California Ag Network

Category: Non-Video

  • Study Finds 82 Percent of Avocado Oil Rancid or Mixed With Other Oils

    Consumer demand is rising for all things avocado, including oil made from the fruit. Avocado oil is a great source of vitamins, minerals and the type of fats associated with reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. But according to new research from food science experts at the University of California, Davis, the vast majority of avocado oil sold in the U.S. is of poor quality, mislabeled or adulterated with other oils.

    In the country’s first extensive study of commercial avocado oil quality and purity, UC Davis researchers report that at least 82 percent of test samples were either stale before expiration date or mixed with other oils. In three cases, bottles labeled as “pure” or “extra virgin” avocado oil contained near 100 percent soybean oil, an oil commonly used in processed foods that’s much less expensive to produce.

    “I was surprised some of the samples didn’t contain any avocado oil,” said Selina Wang, Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Food Science and Technology, who led the study recently published in the journal Food Control. “Most people who buy avocado oil are interested in the health benefits, as well as the mild, fresh flavor, and are willing to pay more for the product. But because there are no standards to determine if an avocado oil is of the quality and purity advertised, no one is regulating false or misleading labels. These findings highlight the urgent need for standards to protect consumers and establish a level playing field to support the continuing growth of the avocado oil industry.”

    Testing domestic and imported brands  

    Wang and Hilary Green, a Ph.D. candidate in Wang’s lab, analyzed various chemical parameters of 22 domestic and imported avocado oil samples, which included all the brands they could find in local stores and online. Wang and Green received a $25,000 grant from Dipasa USA, part of the Dipasa Group, a sesame-seed and avocado-oil processor and supplier based in Mexico.

    “In addition to testing commercial brands, we also bought avocados and extracted our own oil in the lab, so we would know, chemically, what pure avocado oil looks like,” Wang said.

    Test samples included oils of various prices, some labeled extra virgin or refined. Virgin oil is supposed to be extracted from fresh fruit using only mechanical means, and refined oil is processed with heat or chemicals to remove any flaws.

    Fifteen of the samples were oxidized before the expiration date. Oil loses its flavor and health benefits when it oxidizes, which happens over time and when exposed to too much light, heat or air. Six samples were mixed with large amounts of other oils, including sunflower, safflower and soybean oil.

    Only two brands produced samples that were pure and nonoxidized. Those were Chosen Foods and Marianne’s Avocado Oil, both refined avocado oils made in Mexico. Among the virgin grades, CalPure produced in California was pure and fresher than the other samples in the same grade.

    A push for standards

    Ensuring quality is important for consumers, retailers, producers and people throughout the avocado oil industry. Retailers want to sell quality products, shoppers want to get their money’s worth and honest producers want to keep fraudulent and low-quality oil out of the marketplace.

    But since avocado oil is relatively new on the scene, the Food and Drug Administration has not yet adopted “standards of identity,” which are basic food standards designed to protect consumers from being cheated by inferior products or confused by misleading labels. Over the last 80 years, the FDA has issued standards of identity for hundreds of products, like whiskey, chocolate, juices and mayonnaise. Without standards, the FDA has no means to regulate avocado oil quality and authenticity. 

    Avocado oil isn’t the only product without enforceable standards. Honey, spices and ground coffee are other common examples. Foods that fetch a higher price are especially ripe for manipulating, especially when adulterations can be too subtle to detect outside a lab.

    Wang is working to develop faster, better and cheaper chemical methods to detect adulteration so bulk buyers can test avocado oil before selling it. She is also evaluating more samples, performing shelf-life studies to see how time and storage affect quality, and encouraging FDA officials to establish reasonable standards for avocado oil.

    Wang has experience collaborating with industry and the FDA. Ten years ago, she analyzed the quality and purity of extra virgin olive oil and discovered that most of what was being sold in the U.S. was actually a much lower grade. Her research sparked a cascade of responses that led California to establish one of the world’s most stringent standards for different grades of olive oil. The FDA is working with importers and domestic producers to develop standards of identity for olive oil.

    “Consumers seeking the health benefits of avocado oil deserve to get what they think they are buying,” Wang said. “Working together with the industry, we can establish standards and make sure customers are getting high-quality, authentic avocado oil and the companies are competing on a level playing field.”

    Tips for consumers

    • The flavor of virgin avocado oil can differ by varieties and region. In general, authentic, fresh, virgin avocado oil tastes grassy, buttery and a little bit like mushrooms.
    • Virgin avocado oil should be green in color, whereas refined avocado oil is light yellow and almost clear due to pigments removed during refining.
    • Even good oil becomes rancid with time. It’s important to purchase a reasonable size that can be finished before the oil oxidizes. Store the oil away from light and heat. A cool, dark cabinet is a good choice, rather than next to the stove.  
    • How do you know if the oil is rancid? It starts to smell stale, sort of like play dough.
    • When possible, choose an oil that’s closest to the harvest/production time to ensure maximum freshness. The “best before date” is not always a reliable indicator of quality.

    – By Diane Nelson, UC Davis

  • Attracting Natural Enemies of Pests to Your Field

    Dr. Eric Brennan is a Research Horticulturist at ARS’s Crop Improvement and Protection Research Unit in Salinas, CA. Dr. Brennan specializes in crop production and climate-smart farming.

    Welcome Dr. Brennan (EB) to Under the Microscope (UM):

    UM – You have a rather novel alternative approach to control insect pests like aphids in lettuce without using pesticides, called conservation biological control. Please explain: 

    EB – Sure, biological control is where we use natural enemies of pests to control them. The approach we used in lettuce is called conservation biological control because we are conserving and enhancing the ability of existing natural enemies to control the aphids by providing habitat and food sources for the natural enemies.  In other words, the natural enemies are already there on the farm and we’re just helping them to be more effective.  Essentially, we’re letting them know that they’re welcome.

    UM – How does this method benefit farmers and gardeners in both short term and long term? 

    EB – Great question. In both the short and long term this can help us reduce our use of pesticides, which is a good thing.  In the long term this can also reduce the ability of the insects to develop resistance to pesticides. When we overuse pesticides, insects can become resistant to them, which makes those pesticides useless in the long run. The cool thing about biological control is that pests don’t usually become resistant to attacks by their natural enemies.  For example, I don’t know of any situations where aphids have been able to evolve a way to consistently avoid being gobbled up by the larvae hungry hoverflies.

    Lettuce aphid, Nasonovia ribisnigri. This pest (about 1-3 millimeters long) of lettuce appeared in California’s Salinas Valley in 1998 and is now found in all lettuce-production areas of that state and Arizona. (Stephen Ausmus, D689-7)

    We worked closely with the industry in developing and validating technologies for a better process control, and for improved pathogen reduction. The industry made huge strides in food safety over the past decade, ever since the 2006 E.coli O157:H7 outbreak involving baby spinach. In recent years, a lot of effort has been placed on prevention of pathogen contamination, and it has resulted in stricter farming practices, better farm worker training, industry-wide food safety standards, supply chain joint efforts to improve food safety, and industry-sponsored research initiatives.

    UM – I understand you’ve done extensive work on using the plant sweet alyssum as part of this strategy. What are the advantages of planting alyssum in your field/garden, and what crop does it protect best?

    EB – The great thing about this plant is that it flowers continuously. And those flowers are providing pollen and nectar that are a food source for adult hoverflies, which are a natural enemy of aphids. When the hoverflies have this food in our lettuce fields, they’re able to go about doing what they do best in searching out all those aphids and help to control them without us having to use pesticides.  This is a system that works really well in lots of vegetables as well as some other crops. Lettuce is probably the best example in the region where I work, Salinas, which is often called the salad bowl of the world.

    UM – It sounds like farmers in this region were already planting alyssum in lettuce, but you found that they were using more field space than was needed, thus limiting their potential crop acreage?  

    EB – That’s right.  My research figured out a new method of planting alyssum in the lettuce fields so farmers didn’t have to give up any field area just for the alyssum.  Essentially, my method involved adding about 500 alyssum plants per acre in between regularly spaced lettuce plants, which was really a win-win for farmers because they still got to plant a full field of lettuce and were still effective in controlling the aphids.

    UM – Alyssum is good for planting lettuce, but you’ve had mixed results planting with broccoli and other vegetables, why? 

    EB – The aphids that infest broccoli and lettuce are different species. The aphid that goes on broccoli is commonly called the cabbage aphid and it’s generally a lot more challenging to control biologically than the several aphid species that get on lettuce.  I haven’t seen a lot of scientific literature explaining exactly why the cabbage aphid is more difficult to control biologically, but there are likely lots of factors.  For example, broccoli has to grow for more time in the field before we’re able to harvest it and so the aphids have more of a chance to cause problems on broccoli than on lettuce. Also, there are differences in the harvested part of the lettuce plant versus the harvested part of broccoli that make the aphids on broccoli challenging. With broccoli you’re producing a flower, and with lettuce you’re just producing a head full of leaves. The broccoli flower has lots of little crevices where aphids can hide and eventually deform the broccoli flower that we eat.

    UM – How do farmers know which insects are beneficial and which are enemies of pests in their fields? 

    EB – This has to do with being trained to recognize pest insects versus beneficial insects. There are lots of good photographs on the web nowadays that can help farmers and gardeners identify beneficial insects versus pests. And of course there’s also the friendly Cooperative Extension farm advisors who are more than happy to help identify these.

    UM – I understand you’re also researching the use of cover crops and compost for improved soil health, carbon sequestration, weed control, and other benefits. What are your findings?

    EB – I love cover crops and have been working with them for much longer than I’ve worked on beneficial insects. So, as you can imagine I could go on for a long time about the different things that we’ve discovered with cover crops. One of the most important recent findings is that frequent cover cropping is extremely important for maintaining soil health in vegetable systems.  In fact, our research suggests that it’s far more important than using compost.  Interestingly, these cover crops can also help us conserve some of those beneficial insects that I was just talking about with aphid control.

    Various patterns of intercropping alyssum with organic romaine lettuce for aphid control were assessed at ARS fields in Salinas, California

    Various patterns of intercropping alyssum with organic romaine lettuce for aphid control were assessed at ARS fields in Salinas, California (Stephen Ausmus, D3050-3)

    UM – We’re right in the middle of gardening season. What advice do you have for home gardeners who are trying to keep pests out of their gardens?

    EB – Probably the most important advice is to pay attention to what’s going on in your garden. When you see something, be it an insect or some other organism, try to figure out what it’s doing and why it’s there. Perhaps it’s a harmless thing, but it also might be a beneficial organism or a pest. Here’s an example from my home garden. I recently learned that paper wasps were helping to control caterpillar pests on my kale that I had growing in my front yard. I figured that out when I was harvesting kale one day and a wasp landed on some kale that I was holding and grabbed a caterpillar larvae and flew off with it. Wow, that was cool.

    UM – What about weeds? How can gardeners control weeds in their gardens?

    EB – Great question. Probably the most important thing is to pull weeds as soon as you seen them to prevent them from setting seeds in your garden. Eventually you’ll deplete what we call the weed seed bank in the soil. If you don’t have weed seed in your soil, you won’t have weeds. In my home garden and in my research fields we work to control weeds when they are young and vulnerable and prevent them from producing seed.

    UM – Okay, let’s let the cat out of the bag. You are a successful YouTuber, with your own YouTubeYouTube channel and dozens of videos, mainly focusing on topics we discussed today. Your video on making an inexpensive hoe for gardening has over 150k views. My favorite is the video comparing cover cropping to juggling. Please elaborate. 

    EB – Ha. I figured you’d ask about this. My first video was created in 2013 and describes my alyssum research that we talked about earlier.  It now has around 19k views and gets about 100 views per week.  That’s impact.  I became a scientist to help farmers produce food sustainably and efficiently, and YouTube allows me to communicate this in an efficient and fun way (i.e., juggling).  Farmers and others love YouTube because it allows them to learn things when it’s convenient for them.  And I love it because it allows me to share my results to a broad audience with visuals that help to tell the story behind the research.  One of my favorite recent videos is “Bamboo, Oil and Ice Cream.  Why scientists need to be on YouTube.”  I’m hooked on video and will use it for the remainder of my career to share the research that I’m privileged do on behalf of the American public.

  • Soil Health Institute 5th Annual Meeting

    The Soil Health Institute (SHI), a non-profit organization charged with safeguarding and enhancing the vitality and productivity of soil, today released its 5th Annual Meeting Agenda. Registration is open for Soil Health: The Foundation for Regenerative Agriculture, SHI’s first-ever virtual annual meeting. There is no registration fee; however, registration is required to attend. The online meeting will be held July 30 and 31, 2020.

    The annual meeting will host 28 distinguished panelists and speakers, including farmers, soil scientists, food manufacturing leaders, and policy experts. The keynote will be provided by Jay Watson, Sourcing Sustainability Engagement Manager at General Mills, Inc., who leads General Mills, Inc.’s greenhouse gas reduction and regenerative agriculture commitments.

    Among the meeting topics:

    • Comprehensive Strategy for Advancing Soil Health
    • Determining Effective Measurements of Soil Health
    • Dimensions of Adoption
    • Filling the Economics Gap for Farmers
    • Soil Health Policies and Programs in Action

    In addition to the plenary sessions, a virtual Video Poster Session will feature up to 80 3-minute video research presentations.

    “The level of enthusiasm we have received for Soil Health: The Foundation for Regenerative Agriculture is very inspiring,” said Dr. Wayne Honeycutt, SHI president and CEO. “We are excited at the opportunity for reaching a broad, and hopefully global, audience with the latest information for advancing the science and practicality of soil health.”

    For more information and to register for the annual meeting, please visit https://soilhealthinstitute.org/annual-meeting-2020/.

    About the Soil Health Institute

    The Soil Health Institute (www.soilhealthinstitute.org) is a non-profit whose mission is to safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soil through scientific research and advancement. The Institute works with its many stakeholders to identify gaps in research and adoption; develop strategies, networks and funding to address those gaps; and ensure beneficial impact of those investments to agriculture, the environment and society.

  • USDA Dairy Safety-Net Program Signup to Begin October 12

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) announces that Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) safety-net signup for 2021 coverage will begin October 12 and will run through December 11, 2020. DMC has already triggered payments for two months for producers who signed up for 2020 coverage.

    “If we’ve learned anything in the past six months, it’s to expect the unexpected,” said FSA Administrator Richard Fordyce. “Nobody would have imagined the significant impact that current, unforeseen circumstances have had on an already fragile dairy market. It’s during unprecedented times like these that the importance of offering agricultural producers support through the delivery of Farm Bill safety-net programs such as DMC becomes indisputably apparent.”

    The April 2020 income over feed cost margin was $6.03 per hundredweight (cwt.), triggering the second payment of 2020 for dairy producers who purchased the appropriate level of coverage under the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program. The April margin reflects a more than a $3 drop from the March $9.15 cwt. income over feed cost margin.

    As of June 15, FSA has issued more than $100 million in much-needed program benefits to dairy producers who purchased DMC coverage for 2020.

    Authorized by the 2018 Farm Bill, DMC is a voluntary risk management program that offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer. Over 13,000 operations enrolled in the program for the 2020 calendar year.

    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 the Farm Service Agency, 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.

    For more information, visit farmers.gov DMC webpage or contact your local USDA service center. To locate your local FSA office, visit farmers.gov/service-center-locator.

  • Survey Reveals Increased Snacking Habits in the ‘New Normal’

    As Americans across the country have been under shelter-in-place orders, many turned to snacking for comfort. A new survey, conducted in May in partnership with California Walnuts and Kelton Global, explores the snacking behaviors of Americans and how they’ve changed since shelter-in-place mandates were implemented. Previous research from California Walnuts has shown that people who eat walnuts love to eat them as a snack, but the new study reveals larger snacking trends and what might stay.

    About one in two Americans (48 percent) confess they are snacking more than before the pandemic began and two in five (40 percent) of those expect to see this behavior continue after the shelter-in-place mandates are lifted. While Americans are mostly torn when it comes to the perfect flavor profile of their snacks, the preference for sweet snacks (57 percent) currently edges out salty (43 percent).

    Comfort is the first priority, with 75 percent of respondents noting that they are not trying to eat healthier snacks than they normally do, and only 20 percent remarking that they wish there were more nutritious snacking options available. As a result, close to a third (31 percent) of American snackers acknowledge that their new snacking behaviors have led to weight gain during the pandemic. Researchshows that walnuts can be part of a healthy diet that doesn’t lead to unwanted weight gain, which means walnuts are an ideal snack that not only satisfies both sweet and savory cravings, but also delivers on nutrition.

    The survey insights indicate that snackers will continue to indulge, suggesting the importance of adding nutrient-rich ingredients to indulgent snacks in order to help maintain a healthy diet. Consumers can easily boost the nutrition of their snacks – whether savory or sweet – by incorporating walnuts into their snacking routine, without feeling like they are missing out. Not only do they pair well with sweet or savory flavors to satisfy any craving, but they also provide nutrients needed to keep you full between meals: 4g protein, 2g fiber and good fats, including 2.5g of essential omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) per 1 oz. serving. Walnuts are the only nut that are an excellent source of ALA, which has been associated with benefits for heart health, brain health and inflammation.

    Whether Americans are working an essential job, attending back-to-back virtual meetings, setting up online learning for their children or a combination of all, a handful of walnuts is a simple snack that can fuel any activity.

    Additional survey results regarding snacking behavior changes include:

    • Americans are exploring new options: Two in five (40 percent) American snackers stock up on snacks so they don’t have shop as frequently and about a quarter (23 percent) report that they have tried some new snacks since sheltering in place.
    • Snacking is a source of comfort: 33 percent of snacking Americans state they’ve found comfort in their favorite snacks since sheltering in place.To learn more about how walnuts are great for any snacking style, visit the California Walnuts snacking page at www.walnuts.org/snacking.

      About the Survey: The study surveyed 1,004 nationally representative Americans age 18+ in the U.S., and was conducted online from May 4 through May 7, 2020.

      The study has a margin of error of+/- 3.1%. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results.

      In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percent, from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all personas in the universe represented by the sample. The margin of error for any subgroups will be slightly higher.

      Kelton Global is a leading global insights firm serving as a partner to more than 100 of the Fortune 500 and thousands of smaller companies and organizations. For more information about Kelton Global please call 1.888.8.KELTON or visit www.keltonglobal.com.

      California Walnut Board 
      The California Walnut Board (CWB) was established in 1948 to represent the walnut growers and handlers of California.  The CWB is funded by mandatory assessments of the handlers. The CWB is governed by a Federal Walnut Marketing Order. The CWB promotes usage of walnuts in the United States through publicity and educational programs. The CWB also provides funding for walnut production, food safety and post-harvest research.

  • $650,000 Grant to Study Wild Wheat to Help Prevent Diseases

    The 2Blades Foundation and collaborators at the University of Minnesota, Kansas State University, and the John Innes Center will study wild emmer wheat to discover genes that can help farmers combat devastating wheat rust diseases which are estimated to cost farmers and consumers nearly $3 billion each year.

    The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded a grant through their Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) for the study of emmer wheat — one of the very first cereals to be cultivated in agriculture — to identify genes that could help make wheat resistant to “rust” diseases.  Wheat rusts have destroyed crops since Roman times, including multiple epidemics in the US in the past century.

    The current project builds on 2Blades’ 12-year effort to source resistance genes from wheat and its domesticated and wild relatives, and to deploy them in finished wheat varieties. It brings together leading scientists in wheat and wheat rusts with key resources.

    The project team includes:  Jesse Poland, a wheat geneticist at Kansas State University’s Wheat Genetics Resource Center, which maintains extensive collections of wild wheat relatives including wild emmer wheat; Brian Steffenson, a plant pathologist at the University of Minnesota, with extensive expertise in cereal rusts and specialized facilities for conducting resistance assays; and Brande Wulff, from the John Innes Centre in the United Kingdom, who has developed the methodology to quickly identify resistance genes through association genetics.

    Wheat provides roughly 20 percent of calories and protein for human nutrition worldwide and is the third largest crop grown in the United States. It is attacked by a number of diseases, among the most damaging being stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis), stem rust (P. graminis), and leaf rust (P. triticina).

    The best and most environmentally sound way to defend against these diseases is through the deployment of resistance genes in wheat varieties. The use of genetic resistance is particularly important in developing countries where fungicides used to combat rust disease may be expensive or unavailable.

    The world wheat harvest is threatened by the recent emergence of new virulent forms of the fungal pathogen Puccinia graminis, which can cause pandemic disease with the rapid and complete destruction of infected crops.

    “In the face of this threat to world food security we are working with our partners in the United States, England, Australia and Japan to develop new wheat lines which are completely and securely disease resistant, and to ensure that these lines are available to farmers everywhere, and freely available to farmers throughout the developing world,” said 2Blades Chairman Roger Freedman.

    Read More at 2Blades.org

  • BASF Files Motion to Intervene in Ninth Circuit Case that Vacated Dicamba Registrations

    BASF has filed an emergency motion to intervene following the decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to vacate the federal registrations of three dicamba-based herbicides, including BASF’s Engenia® herbicide. The Court’s June 3, 2020 decision brought BASF’s product into the case for the first time. BASF has now made the request to intervene after careful consideration of the sudden and severe financial impact vacating the registration has had on farmers during this critical application time, when farmers now have less than a month to protect millions of acres under threat from resistant weeds. The Ninth Circuit’s decision has caused immediate chaos among the agricultural community and threatens the livelihood of countless U.S. farmers. Seeking to make matters worse, the challengers have now asked the Ninth Circuit to undo the EPA’s order which implemented the panel’s decision and addressed the uncertainty it caused. BASF must act to protect its interests and those of its customers.

    “Taking this action during the height of the application season gives no regard to the significant investments farmers have made in their businesses and leaves them without viable options for the growing season,” said Paul Rea, Senior Vice President, BASF Agricultural Solutions North America. “Farming is difficult even in the best of times and remains challenging. Making this decision now, when weed resistance continues to threaten farming operations, is disastrous for our customers. Farmers have counted on applications of dicamba-based products to control troublesome weeds for decades, and they continue to need these tools now and in the future.”

    Since its original registration with the EPA in 2016, on-target applications of Engenia herbicide have helped farmers produce clean fields and robust yields of dicamba-tolerant soybeans and cotton. And because of BASF’s commitment to stewardship, the company provides customers with a range of practices, equipment, and trainings to make sure they have the tools to get the most out of BASF products, while protecting the environment.

    “I have been using Engenia for three years, and it is a critical part of my operation to reduce the threat of resistant weeds and ensure a successful yield each season,” said Brad Kallenbach, a soybean farmer from Jamestown, North Dakota. “My livelihood depends on tools like Engenia to tackle these challenges, and those of us that use it have dedicated a tremendous amount of time to ensure that we are doing it responsibly. The Court’s decision to vacate the Engenia registration leaves me with no good options for this year. It’s a steep cost that no grower under these circumstances was ready to bear.”

    The EPA’s approval process for crop protection products is science-based and data-driven. BASF invests in and uses the best science and testing protocols to develop next-generation innovations like Engenia herbicide. BASF scientists have over 50 years of experience in developing and improving dicamba for effective and safe applications.

    “Engenia and other dicamba-based herbicides are critical in ensuring the long-term sustainability of agriculture and crop protection products,” continued Rea. “Not only do they play a role in protecting crops, but also in ensuring an abundant, safe and affordable food supply. Continued innovation in crop protection and weed management must continue and be supported to sustain this industry.”

    BASF remains committed to meeting the needs of its customers and will continue to work on new dicamba-based innovations to assist farmers with weed control. In addition, BASF will also continue to pursue EPA re-registration of Engenia for the coming seasons.

    Engenia herbicide is a U.S. EPA Restricted Use Pesticide.

     Always read and follow label directions.

  • Covid-19, Climate, Challenge and Change

    The global pandemic has revealed in new ways how essential farmers and farmworkers are to the food supply chain. With this revelation has also come more widespread understanding of the challenges farmers and ranchers face while scrambling to adopt new workplace safety protocols in the fields and on packing lines, respond to dramatically altered markets, and seek relief funding so they can stay in business.

    The realities and vulnerabilities of farmworkers, too, have been laid bare. Their exposure in the workplace and at home to Covid-19 and the barriers to health care and economic relief make us all vulnerable, dependent as we are on their labor and wellbeing.

    “Our main challenge right now is getting enough masks and suits to protect our workers. That’s what keeps me up at night. I’m also worried about harvest in August when we need 200 workers to pick grapes in 10 days—social distancing will be impossible. 

    As a new farmer taking over the business from my dad, I’m in this for the long game. It’s always been hard to make long-term decisions in farming, especially with the uncertainty of climate change. And now it’s challenging to make even short-term decisions about what to plant this year.”

    — Steven Cardoza, Cardoza Ranches (organic raisin grower, Fresno County)

    California agriculture is ramping up for its busiest time of year as hundreds of varieties of vegetable, fruit and nut crops are planted and harvested over the coming summer months. Even as shelter-in-place orders are easing, farmers have other looming challenges ahead in the form of seasonal climate change impacts. Wildfire season is predicted to start early this year in parts of the state because of a dry winter. Parts of the state will face another year of water scarcity given that the snow pack is only about half of normal.

    Despite these many challenges during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis, California farmers found time to apply for Climate Smart Agriculture grants for improving soil health and reducing methane emissions on dairies.

    In April, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced that $50.8 million in grant requests had been submitted by 79 dairy producers for projects that reduce methane emissions by improving manure management—about five times more than the money available in the AMMP program.

    By mid-May, CDFA had received nearly 600 applications from farmers and ranchers for the Healthy Soils Program, a three-fold increase from the last round of applications to the program. CDFA recently announced program awards totaling $22 million to 316 farmers and ranchers carrying out healthy soils practices on more than 30,000 acres across the state.

    Clearly these programs are valued by California’s farmers, eager to do their part to curb greenhouse gas emissions, improve the resilience of their farms, and improve their bottom line with these important investments.

    “The milk industry was already being hit hard by an oversupply that drove down prices. It’s even harder now to find buyers even for powdered milk, and both dairy and meat processors are cutting contracts because they don’t have capacity right now.

    The pandemic has made it all the more real about our reliance on local farmers and it makes the case for curbing climate change to protect their livelihoods. We are getting in touch with what is really important, and food and farmers are core to our survival. It’s also clearer how important it is to maintain and shore up local economies and food systems.”

    — Rose Marie Burroughs, Burroughs Family Farms (organic dairy and almond grower, Merced County)

    However, widespread support for the state’s Climate Smart Agriculture programs go beyond the state’s farms and ranches. This spring, more than 65 non-profits, food businesses and public health organizations sent in letters urging state legislators and Governor Newsom to invest in the climate solutions of our farms and ranches.

    “We expect a huge hit to our tourism business this year and really don’t know how many ‘u-pickers’ will visit our farm because of people just being afraid to go out. I worry about the small farm sector generally and how many will go out of business if the economy doesn’t open back up in time and they don’t get help.

    The pandemic has shown how fragile our food security is. Maybe the fear people are feeling can be leveraged to make widespread change and protect family farms and local food systems. If you want to fight climate change, you need an army of small farmers who focus on keeping carbon in the soil by increasing biodiversity in the soil and above ground.”

    — Ed Seaman, Santa Barbara Blueberries (blueberries, Santa Barbara County)

    California has been a global leader in setting ambitious, science-based climate goals and allocating funds to programs that achieve it, including the Climate Smart Agriculture programs. Continued progress and financial investments in these programs will not only help keep California on track with its climate goals but will also reduce air and water pollution, protect our food supply, and provide an engine for economic development to rebuild rural economies hit hard by the pandemic. – By Renata Brillinger, California Climate & Agriculture Network

  • New Virtual Offerings for Women in Agribusiness Event Series

    In a pivotal move to ensure event excellence during the changing business climate, the Women in Agribusiness (WIA) Summit series has announced virtual attendance options for its 2020 U.S. and international conferences.

    Its WIA Summit Europe, July 2-3, originally scheduled to take place in Paris, will now be held completely virtual, and its flagship Women in Agribusiness Summit U.S. has added a remote attendance choice for the September 16-18 event in Nashville, Tenn. Planning is now underway to ensure these virtual experiences mirror the benefits of networking, intelligence gathering and interactivity that have come to be the hallmarks of WIA events.

    “Our robust virtual platform will supercharge attendees’ experience,” said Joy O’Shaughnessy, WIA event director and COO at HighQuest, parent company of WIA. “Speaker presentations will be brought to life with embedded live-streaming video, interactive Q&A sessions and engaging polling options, not to mention networking that includes instant messaging and real-time chat, and connecting with attendees via private group video discussions as well access to a multi-tiered database of information about fellow delegates.”

    Not to miss speakers and topics for WIA Summit Europe, July 2-3, include:

    • Keynote: Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, who will speak on “Building Back Better” after COVID-19.
    • Panel: Experts from Matador Ventures Lt, Syngenta, CapAgro and AgriSat will talk to “Farming 4.0: Ushering in the Digital Age in Agriculture” and address: How are those that collect this data using it? Who actually owns the data? Who is benefitting from this and how?
    • Presentation: Carol Heil, associate at Ernst & Young, will speak to “Agricultural Trade After COVID-19”.
    • Short Pitch Series: From biotechnology advances in ag to upcycling and eco-extraction, and robots in the poultry sector, these ingenious women will provide a glimpse into the future of ag during this always lively Ag Innovation Hour.

    The Women in Agribusiness Summit U.S., now in its ninth year, is heading to Nashville for the first time (COVID-19 restrictions permitting), offering in-person and virtual attendance. During this interactive, engaging conference – which brought together nearly 900 attendees last year – delegates will be immersed in discussions that will help them know their business better, through session titles such as: “Fortifying Agriculture’s Resiliency”, “Reducing Litigation Exposure for Ag Companies”, and “Leveraging Liquidity to Thrive in Business”. Learn more at womeninageurope.com or womeninag.com or follow us at @Womeninagri, on Facebook and LinkedIn.

    About Women in Agribusiness

    Women in Agribusiness (WIA) is a business unit of HighQuest Group, a global agribusiness consulting, events and media firm, based north of Boston, Mass., USA. The first Women in Agribusiness Summit was held in 2012 in Minneapolis, Minn. Since that time, WIA initiatives have grown to include the WIA Membership, WIA Demeter Award of Excellence, Student Scholarships, and the WIA Today blog. Learn more at womeninag.com

  • June 30 Last Day to Complete Enrollment for 2020 Agriculture Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage Programs

    Agricultural producers who have not yet enrolled in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) or Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs for 2020 must do so by June 30. Although program elections for the 2020 crop year remain the same as elections made for 2019, all producers need to contact their local USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) office to sign a 2020 enrollment contract.

    “The Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage programs are critical safety-net programs for farmers, helping producers weather market distortions resulting from natural disasters, trade disruptions and, this year, a pandemic,” said FSA Administrator Richard Fordyce. “Contact your FSA county office today to complete enrollment before June 30. This can be done in concert with filing your acreage report and applying for other FSA programs.”

    To date, more than 1.4 million ARC and PLC contracts have been signed for the 2020 crop year. This represents 89 percent of expected enrollment. FSA will send reminder postcards to producers who, according to agency records, have not yet submitted signed contracts for ARC or PLC for the 2020 crop year.

    Producers who do not complete enrollment by close of business local time on Tuesday, June 30 will not be enrolled in ARC or PLC for the 2020 crop year and will be ineligible to receive a payment should one trigger for an eligible crop.

    ARC and PLC contracts can be mailed or emailed to producers for signature depending on producer preference. Signed contracts can be mailed or emailed back to FSA or, arrangements can be made in advance with FSA to drop off signed contracts at the FSA county office – call ahead for local drop off and other options available for submitting signed contracts electronically.

    Producers are eligible to enroll on farms with base acres for the following commodities: barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium- and short-grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.

    More Information

    For more information on ARC and PLC including web-based decision tools, visit farmers.gov/arc-plc.

    USDA Service Centers, including FSA county offices, are open for business by phone only, and field work will continue with appropriate social distancing. While program delivery staff will continue to come into the office, they will be working with producers by phone and using online tools whenever possible. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with the FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service or any other Service Center agency are required to call their Service Center to schedule a phone appointment. More information can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus.

    Visit offices.usda.gov to find location and contact information for the nearest FSA county office.