California Ag Network

Category: News

  • Joe Rochioli Honored for Outstanding Achievements in FFA and Agriculture

    Healdsburg, Calif., (August 14, 2017) – Joe Rochioli Jr. was honored for his outstanding Achievements in FFA and Agriculture by the Healdsburg High School FFA Ag Boosters Board on June 24, 2017 at their Shrimp Boil and Bluegrass fundraiser at Jackson Family Wine’s Richard’s Grove. More than 150 guests turned out for the 2nd annual event, including leaders from the business and agricultural sectors. Guests dined on Southern Shrimp and treats prepared by Ken Rochioli of KR Catering, raised funds through live and silent auctions, and danced to Rovetti and the Meatballs Band.

    Joe Rochioli Jr. was born in 1934 to Neoma and Joe Rochioli Sr. and grew up on Westside Road working on the family farm. When Joe was young, his dad was a top-quality hop grower, farming Fenton Acres, a 125 acre farm on what is now Westside Road. Joe’s Italian immigrant family worked very hard and aspired to own the land they farmed. Joe entered Healdsburg High School in 1949 and was one of the first students in the Healdsburg FFA Chapter in 1950. That year he showed 2 Veal Calves that were sold at auction to a local family and the Armor Star Meat Company. During high school, Joe showed many animals at the Healdsburg, Sonoma County, and Sonoma-Marin fairs.

    As the top student in FFA Joe was awarded a jersey calf name Rotary-Ann by the Healdsburg Rotary club. Joe loved that calf and raising animals. At one time he had 10 Herford cows, one Herford bull, and 80 sheep. At Healdsburg high, Joe played four years of baseball & football and was student body vice-president. He also played professional baseball for the Prune Packers while he was a senior at Healdsburg. Joe graduated from high school in the summer of 1952 and went straight to Cal Poly.

    Joe left for San Luis Obispo with $350 in his pocket, two friends and his 1941 Chevy truck. Joe attended Cal Poly from 1952 to 1956 studying animal sciences and he took as many agricultural classes as he could.

    At Cal Poly, Joe did what all Mustangs do, he “learned by doing.”

    He worked very hard in and out of the classroom, holding many jobs including at the meat department, as the University fed all the students. He also worked at the “Flying A” fuel station and earned .85 cents an hour doing construction work on military housing trailers. Joe received his State Farmer Award during his first year of college.

    Joe played baseball for 4 years at Cal Poly and also later in the U.S. Army. After graduation, he returned to Healdsburg from Cal Poly to again help his dad on the family farm. He was soon married and had two small children, Tom and Becky who, along with their families, are with us this evening.

    Joe again left Healdsburg after being drafted into the United States Army where he was quickly promoted. He spent most of his time at the Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC where he researched radiated food and vitamin deficiencies in K rations, what we today call MRE’s.

    Joe left the service and returned to Healdsburg in 1959 to again farm the land he loved. Not many young people stayed committed to Agriculture, but Joe did. After “hopps went to hell”, Joe’s family started farming beans and eventually in 1959, wine grapes. Joe had many ideas about what varietals of grapes would do well on the land and also be financially profitable.

    Like many multi-generational farming families, sometimes his dad agreed with him, and sometimes not.

    Joe was a passionate farmer and in the mid-1960s fought open price contracts; Joe was a Founder of the North Coast Grape Growers Association that through political lobbying, fought unfair pricing of grapes and paved the way for today’s standards of Wine Grape pricing contracts.

    Joe has received many awards including the Vocational arts trophy from Healdsburg high school on display here this evening. He’s also in the Healdsburg High School Sports Hall of Fame. Joe served on the Healdsburg Fair Board for over 25 years and was Parade Marshal in 1984. In 2003, Joe received the inaugural “Copia Award” as Wine Grower of the Year, a national recognition. In 2009, Joe and his wife Vivian received the Sonoma County Harvest Fair Lifetime Achievement Award.

    The name Rochioli is synonymous with premium wine grapes and wine. Joe’s understanding of soil types and terrain led him to planting one of the most famed vineyards in Sonoma County.

    Today, Joe oversees the farming of over 140 acres of premium wine grapes in the Russian River Valley. These grapes go into the bottles of many top quality producers and to the Estate wines so expertly crafted under the Rochioli and J. Rochioli labels.

    Courtesy of Sonoma County Farm Bureau

    By Diane Bucher

     

  • CDFA Announces Grant Funding Available For Healthy Soils Program In 2017

    Sacramento, Calif., (August 14, 2017) – The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is now accepting applications for the Healthy Soils Program (HSP). The program, authorized by the Budget Act of 2016, receives funding from California Climate Investments, with proceeds from the state’s cap-and-trade auctions targeted to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while providing a variety of additional benefits to California communities.

    The HSP has two components: (i) the HSP Incentives Program, and (ii) the HSP Demonstration Projects.

    For the HSP Incentives Program, an estimated $3.75 million in competitive grant funding will be awarded to provide financial assistance for implementation of agricultural management practices that sequester soil carbon and reduce GHG emissions. California farmers and ranchers, as well as Federal and California recognized Native American Indian Tribes, are eligible to apply for the HSP Incentives Program.

    For the HSP Demonstration Projects, an estimated $3 million in competitive grant funding will be awarded to projects that demonstrate and monitor specific management practices in agriculture that sequester carbon, improve soil health and reduce atmospheric GHGs. Not-for-profit entities, University Cooperative Extensions, Federal and University Experiment Stations, Resource Conservation Districts, Federal and California recognized Native American Indian Tribes, and farmers and ranchers in collaboration with any of the aforementioned entities, are eligible to apply for the HSP Demonstration Projects.

    Both the HSP Incentives Program and Demonstration Projects require that incentivized practices be implemented for a total of three years, with the third year of project costs required as matching funds.

    For detailed information on eligibility and program requirements, prospective applicants should visit the CDFA Healthy Soils Program website at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/. To streamline and expedite the application process, CDFA is partnering with the State Water Resources Control Board, which hosts an online application tool, Financial Assistance Application Submittal Tool (FAAST). All prospective applicants must register for a FAAST account at https://faast.waterboards.ca.gov. Applications and all supporting information must be submitted electronically using FAAST by September 19, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. PT.

    CDFA will hold four workshops and one webinar to provide information on program requirements and the application process (see below). CDFA staff will provide guidance on the application process, provide several examples and answer any questions. There is no cost to attend the workshops. Individuals planning to attend should email grants@cdfa.ca.govwith his or her contact information, number of seats required and the workshop location.

    Sacramento – Tuesday, August 15, 2017
    9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: HSP Incentives Program
    10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: HSP Demonstration Projects
    California Department of Food and Agriculture
    Auditorium
    1220 N Street
    Sacramento, CA 95816
    This meeting will also be available as a webinar for remote attendees. To register for the webinar, please visit the program webpage at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/.

    Orland – Wednesday, August 16, 2017
    9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: HSP Incentives Program
    10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: HSP Demonstration Projects
    Glenn County Farm Bureau
    Board Room
    831 5th St, Orland, CA 95963

    Fresno – Thursday, August 24, 2017
    1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.: HSP Incentives Program
    2.30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.: HSP Demonstration Projects
    American Pistachio Growers
    Conference Room, First Floor
    9 River Park Place East, Suite 410
    Fresno, CA 93720

    Ventura – Friday, August 25, 2017
    9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: HSP Incentives Program
    10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: HSP Demonstration Projects
    University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) Ventura County
    California Room
    669 County Square Drive, Suite 100
    Ventura CA 93003-9028

    Prospective applicants may contact CDFA’s Grants Office at grants@cdfa.ca.gov with general program questions.

    Prospective applicants should refer to the HSP webpage (https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/) for information regarding technical assistance workshops by non-profit organizations, Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) and California academic institutions. These workshops are intended to provide technical assistance with the application process and are also free of charge. Technical assistance is made available through a $25,000 partnership grant between CDFA and the Strategic Growth Council to achieve the mutual objective of providing technical assistance to HSP Incentives Program applicants.

     

  • Sonoma County Winegrowers Thanks Outgoing Board Members

    Santa Rosa, Calif., (August 11, 2017) – Duff Bevill has been involved in the Sonoma County grape growing scene since 1973, when he moved to the county and went to work for Joe Vogensen in Dry Creek Valley in March of that year. Bevill explains this time as “the first big post-prohibition wine grape boom,” before the economy took a downturn a few years later and the price of grapes dropped. After his roughly three-year stint with Vogensen, Bevill moved on to work for Clarence Wolcott for about a year, before joining the team at Dry Creek Vineyard under Owner Dave Stare in 1978.

    It was at Dry Creek Vineyard that Bevill was asked to oversee the farming operations at the estate, while simultaneously being allowed to farm other vineyards as well. His vineyard management work at Dry Creek Vineyard and his freelance farm work with other vineyards led Bevill to create his own LLC in the mid-1990s. “I started with basically nothing. I hired my first employee and bought my first tractor, and it went from there,” Bevill says when asked about his humble beginnings. Today, Bevill Vineyard Management owns their own vineyards, sells grapes to roughly 45 wineries in Sonoma County and manages the vineyards of 30 individual clients.

    Bevill’s longstanding roots in the Sonoma County grape growing community naturally make him a leading member of the Sonoma County Winegrowers. Prior to the organization becoming a commission, and Bevill played a strong role in guiding the organization into becoming a commission. “It became clear to many of us on the board that we should pursue trying to create a state authorized winegrape commission. It had been attempted back in 1991, but the vote failed. So, we cycled back to it again,” Bevill says. “I gave a speech at Dollars & $ense that year about becoming a commission and it passed with like 85%—so we must have done a good job at marketing the value of a commission,” he furthers. Bevill was the inaugural Chairman of the commission and served for two years.

    When Executive Director, Nick Fry, retired, it was clear to the board members that the Director of Marketing—at the time, Karissa Kruse—was the right fit for the job. She was promoted to President and Bevill says, “we really ramped it up when Karissa came on…we have some pretty remarkable leadership and marketing.” He furthers, “Any other region would be hard-pressed to say they’ve developed as much marketing as we have in the past decade.”

    When reflecting on his time with Sonoma County Winegrowers, Bevill appreciates most the cooperation from his fellow Commissioners: “When it’s all said and done, you vote and 99% of the time, it’s unanimous. That’s pretty unique and I think that’s why we’re doing so well. We all see the big picture and recognize the value. And that’s the feeling I get every time I go to a meeting. We make decisions that benefit the community of grape growers in Sonoma County. Hopefully that message is shared and passed on to new members, and the next group to come on after that.”

    Duff Bevill, former Board Member.

    As a longtime Sonoma County grape grower, Kevin Barr is no stranger to the origin of Sonoma County Winegrowers. Barr always knew he wanted to live a life in agriculture; his trekking back and forth between his home in Marin and his family’s sheep farm in Mendocino as a youngster set the vision for a life of agriculture in Sonoma County: “I spent my whole life going back and forth in the station wagon between Marin and Sonoma Counties. I could see that Sonoma County had a wonderful ag situation going on. So, when I went to US Davis [in 1979], I thought I really wanted to end up in Sonoma County, so I majored in Viticulture.”

    After graduating from UC Davis, Barr moved immediately to Sonoma County and worked for a couple different companies. But in November 1983, “I started my own company—Redwood Empire Vineyard Management,” he states. It was not long after he created REVM that Barr became involved with the original Sonoma County Grapegrowers Association in the mid-1980s. “I was on that board for 10+ years,” he says proudly. “I was Chairman somewhere along the way in the early 90s…and then, it morphed into the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission and I’ve served on that board for eight years”—the past two of which he was Chairman.

    Although Barr has termed out, he will continue with Sonoma County Winegrowers on the Executive Committee, in addition to his role as Chairman of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation. Looking back, Barr says, “I would describe my time with the commission as a fabulous experience. I participated and watched the organization grow into an extremely well-run, well-respected, go-to organization for Sonoma County agriculture.” And his pride doesn’t stop there, as he states, “I have tremendous respect for Karissa [Sonoma County Winegrowers President]—as she is the visionary—as well as for her wonderful staff.” Having taken a role in hiring much of the recent staff, Barr proclaims, “It’s been a wonderful experience helping to build the A-team.”

    In addition to his appreciation for the Sonoma County Winegrowers team, Barr also has deep respect and admiration for his fellow grape growers who serve as board members. “These leaders are all outstanding; they are a very dedicated group. I am very proud of our Commissioners and Executive Committee, and honored to serve with all these wonderful, very dedicated, bright leaders in the wine industry,” Barr acknowledges.

    And Barr is “most proud that we are such a cohesive group,” he says. “We have a very healthy, open discussion and at the end, we always come to an agreement…I give Karissa a tremendous amount of credit as a leader—she brings out the best in us.” Without forgetting to reiterate what’s most important about the work that Sonoma County Winegrowers does, Barr eagerly reports, “We’re doing what’s best for the whole industry. It’s very much a team spirit and I’m very proud of that team spirit.”

    Sonoma County Winegrowers would like to thank Kevin Barr for his commitment and hard work with the organization over the last several decades, and we are pleased that Barr will be continuing his work with the commission as the Chairman of the Sonoma County Grapegrowers Foundation.

    Karissa Kruse and Kevin Barr, former Chairman.

    Richard Mounts is a committed farmer and family man, being the second generation to run the family’s 140-acre estate in Dry Creek Valley. Mounts’ father, Jack, purchased the first 60 acres of land in 1946 to raise sheep and farm prunes—this is the land upon which Mounts was raised. He only veered away from the family farm to obtain his Bachelor of Science in soil science when he went to California Polytechnic State University.

    Upon returning to the farm, after receiving his degree and taking a road trip around South America, Mounts saw the writing on the wall in Sonoma County and knew he had to guide the family farm into grape production. With his father’s blessing, Mounts planted seven acres of Petite Sirah and ten acres of Zinfandel in 1967. In 1969, he began working on the family farm full-time, before eventually taking over the entire operation. Over time, the prune orchards were gradually replaced with vineyards and today, 90 acres of grapes are planted to ten varietals; half of those acres are planted to 38- to 45-year-old Zinfandel vines. Grapes are sold to both Sonoma and Napa counties, and now the third generation of Mounts has joined the family farming operation.

    As a committed farmer and family man, Mounts has been involved with Sonoma County Winegrowers for quite some time. He has served as a Board Member and is currently on the Executive Committee, as well as a former Commission Board Treasurer and member of the Marketing Committee. Mounts is also very active in the Sonoma County farming community, having served as President of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau in 1997-1998.

    Richard Mounts, receiving the Viticulture Award of Excellence in 2016, alongside Karissa Kruse.

    Sonoma County Winegrowers would like to thank Richard Mounts for his commitment and hard work with the organization over the years, and we are pleased that Mounts will be continuing his work with the commission on the Executive Committee.

  • Tulare County Reports on Current Crop Status

    Visalia, Calif., (August 11, 2017) – Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner released the current status today of Major crops in the most valued county in the California Ag portfolio. They report that Alfalfa fields continue being irrigated, cut, and baled. Sorghum for silage is still being cultivated and irrigated. Corn silage is being harvested. Cotton continues to be irrigated, cultivated, and growing well. Cotton is blooming and forming bolls. Black-eyed beans continue to be irrigated and cultivated.

    Peaches, nectarines, and plums continue to be picked and shipped to both domestic and export markets. Domestic demand is strong enough to cause the number of export shipments to continue to be significantly less than that of previous years. Stone fruit is being exported to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, and Taiwan. Almond harvest is now underway. Last season’s almonds and pistachios are being exported to Belgium, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago, and Vietnam. Both mechanical and chemical weed control continues in orchards. Asian pears are being exported to Mexico. Table grape harvest is in full swing throughout the county, and grapes are being exported to Australia, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, Panama, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand. All permanent plantings are being irrigated.

    Valencia orange harvest continues, primarily for the domestic market. Regreening continues to be a problem, due to the high temperatures. Valencia oranges are being exported to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Valencia oranges and Meyer lemons are being bagged for export to Mexico. Variegated lemons are being exported to China. Finger limes are being harvested and exported to France, Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands. Olives continue to develop.

    Certified producers are picking tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and peppers for sale at the local Farmer’s Markets. Yellow squash, Zucchini, eggplant, Bell peppers, green Chili peppers, and cucumbers are being harvested and shipped domestically. Sweet corn harvest is continuing and available at roadside stands and the local Farmer’s Markets.

    Low elevation rangeland continues to dry and conditions are fair to good, but quality is continuing to decrease. Cattle are still being moved to higher elevations. The higher elevations are providing more grass than previous years. Feed costs for cattle remains high. The fed cattle market price is down to $117.00 per hundred weight.

    Nursery shipments are slowing overall. Wholesale nursery shipments to Canada and domestic markets have decreased due to the hot summer temperatures. Potted roses are being shipped to Florida. Small amounts of citrus nursery stock continue to be sold. New wells continue to be drilled, with many existing wells showing higher levels due to increases in the water table.

  • Fresno County Department of Agriculture Crop Report

    Fresno, Calif., (August 10, 2017) – Grain harvesting started to wrap up with only a few wheat and oat fields left to be harvested around the County. Wheat was harvested for seed and straw. Oats were cut for fodder and hay. Straw was awaiting shipment. Fields started to be cultivated for the next round of crops. Irrigation was underway in many rice fields and was showing good crop growth.

    Alfalfa continued to be cut and baled for feed. When alfalfa for seed production was treated for pest pressure. Cotton started to set but a persistent lygus and aphid pressure resulted in a Section 18 Crisis Exemption for an insecticide. That went into effect at the end of July and runs for 2 weeks, with hopes of decreasing insect activity. Corn for silage was growing rapidly. Alfalfa was exported to Bolivia and France.

    Almond hull split started and orchards were treated for mites and Navel Orange Worm. Almonds, pistachio, and walnut orchards received insecticide and herbicide applications. Grape vineyards continued to receive sulfur and herbicide applications. Some vineyards completed the sulfur applications as berries have reached veraison (point in growing season when ripening grapes begin to soften and change color from green to either red or yellow depending on variety). Table grape harvest started, with some early varieties of raisin grapes being harvested for champagne. Furrows were being knocked down and ground was terraced to lay trays down for the upcoming harvesting. Many stone fruit orchards finished up with harvesting but late varieties continued to mature. Orchards were disced and irrigated. Pomegranates continued to grow well and received herbicide treatments. Jujubes started to ripen. Almonds, apple, apricots, apriums, Asian pears, grapes, interspecific plums, nectarines, peaches, pecans, plums, prunes, raisins, and walnuts were packed and/or exported to ­Algeria, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Viet Nam.

    Harvesting started for fresh market and processed onion and garlic fields. Processed onions and garlic had their tops shredded to prepare for harvest. Both conventional and organic processing and fresh market tomatoes, started to be harvested. Garbanzo bean harvesting continued with a few fields wrapping up at the end of the month. Cantaloupe, honeydew, mixed melons, and watermelon were harvested, packed, and shipped out. Sweet corn harvest continued and harvested fields were plowed to prepare for the next crop. Harvesting continued in all other crops, like: cucumbers, daikon, eggplant, peppers (bell, jalapeno, pasilla, and serrano), squash (acorn, butternut, kabocha, and spaghetti). Lettuce beds started to be prepared for fall planting. Lettuce for seed production started to dry out for harvest. Carrots were being harvested. Garlic, onions, shallots, melons, and squash were exported to Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and United Kingdom.

    Across the County, citrus harvesting wrapped up. Grapefruit, lemons, tangelos, and Valencia oranges were all packed. Orchards continued to be treated with herbicides, insecticides, and coated with sunscreen as needed. Current season fruit continued to increase in size with the hot weather and irrigation. Oranges where exported to Mexico and Republic of Korea. Mandarin bud wood was sent to Australia. Olives were growing nicely everywhere

    With the rangeland dry and offering little forage. Cattle and sheep were sent to harvested hay and wheat fields to graze. Bees were still being placed in alfalfa, assorted melon and squash fields; while others were placed around the county to rebuild their hives.

  • IPM Achievement Awards

    Sacramento, Calif., (August 10, 2017) – In 2015 and 2016, DPR recognized 10 organizations with IPM Achievement Awards (formerly called IPM Innovator Awards) for their work in using integrat- ed pest management techniques to control pest problems.

    In 2016, the following groups were recognized for their work: Cherry Buckskin Project—a collab- oration among UC Cooperative Extension and the Contra Costa County Department of Agricul- ture, that promotes education and infected tree removal to control cherry buckskin disease; the Virginia Creeper Leafhopper Project—a collabo- ration between UC Cooperative Extension, Lake

    County Wine Grape Commission, and the Men- docino County Farm Bureau—for spearheading a program to eradicate invasive Virginia creeper leafhoppers through educational outreach and the introduction of parasitic wasps; the Riverside Uni ed School District for its extensive IPM program; the San Diego Regional Airport Authority for its IPM program; The Pink Bollworm Project—a collabo- rative effort between the California Cotton Pest Control Board, California Department of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Plant Health Inspection Service, and the National Cotton Council—for its successful efforts to control pink bollworm in the state; and, Project Apis m.—a nonprofit organization that funds research and programs that protect bees.

     

  • CDFA Accepting Applications For Grants To Provide Technical Assistance For Dairy And Livestock Operators Participating In The Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP)

    Sacramento, Calif., (August 10, 2017) – CDFA will begin accepting applications today from non-profit organizations, California academic institutions and California Resource Conservation Districts that provide technical assistance to grant applicants in the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP).

    Applicants may apply for funding ranging from $5,000 to $10,000. They must meet several minimum requirements, including holding at least one technical assistance workshop, reporting on workshop attendance to CDFA, and providing computers and internet access to allow dairy and livestock operators to complete AMMP applications.

    Technical assistance will be made available through a partnership between CDFA and the Strategic Growth Council to achieve the mutual objective of providing technical assistance to AMMP applicants. Technical assistance workshops that provide hands-on application assistance are critical to the success of AMMP and the reduction of methane emissions from dairy and livestock operations.

    Organizations that wish to receive funding to provide technical assistance must access the “Technical Assistance: Request for Applications” at https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/ammp/. The Request for Applications contains detailed information on eligibility and program requirements. Applications must be submitted by email no later than August 16, 2017, 5:00 p.m. PDT. Grants will be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis beginning today.

    AMMP is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities. The cap-and-trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California Climate Investment projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling and much more. At least 35 percent of these investments are made in disadvantaged and low-income communities. For more information, visit California Climate Investments. This effort is in partnership with the Strategic Growth Council which provides technical and community outreach assistance funds from the California Climate Investments.

  • Vanoni Ranch: Six Generations and 115 Years of Farming in Geyserville

    Geyserville, Calif., (August 9, 2017) – Mark Vanoni emigrated from Switzerland with his wife Angelina in the mid 1800’s. They settled on the Central Coast and had a dairy below the Hearst Castle. However, a severe drought in 1898 caused the family to lose their dairy.

    The Vanonis searched the state for a new ranch, seeking a piece of property with ample water. They purchased their Geyserville ranch in the first couple years of the 1900’s, and the family still has the deed from 1902. The ranch was near the Russian River (although the family recalls that at the time their relatives purchased the property, the river didn’t run year round) and had natural springs throughout the property.

    Cattle on the Vanoni Ranch circa 1940 including Shorthorns and Herefords. Photo courtesy of the Vanoni Family.

    The family spent 40 years raising dairy cattle on the ranch, shipping butterfat by train. During the same time, the valley floor was planted to grapes and three acres of prunes. The price of grapes was insignificant and the family realized they weren’t making a profit and pulled out all their grapevines to increase their grazing land. Mark’s grandson Ed, the current ranch owner, was still farming when they had grapes. However, his wife Johanna described Ed “as just not a dirt farmer.” Ed recalls that some relatives wanted to sell the ranch, but he purchased 1,500 acres from his grandmother in 1950. He married Johanna two years later who managed the ranch while Ed was away in the Army.

    For Ed, the ranch was always a passion. Growing up, he lived in Geyserville, but never missed an opportunity to help out on the ranch. Ed and his father began to rent the property from Ed’s grandmother and they converted the ranch to beef cattle, crossing Shorthorns with the dairy cattle they already had. They switched to Herefords after having a hard time selling Shorthorns and later moved on to Angus, which the family still raises.

    “I was always interested in working on the ranch,” said Ed. “Always coming up to visit my grandparents on the dairy, and as soon as I got my driver’s license, I drove up every weekend. I was always fixing fence!”

    In addition to raising cattle, Ed and Johanna developed a reputation throughout Sonoma County and beyond for their ability to train cutting horses. The couple worked side by side to train award winning cutters which they used as a supplemental form of ranch income for more than 50 years. Ed recalled seeing his first cutting horse in 1949 at Cow Palace when he was in college. Johanna, who grew up in San Mateo, learned her skills by exercising horses in the Bay Area. Over the course of their training career, Ed and Johanna watched as the cutting horse industry evolved from ranch horses to wealthy owners.

    Ed and Johanna Vanoni. Photo by Rachel LaFranchi.

    In addition to training horses, they ran approximately 10 Quarter Horse broodmares and raised stallions. Today, Ed and Johanna continue to manage the ranch and run approximately 100 pairs of Angus cattle. They rotate their cattle on large pastures and keep just enough cattle to take care of themselves.

    Ed and Johanna have four children Adriane, Mark, Yvonne and Calvin who are all involved in the ranch. The Vanonis expect their children to take over the family property, but said that what the four do with the property is up to them.

    Courtesy of Sonoma County Farm Bureau, by Rachel LaFranchi

  • Working on Updating Your Animal Care Program for FARM 3.0?

    Modesto, Calif., (August 9, 2017) – As most producers are aware, FARM Version 3.0 went into effect starting this year. Your processor most likely has communicated the changes in the program, but to re-cap, the largest changes for California dairies include having a signed Veterinarian Client Patient Relationship (VCPR) agreement with your veterinarian and ensuring that all dairy employees that work with animals sign Dairy Cattle Care Ethics and Training Agreements. Specifically, each employee needs to be trained in dairy cattle stockmanship and in specific animal care protocols for their work area. These changes to FARM provide higher accountability and help document continuous on-farm improvement, strengthening the program’s ability to address supply chain customer and consumer questions regarding the many activities conducted to take good care of cows every day. Dairy producers will need to have these documents in place for their next FARM evaluation.

    CDQAP can help! There are many ways for producers to provide training to employees. When it comes to handling animals, nothing beats good old- fashioned hands-on training. CDQAP has teamed up with Beef Quality Assurance to offer a “train-the-trainer” class for producers and/or their herdsman looking for assistance in developing an effective ongoing employee training program for their dairy. It’s one thing to know how to handle animals; it’s another thing to be able to effectively teach another person how to handle animals. This training course will highlight online training tools available and important adult teaching methods; provide sample training program outlines; and offer hands-on training drills in common dairy cattle handling situations. Whether you’re developing a program to review handling protocols with seasoned employees or to train new employees, it is critical that all understand the expected animal handling methods for your dairy.

    CDQAP – BQA Stockmanship Training Plan Development Class

    Wednesday, August 23rd – 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in Modesto (lunch to follow)

    *This is a pilot class. Participants are limited to 25 dairy producers and/or herdsmen. To participate and receive dairy location info, RSVP to Eventbrite at http://bit.ly/cdqap-bqa For questions contact Denise Mullinax at (209) 585-6744 or mullinax@cdrf.org.

  • Apps For Ag Hackathon Winner Uses Artificial Intelligence To Diagnose Plant Problems

    Sacramento, Calif., (August 9, 2017) – For 48 hours, innovators and entrepreneurs at the Apps for Ag Hackathon labored over laptops at The Urban Hive in Sacramento before pitching their ideas to judges at the California State Fair. More than 40 people, some from as far as New York and Texas, competed for a $10,000 grand prize and assistance from UC Agriculture and Natural Resources to turn their ideas into commercial enterprises.

    Ultimately Dr. Green, a mobile app to diagnose plant problems, took the top prize on Sunday (July 30). The second-place Greener app also helps people diagnose and treat plant diseases. Farm Table, an app that promotes agritourism, came in third place.

    One goal of the hackathon was to produce solutions for military veterans who are becoming farmers. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was a major sponsor of the event and leaders from Washington D.C. were on site all weekend participating.

    “There was an amazing range of applications this year,” said Gabriel Youtsey, chief innovation officer for University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, which hosted the hackathon.

    Twelve teams pitched new ways to apply technology to improve the food system.

    “There was an application to take a picture of a plant and it’ll identify the plant disease – which can help anyone from backyard gardeners to professional growers – all the way to an application for community-supported fisheries, which helps fishermen better scale their businesses and allows for customers to get the freshest fish,” Youtsey said.

    There was an app to match unemployed veterans with farm jobs, an online resource for bees, an app to simplify shipping logistics, an app for detecting mold on produce and many more solutions for food-related problems.

    Sreejumon Kundilepurayil, left, and Vidya Kannoly and their Dr. Green app took first place in the Apps for Ag hackathon. Dr. Green uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to quickly advise growers how to treat ailing plants.

    1st Place: Dr. Green: Figuring out why a plant is ailing can be time-consuming for a new farmer or backyard gardener. The plant doctor is always in with Dr. Green. The app created by Sreejumon Kundilepurayil and Vidya Kannoly of Pleasanton will help people identify crop diseases quickly through artificial intelligence and machine learning. The app can incorporate data from sensors monitoring temperature, light and soil moisture to alert growers to problems. Using a smart phone, backyard gardeners and growers can take a photo of plant symptoms and get a diagnosis or use the messaging feature to ask a question about symptoms and receive advice immediately.

    Kundilepurayil and Kannoly won $10,000 and tickets to the UC Davis Food and Ag Entrepreneurship Academy, $3,000 worth of Google Cloud Platform credits, plus other resources to help the team start their venture.

    2nd Place: Greener: Using a smart phone, home gardeners can take a photo of plant symptoms and quickly get a diagnosis and recommended IPM treatment from the Greener app, created by Scott Kirkland, John Knoll and Shiang-Wan Chin of Davis and Calvin Doval of Oakland. They won $5,000 and $1,000 worth of Google Cloud Platform credits and other resources to help start their venture.

    From left, Calvin Doval, Scott Kirkland, John Knoll and Shiang-Wan-Chin’s Greener app, which diagnoses plant diseases from a photo, took second place.

    3rd Place: The Farm Table: The Farm Table app aims to make farms more economically sustainable and educate the public about food through agritourism. Heather Lee of San Francisco teamed up with Will Mitchell of Sacramento and Zhenting Zhou of New York City to create the agritourism app.

    From left, Heather Lee, Will Mitchell and Zhenting Zhou finished third with their Farm Table app, which promotes agritourism.

    “We are making agritourism accessible to farmers by building a platform that’s connecting visitors with farms,” said Lee. “This is going to help educate our communities on where their food comes from and create an additional revenue source for farmers.”

    They won $2,500 and $1,000 worth of Google Cloud Platform credits and other resources to help start their venture.

    Growing the pipeline of young innovators: Judges included Joshua Tuscher of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Robert Trice, investor and founder of The Mixing Bowl Hub; Jenna Rodriguez, product manager at Ceres Imaging; Ann Dunkin, chief information officer for the County of Santa Clara; and Jessica Smith, vice president of Strategic Partnerships at AngelHack.

    Apps for Ag is a food and agriculture innovation event series hosted by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) and sponsored by IO Labs, The Urban Hive, California Community Colleges and the California State Fair.

    “We’re growing the pipeline of young innovators, getting entrepreneurs and technologists interested in applying technology to solving problems in the food system,” said Youtsey, who led organization of the hackathon.

    “UC ANR is the original innovation engine in food, agriculture and natural resources in California and has been so for over 100 years. This is just taking another spin at tackling innovation in food and agriculture through an innovative competition style format with technology,” he said.

    Additional support for the hackathon was provided by Valley Vision, The Mixing Bowl, Farmer Veteran Coalition, AngelHack, Nutiva, Google Cloud Platform, Royse Law Firm, Hot Italian, GTS Kombucha, Startup Sac, AgStart, StartupGrind Sacramento, Future Food, Internet Society San Francisco Bay Chapter, Sacramento Food Co-op, Balsamiq and YouNoodle.