Vine mealybug has never been more widespread across the grape growing regions of California than it is now. Watch this video interview with Nathan Mercer from the Kent Daane Lab at UC Berkeley, who shares a more effective and collaborative way to control this pest in vineyards. Read more about vineyard pest management in American Vineyard Magazine.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra for their industry support.
As California wine grape growers continue dealing with warmer, drier conditions, new UCCE North Coast Integrated Vineyard Systems Advisor Christopher Chen suggests growers think outside the box when planning for the vineyard of the future. Watch his interview and read more about improving grape growing practices in American Vineyard Magazine.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra for their industry support.
As grape growers strive to continue minimizing herbicide drift and residue on their vines/fruit, watch this brief video with Emeritus UCCE Weed Science Advisor John Roncoroni on best practices that can also save money on spray applications. Read more about it in American Vineyard Magazine.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra for their industry support.
It’s that time of the year when orchards are being pulled and growers begin preparing their soil for future plans. For growers looking to replant their orchards, watch this brief interview with UC Riverside Nematologist Andreas Westphal as he shares some considerations to take for fumigation when it comes to nematode pressure.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra for their industry support.
The UC Cooperative Extension is pleased to introduce one of their newest Orchard Crops Advisors, Cameron Zuber, who will be serving tree fruit and nut growers in Merced and Madera Counties. Watch this video interview to get to know Cameron, his history with California agriculture, and what his research and extension focuses are. Cameron can be reached at (209) 385-7403 or cazuber@ucanr.edu.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra for their industry support.
As almond growers were preparing for harvest this year, there were major concerns as to whether their crop would have a home overseas, due to port and logistical issues (both locally and worldwide). The Almond Alliance of California quickly worked to bring authorities together to address this issue and do whatever it takes to get product onboard ships destined to our almond export countries. Watch this video with Almond Alliance President Aubrey Bettencourt, as she shares how conditions have improved with more work to be done. She will be presenting more information on this at the Tree & Vine Expo on November 8 in Stanislaus and at the Grape, Nut & Tree Fruit Expo on November 11 in Fresno, so be sure to register FREE at https://agexpo.biz/ to attend.
Please thank this video’s sponsor Suterra for their industry support.
We all find ourselves in situations where we need to have tough conversations. No one wants to deal with conflict, yet it’s important to remember that productive conversations are still possible, even when it seems like neither side is willing to budge.
For farmers, hard conversations might involve banks, businesses, government agencies, neighbors, or family members. Knowing what to say can be difficult when the farm’s success depends on the outcome.
Agricultural mediators have seen these challenges firsthand. Trained agricultural mediators understand the industry and can facilitate conversations between parties to resolve their differences without taking a side.
Jenna Muller mediates farm disputes in California. In addition to being a lawyer, Muller also is an owner at Full Belly Farm, a 450-acre organic, fruit, and vegetable operation in Northern California. As a farmer, she knows the myriad challenges and opportunities facing family farms and agricultural businesses.
Muller says, “Conflict may be an unavoidable part of life, but it doesn’t have to be negative. When handled correctly, conflict can also be an opportunity for growth and understanding.” She has helped farmers resolve disagreements about organic certification, address property-line disputes with neighbors, and helped family members find consensus about how to run the farm. “Sometimes,” she says,” the hardest part is just starting the conversation.”
Agricultural Mediation Programs Exist Across the U.S.
Agricultural mediation programs exist in 43 states across the U.S. Muller is one of two staff agricultural mediators for the California Agricultural Mediation Program (CALAMP). The head of the department of agriculture in each state certifies an entity to administer the mediation program, and the USDA provides funding support to make mediation free for farmers.
Since 1988, the programs have helped those in the agriculture industry resolve issues informally, without the transaction costs associated with the legal system. It’s also confidential, so farmers can feel open to exploring all solutions.
Matt Strassberg is an agricultural mediator and director of CALAMP. He brings over thirty years of experience in environmental law and mediation to the work.
Strassberg says a common issue that can benefit from mediation is farmer and neighbor or community member disputes. He says a mediator’s job isn’t to decide who’s legally right or what to do next but to encourage open discussion and leave the decision-making up to the parties involved.
“Many farmers are hesitant to engage with community members when these issues arise because they fear the situation will escalate,” Strassberg said. “As mediators, we work with farmers to help them resolve these types of right-to-farm issues so they can let go of the stress they are carrying.”
A common question farmers ask is if they will have to talk about their feelings during mediation.
“Sometimes mediation focuses solely on making the best economic decision under the circumstances and has little to do with emotions or feelings,” Strassberg says. “More often than not, we find that the substantive issue was stressing the relationship between the parties. Once we help the parties find some common ground, they can reconnect with one another as business partners, neighbors, or community members. Having that neutral person, the mediator, there to moderate the discussion and ask good questions makes a difference.” 
Tips for Having Productive Conversations
Agricultural mediators say farmers can learn how to have tough conversations and feel good about them by following these tips.
1) Listen with Curiosity
Before you share your point of view, listen to understand the other person. Try saying: “Can you tell me more about why this is important to you?” I’d like to understand more about what you’re trying to tell me, so I don’t fill in the blanks with something that’s not true.”
2) Playback and Reflect
People like to know that you understand them. Be sure you understand the other person’s concerns. Try saying: “It sounds like you’re worried about [insert their concerns]. Am I getting that right?”
3) Acknowledge
Be sure that you acknowledge the issue’s impact on them. Show that it’s important to you to solve the problem. Try saying: “I see how this has affected you. It’s important to me to try to resolve this.”
4) Share Your Perspective
Once someone feels heard and acknowledged, they have more capacity to understand what you are going through. At this point, you are not sharing solutions yet; you’re sharing what you’re going through. Try saying: “The impact of this issue on me has been…”
5) Connect & Problem Solve
If you’ve taken the time to understand someone else, they will probably have a better ability to understand what you want to say. Having felt heard, they are more likely to listen to you. Now you can problem-solve together. Try saying: “It sounds like we both want to see this handled. Here’s something I can do. What do you think?”
It Takes Time to Learn New Conversation Skills
Mary Campbell, a mediator with CALAMP, says to remember it’s okay to make mistakes.
“Don’t be afraid to give these tools a shot. It’s a practiced skill, and people will always appreciate your effort and understanding,” Campbell says. “It’s better to try and to take the time to hear each other.”
To practice your skills, Campbell suggests interacting with people who aren’t close to you.
“The most challenging place to practice is at home, with family or close friends. Instead, practice with someone who may have a different viewpoint from you on a topic, but with whom you don’t have a strong emotional connection. Give yourself permission to learn and keep trying. It is not win or fail; it is win or learn,” Campbell says.
If you need more assistance with an upcoming conversation, your state mediation program may be able to help. The first step is to contact an agricultural mediator to discuss your unique situation. You can find your state mediation program at www.agriculturemediation.org/certified-states.
The list of agricultural issues eligible for free mediation varies by state. Free mediation is often available for debt issues, farm loans, family-farm transitions, farmer-neighbor disputes, land and equipment leases, organic certification, pesticide issues, USDA farm and conservation programs, USDA rural development loans, and wetlands determinations. — By the California Agricultural Mediation Program
Fresno-area farmers face water management and business viability challenges like never before, but financial and technical resources are available to help growers and landowners navigate these challenges. American Farmland Trust is partnering with the Sierra Resource Conservation District and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to gather women in agriculture around these issues and feature services they can lean on at a Women for the Land Learning Circle and Resource Fair on Nov. 2 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m in Fresno.
At this women-centered gathering, growers, landowners and others involved in agriculture will be able to share experiences, while agricultural resource providers will describe local services that support the viability of agriculture and agricultural communities. The event has been co-designed with input from a broad range of partners in the region to reach a diversity of communities engaged in Fresno agriculture, according to Caitlin Joseph, AFT’s Women for the Land Program and Policy Manager. As such, multilingual resources will be provided in English, Spanish, Hmong and Punjabi, as needed.
“AFT is excited to bolster the work of local RCDs, NRCS staff and others, by partnering on this free event for women producers and landowners, applying a peer-to-peer learning model we have utilized nationally to great effect,” says Joseph. “In addition to a farm tour led by Lilian Yang, one of the region’s innovative Hmong women farmers, there will be discussions on how the drought is impacting water and land use in the San Joaquin Valley, and what is still needed to support farm viability throughout these changes. Through our Women for the Land Initiative, we have found that learning in this type of environment can really drive women farmers to take action to support their operations.”
“Sierra RCD is thrilled to offer this space for women farmers to build relationships with service providers who can help them access financial and technical resources,” says Karin Roux, District Development Manager at Sierra Resource Conservation District. “We are particularly interested in the powerful ways that AFT’s peer-to-peer learning will help women hear directly from each other on the unique challenges and successes they are experiencing farming here in the Central Valley, and receive first–hand accounts of technical and financial assistance opportunities available to improve their farms’ water efficiency and resilience.”
Where:
American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.5 million acres of agricultural lands, advancing environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) mission is “Helping People Help the Land.” NRCS helps America’s farmers, ranchers and forest landowners conserve the nation’s soil, water, air and other natural resources. All programs are voluntary and offer science-based solutions that benefit both the landowner and the environment.
The Sierra Resource Conservation District (Sierra RCD) is a non-regulatory, non-taxing, nonprofit, Special District of the State of California; the mission and function of the Sierra RCD is to take available technical, financial, and educational resources, whatever their source, and focus or coordinate them at the local level, to meet the present and future natural resource needs of the local land user. Offices are in Auberry and Fresno, CA. More information can be found at www.sierrarcd.com
Sierra RCD service area covers the eastern half of Fresno County and has two main programs in operation that interact with local land users and landowners: the Forestry and Watershed Program which predominantly focuses within the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the Agriculture and Rangeland Program which focuses within the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and Central Valley floor.
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Due to the growing demand, GroPro is pleased to announce the expansion of its storage, manufacturing, and packaging facilities in the USA. GroPro, an international Bio-Pesticide, Bio-Stimulant, and Bio-Fertilizer manufacturer with headquarters in Minneapolis (the USA), is planning an expansion of its operational facilities in California and Florida.
The planned expansion will replace California’s existing 5,000 sq ft storage facility with a new development facility of about 12,000 square feet. The new facilities, located in Fresno, Ca, also will include liquid bio-fertilizer manufacturing and storage integrated with crop protection blending and bottling facility and warehouse. In addition, the new liquid facility will be equipped with a new research and development laboratory. Also, with additional 5,000 sq ft warehouse in Florida GroPro to allow its south East dealer quicker access to materials. According to the GroPro team, these expansion projects aim to improve customer service and operational efficiency; the projects are expected to be launched this October.
“GroPro is committed to investing in continuous process improvements and deepening the implementation of GroPro US commercial, manufacturing, and R&D strategy that will benefit and support our existing and new customers. With these new facilities in California, we will be able to continue providing uninterrupted deliveries and faster supply of our products to our partners and customers,” – commented Benito Varela, GroPro’s COO.
GroPro’s approach includes a combination of unique natural ingredients and modern technologies to increase the bio-efficacy of products. Sustainability is firmly rooted in the entire company’s decision process, from early research to product development. This empowers our development team here and abroad to research and formulate effective materials that benefit our distributors, dealers, and growers.
When Plant Health Matters and Yields Count!
More info: groproag.com