California Ag Network

Category: Ag Legislation

  • CA DPR Invites Input on Development of Statewide Pesticide Notification System

    The public is invited next week to provide input into the development of a statewide system by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) that will notify the public in advance of pesticide applications occurring near where people live, work or play.

    The 2021-22 state budget allocated $10 million to DPR to begin the development of the tool, which will advance environmental justice and further protect public health by providing transparent and equitable access to information on the application of pesticides. This will, in turn, provide an opportunity for people to make their own decisions about any additional precautions they may want to take to protect their health.

    “Our goal is to increase transparency and provide equitable access to information about pesticide applications,” said DPR Acting Director Julie Henderson. “This will provide an opportunity for the public to make their own decisions about additional health precautions they want to take to protect themselves and their families. We believe this is also an opportunity to strengthen the engagement between DPR, County Agricultural Commissioners and the communities we serve.”

    The webinars are scheduled for:

    • Nov. 2 from 9-11:30 a.m. (English with simultaneous Spanish interpretation) and
    • Nov. 3 from 5:30-8 p.m. (Spanish with simultaneous English interpretation).

    Details are available on DPR’s website.

    The input gathered through this webinar series, in addition to focus group discussions conducted in August 2021 with community members, regulatory agencies, growers, and regulated industries, will inform DPR’s design and development of the system.

    DPR and the state’s 56 County Agricultural Commissioners work together to ensure compliance with pesticide laws and regulations, including operating strict enforcement programs, monitoring the use of restricted materials and fumigants, and penalizing illegal pesticide use. DPR’s current regulatory structure provides a strong and enforceable framework for the safe application of pesticides.

    “The development of this system will build on DPR and California’s existing regulatory framework, providing the public with the opportunity to receive a real-time notification about pesticide applications occurring nearby,” said Henderson.

    The development of this statewide system will include additional public workshops to collect input on the tool’s scope and design, development of a platform that is usable and accessible, and a formal regulatory process. The tool is anticipated to launch in 2023-24.

    To learn more about the development of the tool, see DPR’s website.

    To receive the latest updates via email, you can subscribe to DPR’s listserv.

    ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF PESTICIDE REGULATION

    California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s mission is to protect human health and the environment by fostering safer and sustainable pest management practices and operating a robust regulatory system to monitor and manage the sale and use of pesticides across the state. DPR’s work includes registering all pesticides sold or used in California, conducting scientific review and evaluation of pesticides to assess and mitigate potential harm to human health or the environment, monitoring for pesticides in the air and water, and enforcing pesticide regulations in coordination with 56 County Agriculture Commissioners and their 400 field inspectors. DPR also conducts outreach to ensure pesticide workers, farmworkers and local communities have access to safety information, and invests in innovative research to encourage the development and adoption of integrated pest management tools and practices. More information about DPR can be found at www.cdpr.ca.gov.

  • Mitigating the Uncertainty of Smoke Taint in Wine Grapes

    Smoke taint has dominated the worries of the California wine industry recent years.  With unsettled climate conditions and continued droughts, there is no reason to think that smoke taint will not continue to be a significant concern for the foreseeable future.  In 2017 and 2020, California growers and wineries both had to scramble to adapt as they found that existing science, customs and contractual arrangements left them ill-prepared to deal with the smoke taint challenge. Avoiding a similar situation once smoke taint inevitably strikes again means understanding the problem and having a strategy in place to address it.

    What is smoke taint?

    Drinking smoke-tainted wine has been compared to tasting a campfire or an ashtray: most would agree that these are not desirable attributes for wine.  These off flavors are caused by volatile phenols that are released by plant matter when it burns.  The volatile phenols bond with sugars in the grapes, which produces glycosides. Unlike volatile phenols, glycosides are not volatile, so the smoky quality cannot be smelled or tasted.

    The Problem of Uncertainty

    During a typical crush, grapes are harvested in the field, delivered to the winery crush pad, inspected, accepted if there are no obvious signs of defects, and the fermentation process begins.  If the winery buys the grapes from a grower, acceptance typically obligates the winery to pay the grower, with payment due shortly after harvest, or in installments, the first shortly after harvest and the second a few months later.

    However, one of the biggest challenges of smoke taint is its latency.  In effect, volatile phenols hibernate:  Glycosides become volatile as the wine is fermented and aged and smoke can then be smelled and tasted.  It is hard to predict when this will occur, making it difficult to detect, plan for and mitigate the risk of smoke taint during the usual wine making process.

    Compounding the uncertainty, there is no universally accepted definition of smoke taint in the industry.  Different laboratories and wineries rely on different levels of different chemical markers.  Relying on taste and smell is inherently subjective, painfully obvious in some cases, subtle and hard to discern by some palates in others.

    Contract Approaches

    Ultimately, uncertainty breeds trust and relationship issues best solved in the grape purchase contract.  Parties negotiating grape contracts should consider:

    • Identifying smoke taint using specific chemical markers (perhaps periodically revisited in good faith during the contract as industry knowledge evolves) or using truly neutral subjective evaluators
    • Using tiered pricing depending on the levels of chemical markers found
    • Incorporating processes that recognize smoke taint’s latency by delaying acceptance of suspect grapes
    • Allowing suspect grapes to be processed for the grower’s account
    • Including a holdback of some portion of the purchase price
    • Some combination of the above

    Don’t Overlook Insurance

    Growers and winemakers should review their insurance policies in detail before and after smoke taint strikes and consider working closely with a broker or lawyer to determine whether, when, and how to make a claim.

    Understanding how insurance works with smoke taint now can help prepare you after smoke taint strikes. One of the trickiest issues is determining which insurance policy will cover a potential loss. As a general matter, crop insurance will cover damage to grapes while they are on the vine while other forms of property insurance will cover “damage” to grapes after they have been harvested. Growers with healthy crop policies should encourage field inspections before harvest to enable timely claims.

    However, since it may not be clear when the grapes were “damaged,” steps taken under one type of policy could impact a claim under a different type of policy. If it is not clear when the grapes were damaged, potential claimants should review their policies carefully and work closely with their consultants, lawyers and brokers to determine the best approach to a potential loss.

    Taking the time now to understand your policies before smoke taint hits can help make the claim process less stressful and ensure that no important steps are missed. Grape growers and winemakers should review their insurance policies to determine the supporting documentation required to file a claim. Some policies, for example, may require information about when the grapes were affected, where they were affected, and for how long.

    Many policies will also require lab tests from preapproved labs that indicate the presence of smoke taint. At present, pre-harvest tests typically focus on the presence of guaiacol and 4-methylguaiacol and are performed either on whole berry clusters or after the micro-fermentation of samples. Although post-fermentation tests can help confirm the presence of smoke taint, many policies will still require pre-harvest test results.

    Potential claimants should also look for other requirements that might affect the viability of their claim. Does a policy require winemakers to segregate the juice from different lots, and should this be part of grape contract negotiations?

    Carefully reviewing insurance policies and closely working with your consultants, insurance broker and lawyer may also uncover unexpected sources of recovery. For example, if crop insurance is not available or does not fully cover the loss, it might still be possible to obtain coverage for lost profits and extra expenses due to grower’s inability to harvest grapes due to lack of access or other reasons, or a winery’s inability to procure the grapes it needs to produce wine.  As always, to maximize insurance recoveries, it is necessary to quickly and thoroughly gather all relevant facts, supporting documentation and relevant insurance policies, and understand (with a professional’s help, if required) how the insurance policies might respond to particular losses before deciding how one or more insurance claims should be pursued.

    Next Steps

    Potentially ruined grapes are bad enough:  the inherent uncertainty around smoke taint’s presence, cause, and extent exacerbates the related contract and insurance problems. To reduce this uncertainty: review insurance policies and grape contracts so you understand their terms, consider negotiating grape contracts to incorporate practical procedures, and reach out to your consultants, insurance broker or lawyer with any questions about contracts, policies, or general strategy for addressing potential smoke taint damage. Anything you do now can reduce the pressures of the next fire season. – By Matthew Lewis, Tyler Gerking & MaryJo Lopez

    Matthew Lewis (right) is a business transactions partner, Tyler Gerking (left) is an insurance recovery partner, and MaryJo Lopez (middle) is an business litigation associate in Farella Braun + Martel’s Wine Industry Group. They can be reached at mlewis@fbm.com, tgerking@fbm.com, and mlopez@fbm.com.

  • ARS, NASA Join Forces To Monitor Earth’s Water Supply

    Bill Kustas, ARS hydrologist at Beltsville, MD, checks the position of a water vapor/carbon dioxide (CO2) sensor on a micrometeorological tower. The instrument measures the exchange of water, energy, and CO2 between the soil-plant system and the lower atmosphere (Photo by Peggy Greb).

    Scientists with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have teamed up with NASA to use satellites to monitor the water cycle on Earth, specifically “evapotranspiration” — the amount of water that enters the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration from plants. Transpiration occurs during photosynthesis when plants take up carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

    That information is especially important for farmers because the data help them get the most from their farms and ranches.

    “Evapotranspiration (ET) is an integral part of the water, carbon, and energy cycle of our water, soil, plant, and climate system,” said Bill Kustas, research hydrologist at the ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Lab in Beltsville, MD. “Most precipitation returns to the atmosphere in the form of ET, which accounts for two-thirds of the global annual average precipitation. Knowledge of ET is critical for monitoring plant and crop water use and stress, loss of water from lakes and reservoirs, and is essential for scheduling irrigation to maintain proper crop growth and development.”

    NASA’s satellites track plant growth, cover and biomass, land surface temperature, and soil moisture — all key elements to ET and plant health. ARS scientists develop models from this information to map ET and plant/crop water status so farmers can maintain proper crop growth and development.

    How can a satellite collect that type of information from so far away? According to Kustas, sensors on the satellites measure both reflection and emission of electromagnetic radiation from the land using visible, infrared, thermal-infrared, and microwave wavelengths. The data from these sensors provide unique information about water, soil, and plant properties and states.

    “All plants transpire liquid water into water vapor that cools the plant so it can maintain a temperature range that is optimal for photosynthesis and promote efficient plant growth and development,” Kustas said. “This leads to the production of maximum crop yield.”

    If the ET rate is not high enough, the plant will undergo stress. In the worst-case scenario, without any available water, plants wilt and die. Kustas said that farmers can avoid this by irrigating crops, but this can reduce water available for other uses, like municipal use and maintenance of healthy ecosystems. Knowing the actual ET rate helps farmers to better determine how much irrigation is needed to maintain healthy crops while reducing over-application and pumping costs.

    ARS Hydrologist Bill Kustas (right) and Mina Momayyezi, UC Davis postdoctoral fellow, collect leaf-level photosynthesis and transpiration rates determine vine stress levels (Photo by Nurit Agam).

    Ranchers can also benefit from satellite ET mapping. “Ranchers can better manage the land’s grazing potential by moving herds or reducing herd numbers before overgrazing can affect land health and future productivity,” Kustas said.

    “Water, specifically the amount and use of root zone soil moisture or plant available water, is the most critical limiting factor in agricultural productivity worldwide,” he said. “ET from satellite remote sensing is particularly important for global food security assessment, especially in water-limited regions that have little data to monitor crop conditions and project future yields.” — By Scott Elliott, USDA ARS Office of Communications

  • Assembly Bill 535 Supporting California Olive Oil Becomes Law

    Assembly Bill 535 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom last week. The bill, introduced by Assemblymember Ceclia Aguiar-Curry, establishes guidelines for how companies can use the word “California” on olive oil labels and other marketing materials.

    While the OOCC does not have authority to lobby and did not take a position on this bill, the new ruling is critically important to the goals of our organization: ensuring California olive oil is accurately labeled so that customers can have confidence in the quality of California olive oil and all California olive oil is trusted and valued.

    The bill was supported by a group of California olive oil producers who launched a Truth in Labeling informational campaign.

    According to a press release from Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry, consumers associate California produced olive oils with quality and demand has steadily increased over time. This increase in demand has led to companies using the word “California” on labels, even if the product only contains a small percentage of oil from olives actually produced in the state.

    Aguiar-Curry carried the bill because she believes misleading labeling causes confusion among consumers. It also places 100 percent California olive oil farmers and producers at a competitive disadvantage because of the greater regulatory burden and higher costs, and hurts the reputation of California olive oil as a trusted product.

    The guideline for olive oil labeling that Assembly Bill 535 provides consumers with clear and transparent information about the oil they are purchasing. The bill will require companies to disclose the minimum percentage of California olive oil present in their product and in the same size as the word “California” on their product label, packaging and marketing materials.

    The bill does not prohibit or restrict blending oils from different sources and destinations, it only requires the term “California” be used in a way that truthfully and clearly represents the actual amount of California-grown olives used in the product.

    With this bill, supporters hope to strengthen the integrity of California olive oils as a premium and trusted product. — Olive Oil Commission of California

  • Blue Diamond Growers Foundation Announces Scholarship Awards on 10th Anniversary of Program

    Blue Diamond Growers Foundation is pleased to announce its 2021-2022 scholarship recipients. This year, scholarship funding is being awarded to 24 college students who are either dependents of Blue Diamond employees or are members of local communities pursuing agriculture-related fields of study at colleges and universities in California and throughout the country.

    “For agriculture to succeed for years to come, it will require the dedication and hard work of the next generation,” said Dan Cummings, Chairman of the Board of Directors for Blue Diamond Growers. “We are so pleased that the Blue Diamond Growers Foundation regularly supports dependents of our own Blue Diamond employees as well as assists students whose goals are to be a positive influence on the future of agriculture and who want to make a difference in their communities.”

    Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Blue Diamond Growers Foundation was established in 2011 for the purpose of providing scholarships to students who have demonstrated excellent academic performance and are pursuing a four-year college. Since 2011, the Blue Diamond Foundation has awarded nearly
    150 scholarships to help students in our local communities achieve their dreams of a college education.

    This year’s Blue Diamond Growers Foundation scholarship recipients include:

    NAME/HOMETOWN COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY MAJOR
    Ashleigh Sorensen
    Sanger, Calif.    		 Fresno State University Agribusiness
    Ashlyn Wooldridge
    Arbuckle, Calif.    		 Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo Plant and Environment Sciences
    Averie Konefat
    Patterson, Calif.    		 Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo Ag Science
    Cal Muxlow
    Kingsburg, Calif.    		 Fresno State University Agribusiness
    Gabriela Moreno
    Winton, Calif.    		 Merced Community College then Fresno State University Ag Education and Communications
    Gunnar Kale
    Merced, Calif.    		 Morningside University Ag and Food Sciences
    (Minor in Agronomy) 
    NAME/HOMETOWN COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY MAJOR
    Jane Saenz
    Shafter, Calif.    		 Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo Ag Systems Management,
    Wine and Viticulture
    Jenna Keller
    Porterville, Calif.    		 Cal Poly or Cornell University Plant Science and International Ag
    Kalifornia Kindelt
    Woodland, Calif.    		 Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo Ag Communications
    Kathryn Williams
    Arbuckle, Calif.    		   Ag Communications
    Lauren McEwen
    Exeter, Calif.    		 Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo Ag Communications
    Lauren Schaap
    Visalia, Calif.    		 Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo Ag Communications
    Laynee Haywood
    Maxwell, Calif.    		 Texas Tech University Agribusiness
    (Concentration in
    International Agribusiness)
    Madalyn Nissen
    Willows, Calif.     		 Oklahoma State University Ag Education and
    Ag Communications
    Matthew Freitas
    Glenn, Calif.    		 Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo Ag Systems Management
    Michaela Mederos
    Tulare, Calif.    		 Fresno State University Agribusiness Management
    M’Lyssa Frago
    Atwater, Calif.    		 Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo Ag Communications
    Natalie Machon
    El Dorado Hills, Calif.    		 University of Colorado, Boulder Psychology
    Rachel Mancebo
    Chowchilla, Calif.    		 Fresno State University Ag Education
    Sarah Williams
    Madera, Calif.    		 Virginia Tech University Agribusiness

     
    Sydney Vieira
    Ripon, Calif.    		 Oklahoma State University Agribusiness
    (Pre-Law Concentration)
    Tanner Cardoza
    Hanford, Calif.    		 McPherson College Business

     
    Taylor Trigueiro
    Caruthers, Calif.    		 Oklahoma State University Ag Education
    William Vannucci
    Woodland, Calif.    		 American River College Horticulture

     

    Additional information about the Blue Diamond Growers Foundation scholarship program is available at
    https://bluediamondgrowers.com/scholarship-program/.

  • National Pollinator Protection Campaign Honors California Almond Industry

    The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC) on Tuesday presented its Business for Bees Sustainability Award – an honor reserved for standout organizations that go above and beyond to support pollinators – to the Almond Board of California (ABC) and the state’s almond farmers.

    “This is about their long-term dedication to supporting all pollinators in their orchards and throughout our ecosystem,” said Kelly Rourke, executive director of Pollinator Partnership, which founded NAPPC 21 years ago. “We’ve worked with them for many years and this is well-deserved recognition of their steadfast commitment to engaging farmers in pollinator conservation on multiple levels. The Almond Board and the entire almond industry have really moved the needle to raise awareness and generate action to protect pollinators.”

    NAPPC has only given out its Business for Bees Sustainability Award once before. It is given in years when there is a business taking extra special steps to protect bees and all pollinators and to advance sustainability and innovation.

    “ABC’s name is on this award, but it really goes to the 7,600 almond farmers in California,” said Josette Lewis, ABC’s chief scientific officer. “Farmers understand how important pollinators are to growing almonds and to all of agriculture and the environment. They want to be part of the solution.

    The reasons for the award, Rourke said, include ABC’s leadership in founding the California Pollinator Coalition, its work promoting on-farm pollinator habitat and its support of years of research and education about the best practices for providing hospitable environments for pollinators in almond orchards and in other habitats.

    ABC worked with Pollinator Partnership and the California Department of Food and Agriculture last spring to create the California Pollinator Coalition (CPC) which brought together a broad array of grower organizations across the state’s ag and environmental landscape to help promote the health of wild and managed pollinators.

    “The formation of the California Pollinator Coalition was such a big step,” said Laurie Davies Adams, Pollinator Partnership’s Director of Programs, who helped found the CPC. “This is a unique statewide coalition that brings together every grower, farmer and rancher group. I don’t think that’s ever happened before. It’s going to make a real difference on the ground.”

    NAPPC is a collaboration of diverse partners from the U.S., Mexico and Canada. It includes respected scientists, researchers, business people, conservationists and government officials. NAPPC works to promote awareness and scientific understanding of pollinators, to find common ground for solutions and to create innovative initiatives that benefit pollinators. NAPPC is administered and supported by Pollinator Partnership, a non-profit headquartered in San Francisco with a mission to promote the health of pollinators through education, conservation and research.

    The award was announced during NAPPC’s 21st Annual International Conference, held virtually this year for the second time and hosted by the Pollinator Partnership and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The conference and award ceremony were planned for the Smithsonian before being forced to remain virtual because of COVID-19.

    Rourke and Adams said they would have liked to have given the honor in person to show how much they appreciate ABC’s work. “The strong effort that the Almond Board of California has mounted with the support of the almond industry to engage farmers and the entire agricultural community far beyond almond orchards is really impressive,” Adams said. “Bringing every grower group together to have an agriculturally-led coalition for pollinators is significant. It will provide building blocks for even more engagement and large results. It’s a pioneering effort that other states are seeking to emulate.”

    “This is an outstanding honor for our farmers,” Lewis said, “especially considering all the good work that NAPPC and the Pollinator Partnership do. As much as anyone, almond farmers are tuned in to the importance of pollinators to their crops and our ecosystem. That’s why they work so hard to make their orchards healthy places for pollinators.”

    Almond farmers across California’s Central Valley sit in what is essentially a flyway for pollinators. In recent years, almond farmers have applied to certify more than 110,000 acres of Bee Friendly Farming®, providing pollinator habitat and integrated pest management across the valley to keep that flyway healthy and create badly needed floral resources that compliment and expand beyond the annual almond bloom.

    “Almond farmers have doubled the number of acres of bee friendly habit in California and in that pollinator flyway,” Lewis said. “We’re proud to help lead a broad coalition of agriculture and conservation groups to work together to promote and preserve habitat for pollinators.”

    About the Almond Board of California
    ABC is a Federal Marketing Order dedicated to promoting California almonds to domestic and international audiences through marketing efforts and by funding and promoting research about almonds’ health benefits, efficient and sustainable farming, food safety and more. ABC works on behalf of the more than 7,600 almond farmers and processors in California, many of whom are multi-generational family operations.
     
    About The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign
    For over 20 years, NAPPC has brought together stakeholders from all sectors of the pollinator issue in a collaborative partnership to support pollinator health across the North American continent. More than any other single organization, the collective effort of these 180 plus organizations has made pollinator health a feature in conservation landscape management. From its many Task Forces, NAPPC affects change and moves solid science into real progress on the ground. Managed by the Pollinator Partnership, more can be found about NAPPC at NAPPC | Pollinator.org.

  • Leading Harvest Names Kenny Fahey President and CEO

    Leading Harvest, a U.S. nonprofit advancing sustainable agriculture and food production through its unique universal Farmland Management Standard, announced today that it has named Kenny Fahey as the organization’s first president and CEO.

    The unanimous decision by the Board of Directors recognizes Fahey’s deep commitment to advancing sustainable agriculture practices, and his success guiding Leading Harvest as its executive director since the organization launched 18 months ago.

    “Kenny has led us through our early months with a strong and sure hand, and the full board is thrilled that he will continue to drive Leading Harvest’s efforts as we build on our successes in the U.S., engage with the supply chain and expand our reach in international markets,” said Oliver Williams, IV, who chairs Leading Harvest’s Board of Directors and is head of agricultural investments for Hancock Natural Resource Group.

    Fahey, who came to Leading Harvest on loan from The Conservation Fund, where he served as Working Lands Principal, has successfully enrolled more than 1.3 million acres across 29 states in the Farmland Management Standard, and is guiding the organization’s expansion of its footprint internationally with a pilot program in Australia.

    Fahey’s engagement with Leading Harvest began at its inception, when The Conservation Fund was asked to convene a group of farmers, investors, NGOs, and farm managers to create a universal third-party certification program for farmland management. Larry Selzer, president and CEO of The Conservation Fund, appointed Fahey to staff the group, and when Leading Harvest launched as its own organization, he was asked by the board to serve as interim executive director.

    “This is a bittersweet moment for The Conservation Fund, where Kenny has been a highly respected and valued colleague,” said Selzer, vice chair of Leading Harvest’s Board of Directors. “But we know that Leading Harvest — and the future of agriculture — will be well-served by this terrific, committed leader in our conservation and sustainability movement.”

    Fahey will continue his work engaging a broad stakeholder community seeking alignment with public and private sustainability strategies and initiatives, as well as collaborating with organizations such as the Walton Family Foundation, which provided a generous grant to pilot a Leading Harvest effort with farmers in the Upper Mississippi River Basin.

    A graduate of Bowdoin College, Fahey holds both MBA and MS degrees from the University of Michigan.

    Leading Harvest’s Farmland Management Standard is the first scalable, industry-wide solution to urgent issues facing us – from climate change and biodiversity to the resilience of our cropland’s soil and community. The rapid adoption of the Standard underscores the enormous global interest in sustainable farmland.

    More information on Leading Harvest can be found at www.LeadingHarvest.org.

  • UC Davis to Lead Groundwater and Irrigated Agriculture Sustainability Study

    Researchers from the University of California, Davis, have been awarded a $10 million grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to find ways to sustain irrigated agriculture while improving groundwater quantity and quality in the Southwest under a changing climate.

    Isaya Kisekka, associate professor of agrohydrology and irrigation at UC Davis, is leading a team of more than two dozen climate, plant and soil scientists; hydrologists; engineers; economists, educators and extension specialists from UC Davis and other institutions in California, Arizona and New Mexico. They will develop climate change adaptation management strategies that ensure sustainability of groundwater and irrigated agriculture.

    Kisekka says the project team in California will work with Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to develop tools and data to enhance water management at both the farm and groundwater basin scales to improve crop production and achieve sustainability goals under the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which provides a statewide framework to help protect groundwater resources over the long-term. The research team will also work with grower coalitions to achieve the groundwater quality goals of the Central Valley Salt and Nitrate Management Plan.

    “For farmers, the biggest challenge threatening their business is water,” Kisekka said. “Our project is going to develop climate-smart adaptation management practices to help growers achieve their production goals while addressing the co-benefits for the environment and human health. We are going to develop cutting edge tools to manage groundwater quantity and quality as well as study how policies impact behaviors such as water use in agriculture.”

    The practices, models and tools developed will be used by growers or their advisors, policymakers, irrigation districts, coalitions and groundwater sustainability agencies to address climate change extremes such as drought or floods.

    Growing Dependence on Groundwater

    Growers have increasingly depended on groundwater during multi-year droughts and heat stress. Part of the five-year project includes looking into aquifer systems in California’s Central Valley, central Arizona and the lower Rio Grande basin in New Mexico. These regions have all experienced unprecedented overdraft, which happens when more water is pumped from a groundwater basin than is replaced from sources, including rainfall.

    “For a long time, a lot of farmers would use groundwater as an insurance policy whenever there was a drought,” Kisekka said. “The negative consequences of that became obvious: groundwater levels declined, we had subsidence which causes land to sink, we had deterioration in water quality and so on. What are growers going to do when we have another drought like we are now? We have to think more broadly.”

    Kisekka says they will also come up with management practices to improve soil health, develop alternative water supplies and reduce water demand so the region can continue to produce various agriculture commodities, such as vegetables, grapes and almonds.

    “We grow crops in California that we cannot shift to another part of the country because they won’t grow well there,” Kisekka said. “We can’t grow almonds in the Southeast where they have a lot of water because they require a certain climate. We want to ensure food and nutritional security of the United States by sustaining irrigated agriculture in the Southwest.”

    Project researchers will also establish innovative education and extension programs to teach students of all backgrounds and ages, as well as the public, about the importance of water in agriculture.

    “Part of this is to develop educational curriculums from elementary to high school to college, where instructors can pull our modules on water management or sustainable agricultural systems and teach that in their classes,” Kisekka said.

    While the depletion of groundwater supplies, among other factors, puts major pressure on agricultural operations in the southwestern region, Kisekka hopes the management practices and tools that will be developed during this project will help improve production and resource sustainability and help make California and the country more resilient to climate change. UC Davis will establish the Agricultural Water Center of Excellence as part of the grant. This unique Center of Excellence will also have capacity to support agricultural water research, education and extension activities at collaborating institutions with potential impact at local, state, national and international levels.

    “We hope at the end of the day we can still grow food in California and the Southwest in general without drying out our groundwater aquifers,” he said. “We have to learn to adapt to climate change. We may not be able to stop it in the short term, but we should be able to adapt.”

    Researchers from University of California, Berkeley, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources, Stanford University, CSU Fresno, University of Arizona, New Mexico State University, USDA Agricultural Research Service (Sustainable Agricultural Water Systems Research: Davis, CA and Water Management and Conservation Research: Maricopa, AZ) and USDA Climate Hub are also participating in the project. — By Tiffany Dobbyn, UC Davis

  • California Avocado Acreage Drops (Acreage And Condition Analysis Report)

    The California Avocado Commission gathers critical yield forecasting data to make informed budgeting and marketing decisions by partnering with Land IQ to conduct an annual acreage survey. Data from this survey is then compiled in a database for use by the Commission. In addition, Land IQ releases a yearly report for public consumption. The 2021 Statewide Avocado Acreage and Condition report is now available on the California avocado growers website.

    Highlights from the report are as follows:

    • Total planted acreage in 2021 was 51,988 acres, a reduction of about 2,000 acres from 2020
      • 46,727 producing acres
      • 2,668 new/young acres
      • 2,592 topped/stumped acres
    • The five major avocado growing counties — Ventura, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Riverside and San Luis Obispo — accounted for 96% of planted acreage
      • Ventura — 38%
      • San Diego — 29%
      • Santa Barbara — 13%
      • Riverside — 9%
      • San Luis Obispo — 7%
    • Updated tree age analysis
      • 9% of groves were newly planted to 4 years old
      • 14% were 5 – 8 years old
      • 17% were 9 – 15 years old
      • 16% were 16 – 20 years old
      • 44% of groves were 21 or more years old
    • Planting density analysis
      • 19% of acreage is planted at high density (15×15 or closer and 20×10)
      • 81% of acreage is planted at standard density (15×20 or greater

    The report also includes:

    • Tables and graphs illustrating avocado acreage by condition and county
    • Tables of statewide avocado acreage by county and zip code
    • Tables listing planted avocado acreage by year planted or stumped
    • A table noting the age of groves as a percentage of planted acreage, as well as a table summarizing planted avocado acreage by year planted or stumped
    • Tables comparing the condition (producing, stumped, young, abandoned) of high density and standard groves by acreage and county
    • Maps depicting planted avocado polygons in each of the Commission’s five districts
    • Table of net change in acreage from 2020 to 2021, by county
    • Table noting the change in avocado acreage classifications from 2020 to 2021

    A copy of the report is available HERE.

  • Scholarships Offered by California Table Grape Growers

    The California Table Grape Commission is pleased to announce three types of university/college scholarships now available to students in the table grape growing regions of California.

    Two types of scholarships are offered for field workers: one for $25,000 for those attending a four-year California university or college and one for $14,500 for those attending two years of community college followed by two years at a California university or college. A third type of $25,000 scholarship is for those interested in studying agriculture at a California university or college and building a career in the table grape industry. Three of each type of scholarship are available.

    The deadline for all scholarship applications is Friday, February 11, 2022 at 5 p.m.

    Scholarship applications are found here https://www.grapesfromcalifornia.com/community- outreach/.