has not yet been detected in any commercial groves. The CRB will continue to focus intensive efforts on a variety of promising research to find a solution to HLB.
Moving forward, we at the CRB are proud to work on behalf of the 3,300-plus California citrus growers to invest in key studies to find a solution to HLB. Citrus growers always have been resilient and resourceful. Together, we will look toward the horizon for a solution to HLB.
In the meantime, we continue to monitor and review progress in potential therapies, new HLB-resistant varieties, better psyllid control strategies and more. We are enthusiastic about the commercial interest in HLB therapies and look forward to being able to share a range of potential approaches for California citrus growers as research progresses and matures. If you have any questions or would like additional information about the status of this research, please contact CRB President Marcy Martin at 559.708.3791 or marcy@citrusresearch.org.”
Almond Alliance of California – There have been multiple COVID-19 outbreaks at agricultural facilities and operations throughout the State. Several of the outbreaks in agricultural areas have been reported in farmworker housing facilities, fields and processing facilities. CalOSHA, Department of Health Services and the Attorney General’s office have been engaged in situations with multiple positive cases. Many of our peer agricultural organizations and individual employers have received letters from the Attorney General’s office reminding about the need to provide guidance to our membership on the health and safety of the agricultural workforce.
Many grower and employer associations, local farm bureaus, and health and safety compliance businesses have shared resources with their members to help agricultural operations conduct an examination of workplaces to ensure that adequate measures are being undertaken to protect the health and safety of agricultural workers.
Below are resources for almond growers, huller shellers and processors. As these materials are updated, the Almond Alliance will distribute revisions. Please post COVID-19 safety materials in Spanish and English throughout the workplace. Please call the Almond Alliance team if you have any questions or need additional information.
Responding to COVID-19 in the Workplace:
This guidance and checklist are for use by employers experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19 in their workplace. Employers should be proactive and keep in mind that identification of even a single positive case among employees may quickly develop into an outbreak. As outbreak circumstances and work practices vary, employers may need assistance from their local health department (LHD) to plan and coordinate a response to the outbreak that meets the needs of the workplace.
COVID-19 Safety Posters and Materials for you to Place in the Workplace in English and Spanish to Reduce the Risk of Employee Exposure in the Workplace:
Cal/OSHA Guidance and Resources:
What to Do if You Have COVID-19 Confirmed Positive or Exposed Workers:
This document recommends a consistent approach in how a company can continue operations in the event an individual has tested positive, given the global COVID-19 pandemic and high transmissibility of this respiratory virus from person to person.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): What to Do if You Have COVID-19 Confirmed Positive or Exposed Workers in Your Food Production, Storage, or Distribution Operations Regulated by FDA: Click Here.
Food Industry Recommended Protocols When Employee/Customer Tests Positive for COVID-19:
This summary, derived from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations, outlines key steps that employers and workers can take to help stay open, prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19, and support continuity of essential operations if workers are diagnosed with or exposed to COVID-19, or show symptoms associated with COVID-19: Click Here.
Additional Materials:
Note: This document is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Almond Alliance of California does not advise on the application of law to an individual’s or company’s specific circumstances. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation.
Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced an initial list of additional commodities that have been added to the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), and that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) made other adjustments to the program based on comments received from agricultural producers and organizations and review of market data. Producers will be able to submit applications that include these commodities on Monday, July 13, 2020. USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is accepting through Aug. 28, 2020, applications for CFAP, which helps offset price declines and additional marketing costs because of the coronavirus pandemic. USDA expects additional eligible commodities to be announced in the coming weeks.
“During this time of national crisis, President Trump and USDA have stood with our farmers, ranchers, and all citizens to make sure they are taken care of,” said Secretary Perdue. “When we announced this program earlier this year, we asked for public input and received a good response. After reviewing the comments received and analyzing our USDA Market News data, we are adding new commodities, as well as making updates to the program for existing eligible commodities. This is an example of government working for the people – we asked for input and we updated the program based on the comments we received.”
USDA collected comments and supporting data for consideration of additional commodities through June 22, 2020.
Changes to CFAP include:
Additional details can be found in the Federal Register in the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) and Final Rule Correction and at www.farmers.gov/cfap.
Producers have several options for applying to the CFAP program:
USDA Service Centers can also work with producers to complete and securely transmit digitally signed applications through two commercially available tools: Box and OneSpan. Producers who are interested in digitally signing their applications should notify their local service centers when calling to discuss the CFAP application process. You can learn more about these solutions at farmers.gov/mydocs.
Getting Help from FSA
New customers seeking one-on-one support with the CFAP application process can call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee ready to offer general assistance. This is a recommended first step before a producer engages the team at the FSA county office at their local USDA Service Center.
All other eligibility forms, such as those related to adjusted gross income and payment information, can be downloaded from farmers.gov/cfap. For existing FSA customers, these documents are likely already on file.
All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including some that are open to visitors to conduct business in person by appointment only. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service or any other Service Center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment. Service Centers that are open for appointments will pre-screen visitors based on health concerns or recent travel, and visitors must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Visitors may also be required to wear a face covering during their appointment. Field work will continue with appropriate social distancing. Our program delivery staff will be in the office, and they will be working with our producers in office, by phone and using online tools. More information can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus.