Visalia, Calif., (May 23, 2017) – Tulare County Farm Bureau will sponsor up to seven local teachers to attend the California Foundation for Ag in the Classroom’s annual conference to be held July 14-15 in Visalia.
To apply for a scholarship to off-set registration ($200 per teacher), please download and complete this form and return it to Tulare County Farm Bureau by June 1.
Mail form and responses to:
Tulare County Farm Bureau
c/o Brittney Fund
PO Box 748,
Visalia, CA 93279
Forms and responses may also be emailed as a pdf to bfund@tulcofb.org.
The conference will be at the Wyndham Hotel in Visalia where attendees will have the opportunity to hear from The Produce Mom, a passionate advocate of fresh produce; discover how almonds meet Common Core State Standards; Learn how agriculture is the perfect bridge for after school and STEM applications with tools like hands-on activities and BreakoutEDU; and turn old fruit labels into history and art lessons.
To see more about programs at this year’s conference and to register, visit LearnAboutAg.org.
Fresno, Calif., (May 22, 2017) – Touyee Thao of Fresno and Alexandra Gallo of Hollister were awarded the top University honors at Fresno State’s 106th Commencement today at the Save Mart Center.
Thao, who earned a master’s in Plant Science, was selected as the University Graduate Medalist, Fresno State’s top honor for a graduate student. He completed his M.S. with a GPA of 4.0.
Gallo, who earned her bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Communication, was selected as the President’s Medalist, the University’s top honor for an undergraduate student. She completed her B.A. with a GPA of 3.81.
Touyee Thao: Growing up as one of 10 siblings from an immigrant family, Thao was fascinated by agriculture from an early age. His academic research on how to optimize irrigation scheduling is directly informed by the critical challenge of water management in California. This work is gaining widespread attention; Thao has presented at numerous local, national and international conferences.
Beyond academics, Thao is also passionate about giving back. In addition to helping with college events and the Future Farmers of America, he volunteers an average of 12 hours a week in the Hmong community, serving as a mentor to youth. “My next goal is to share my agricultural knowledge gained at Fresno State with the many Southeast Asian farmers currently seeking assistance to improve their soil and water conservation practices,” he said.
Alexandra Gallo: Difficult family circumstances inspired Gallo, a first generation college student, to obtain a degree and help others. Gallo seized opportunities to serve and engage during her time at Fresno State. She studied abroad, was elected to student government, served as an ambassador for the Richter Center for Community Engagement and Service-Learning, was as a Maddy intern with Congressman Jim Costa and worked with the League of Woman Voters.
She’s a three time winner of the President’s Volunteer Service Award for completing 200 hours of service each year at organizations like the Every Neighborhood Partnership and the Ronald McDonald House. She also planned a camp for children with parents battling cancer.
Sacramento, Calif., (May 22, 2017) – California has the largest Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the nation. Our state’s farmers and ranchers are proud to play a critical role in reducing hunger and improving health. Throughout the month of May, our state is highlighting the importance of providing nutrition assistance to low income households through the CalFresh Program.
These partnerships are the critical foundation in developing coordinated plans to connect children to all available nutrition and medical services. CDSS is also encouraging counties to continue to increase overall program participation by supporting public and private partnerships that work together to reduce food insecurity in our state.
Together we can increase the number of families that receive assistance to purchase the food they need and improve the health and wellbeing of children.
For information on agencies in your community that provide CalFresh Outreach application assistance please see the list on the CalFresh Outreach website.
Fresno, Calif., (May 22, 2017) – The Fresno State Winery will offer free tastings of four award-winning wines — Petrucci’s Crush, Pinot Noir, San Joaquin Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc — at the Gibson Farm Market (5368 N. Chestnut Ave.) each weekend in May from 2 to 6 p.m. Friday and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The 2014 Petrucci’s Crush, available for a limited time only, is a Bordeaux-style blend with fruit from Duarte Nursery and campus vineyards. The 2016 SJ Chardonnay, 2016 Sauvignon Blanc and 2014 Tempranillo are sourced from Duarte Nursery, and the 2015 Pinot Noir is sourced from fruit from Saviez Vineyards in Fresno County.
Including the 2014 Tempranillo, five Fresno State wines combined to win 10 gold and silver medal honors this spring (see list below). The Tempranillo also won a silver medal last November in the Harvest Challenge wine competition.
All five wines can be purchased at the Gibson Farm Market and through the Fresno State Wine Club, which will reorganize its membership plans starting in June to offer wine club customers more options to better fit their preferences.
The Fresno State Winery has won more than 600 honors since it became the nation’s first commercially bonded winery on a collegiate campus in 1997. It currently offers 14 red, white, blush and specialty wines that are produced on campus by viticulture and enology students and staff, and many of the grapes are sourced from Fresno State’s 120-acre campus vineyard.
More information is available by contacting Fresno State Wine Club president Veronica Viramontes (559.278.6070, verovira@mail.fresnostate.edu) or the Gibson Farm Market (559.278.4511).
Davis, Calif., (May 19, 2017) – Taking aim at domestic and worldwide food issues, a national commission of academic, government and business leaders from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities released a new report yesterday in Washington, D.C., defining seven challenges for solving global food and nutrition insecurity.
The Challenge of Change Commission, whose executive committee includes Helene Dillard, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis, details the steps that public research universities and their partners must take to address these challenges.
“We have made tremendous research advances in the areas of food production, storage and processing, as well as food safety and nutrition,” Dillard said.
“And yet, we find ourselves to still be in a world that struggles to provide adequate, nutritious food to every person. At UC Davis, we will be evaluating our efforts in light of these findings, looking forward to even stronger, and more strategic collaborations with our colleagues in industry, academia and government.”
The new report and action plan focus on harnessing the academic, research, and leadership capabilities of public research universities to address the interdisciplinary challenges of food and nutrition security that face the world.
Food insecurity affects 42.2 million people in U.S.
The commission found that nearly 1 in 9 people around the world were food insecure in 2014-16, including 42.2 million people in the U.S.
The report identified a multitude of food-security problems including hunger, obesity, malnutrition, low crop yields, inadequate food storage, poor sanitation and related political instability. These problems are poised to intensify unless there is a deliberate effort to create true global food and nutrition security, the commission concluded.
The report suggests that the search for sustainable solutions grows even more complicated in the face of a rapidly growing world population, limited natural resources, changing climates, and evolving diets that demand more high-value food products.
7 challenges for public research universities
During its yearlong study, the commission defined the following seven challenges:
Increase yields, profitability and environmental sustainability simultaneously
Develop the varieties and breeds needed for sustainable food systems
Decrease food loss and waste through more efficient distribution systems
Create and share resources that serve all populations
Ensure inclusive and equitable food systems
Address the dual burdens of under-nutrition and obesity to ensure full human potential
Ensure a safe and secure food supply that protects and improves public health
“The challenge is helping to bring public research universities together in a coordinated way, with support from the government and others, to make it a reality,” said APLU President Peter McPherson, a former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
“Many view this as a problem of feeding a growing population by 2050, but the challenge is already upon us, with far too many people suffering from food and nutrition insecurity,” McPherson said. “If we do not address these problems now, the solutions will become more intractable, the costs greater, and the human, social, economic and environmental damage irreparable.”
The Challenge of Change Commission is composed of 34 members including university leaders, subject matter experts, and current and former private and public sector officials from the United States, Canada and Mexico.
In addition to the commission members, more than 100 individuals from universities, the public and private sector, and nongovernmental organizations were engaged in the project as members of interdisciplinary working groups or expert advisors. Similarly, more than 75 organizations were invited to provide comment and feedback throughout the process.
Visalia, Calif., (May 19, 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 Winter wheat is being green chopped for silage; some is being dried, with harvest nearing completion. Harvested fields are being disked and planted to silage or other forage crops. Alfalfa fields are making excellent progress; and being cut, dried, and baled. Corn continues being planted, and earlier planted fields are growing well. Cornfields are being injected with nitrogen to promote growth. Cotton is emerging and being irrigated.
Early peaches, apricots, and nectarines are being harvested and exported to Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Plums are be pick for the domestic market and shipped to Canada. Some orchard floors are being lined with reflective plastic to improve color prior to harvest. Cherry harvest is going strong, with exports to Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines and Vietnam. The almond and walnut crops for this year look good so far. Walnuts are being sprayed for pests and blight. Last year’s almonds are being exported to Belgium, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, South Africa, and Taiwan. Walnuts in storage are being shipped to Germany, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. Pistachios are being exported to Belgium, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands. Both mechanical and chemical weed control continues in orchards. Grapevines continue to have leaves removed to allow for improved air circulation and light around the developing bunches. New orchards and vineyards are being planted and irrigated.
The late navel orange harvest is finishing up, with most going to the domestic market. Valencia orange harvest continues. Valencia oranges are being exported to China, Japan, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Old citrus trees are being pulled to make way for new citrus varieties. Seedless tangerines are still netted. Olives are still blooming.
Summer vegetables continue to grow and the fields are being prepped for harvest. Early planted melons are being picked and shipped domestically. Zucchini is being harvested. Blueberries are being harvested, with exports to Canada, Japan, and Mexico. Strawberries are being harvested and sold at roadside stands.
Range and pasture conditions at the lower elevations are drying and good to fair. Some cattle are being moved to higher elevations.
Wholesale nursery shipments have slowed down, with less demand from retail outlets as summer approaches. Mature olive trees are being dug from groves and sold for use in landscaping.
Sacramento, Calif., (May 19, 2017) – In addition to establishing an overtime pay phase-in for wage order 14 employees, AB 1066 also eliminated other longstanding exemptions. This included eliminating the exemption to the seventh day rest requirement, which provides that employees are entitled to one day’s rest in every seven days. Under the California Labor Code, employers cannot “cause” their employees to work more than six days in every seven. However, at the time of AB 1066’s passage, there was no accepted interpretation of what “cause” meant, although the matter was before the California Supreme Court.
Just this week, on May 8, 2017, the Court, in Nordstrom v. Mendoza, finally answered that key question, finding that an employer only “causes” its employee to go without a day of rest if it “induces” the employee to do so. An employer does not violate the requirement by permitting an employee, who is fully apprised of their right to rest, to independently choose to work. Put another way, an employer does not violate the law if they tell employees they are entitled to the day of rest, and is neutral about whether the employee decides to take the day off or not. However, if an employer encourages its employee in any way to forgo that day of rest, it is actively causing the employee to go without that day of rest, in violation of the law.
In its decision, the Court also held the following: 1) The guaranteed day of rest is determined by the usual workweek and not by how many consecutive days an employee has worked; and 2) the seventh day rest requirement does not apply if an employee has worked less than 30 hours in a week and less than six hours on each day of that workweek.
The Nordstrom decision represents a rare win for employers, and especially those in the agricultural industry who rely on employees working a seventh day due the seasonal nature of their operations. Those employers who choose to permit employees to volunteer to work on a seventh day should consider the use of a voluntary employee sign-up sheet and should consult with legal counsel regarding the adoption of additional policies to ensure compliance with the law.
Written by: Anthony Oceguera & Jason Yang for The Saqui Law Group
Davis, Calif., (May 18, 2017) – Climate change will likely cause wheat and barley yields to decline by 17 to 33 percent by the end of the century, predicts a new statistical model developed by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and Cornell University.
The study, based on 65 years of weather records and wheat and barley yield data from France, provides some of the first evidence of the negative effects of warming on wheat and barley yields in Western Europe. The findings are reported online in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
The study is of particular importance because wheat is the most widely grown crop in the world and, along with rice, one of the top two sources of calories for human consumption.
“This is not to be interpreted as saying that yield will decrease regardless of any technological improvements that may be made in the future,” said co-author Matthew Gammans, a UC Davis graduate student working with Professor Pierre Mérel in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
“It does suggest, however, that climate change will lessen the rate of any yield improvements that will be achieved by technological advances,” Gammans said.
New statistical model for climate impacts
The new model, developed by Gammans, Mérel and Cornell economist Ariel Ortiz-Bobea, is one of the first flexible statistical models applied to wheat and other cereal crops. Model flexibility, allowing for extremely high or low temperatures to have very different effects than the average temperature, is important in understanding the true effects of temperatures on yields. This model was developed from data spanning 1950 to 2015.
The newly published study focused on three major crops: winter wheat, winter barley and spring barley, all of which are primarily watered by rainfall, rather than being irrigated. The winter crops are planted in the fall, lying dormant through the winter and then growing during spring and summer. Spring barley is planted in spring and grows through summer.
Key predictions
Based on the historical weather and yield data, the new model predicted that by the end of the century:
Yields are projected to decrease by 21 percent for winter wheat, 17.3 percent for winter barley and 33.6 percent for spring barley under the most severe warming scenario.
The negative impacts of increased heat during climate warming won’t be offset by a decrease in extreme cold temperatures during winter.
Possible increases in rainfall would help mitigate the effects of heat stress but would not be sufficient to offset the negative impacts of warming temperatures.
The model did predict that if technological improvements continue on their current trajectory, they could offset most of the negative effects of climate change. Such improvements could include new heat-tolerant crop varieties and improved farming methods.
“We now want to explore what role adaptation to climate change will play in mitigating negative impacts on yields of wheat, barley and other cereal grains,” Gammans said.
Agricultural data for this study was made available by the French Ministry of Agriculture.
Galt, Calif., (May 18, 2017) – California Agricultural Teachers’ Association Comments on Governor Brown’s Budget Proposal Eliminating Future Farmers of America and other CTE Funding.
In his 2017-18 State Budget released earlier in the year, Governor Brown proposed the complete elimination of funding for the Future Farmers of America program and other programs in Career Technical Education serving students throughout California. Also included in these cuts were the elimination of Partnership Academy Programs, the University of California Curriculum Institute for recognizing CTE courses for admission purposes, and Professional Development Activities for CTE instructors.
These programs have been funded by $15 million in CTE Pathway monies that were provided to the California Department of Education for supporting statewide Career Technical Education activities and programs. The Governor’s proposal for this year would eliminate this source of funds, directly them instead to the Community College Chancellor’s Office to supplement other workforce development funds already in existence.
“We are extremely disappointed that Governor Brown has proposed eliminating Career Technical Student Organizations like the Future Farmers of America and other CTE funding in California” said Jim Aschwanden, Executive Director of the California Agricultural Teachers’ Association. “The loss of these components of Career Technical Education will have a devastating effect on programs and teachers statewide. CTE programs remain vitally important to the economic well-being of our state, and this proposal eliminates highly effective programs that have proven their worth over time. We think this is a terrible mistake.”
The California Agricultural Teachers’ Association is a professional education association, representing over 850 instructors in Agricultural Education at the Middle School through University levels in California, with headquarters located in Galt, California.
California Agricultural Teachers’ Association
CONTACT: Jim Aschwanden, P.O. Box 186, Galt, CA 95632 – 209-744-1605
Sacramento, Calif., (May 18, 2017) – The California Air Resources Board, in partnership with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and California Energy Commission (CEC), will host the first meeting of the Dairy and Livestock Greenhouse Gas Reduction Working Group on May 23, 2017. The first meeting of the Working Group will be held on:
Date: May 23, 2017
Time: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Location:
CDFA’s Main Auditorium
1220 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814.
The meeting will be live-streamed for online viewing, but this will be a listen-in only option. Public comments will be received at the meeting. Members of the public who wish to provide oral comments at the meeting should plan to attend in person. More information on the Working Group and meeting materials can be found at https://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/shortlived/shortlived.htm
The formation of the Working Group is called for by legislation passed in 2016, Senate Bill 1383 (Lara), which requires the State to develop and approve a plan to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). Short-lived climate pollutants, including methane from dairy cows and other livestock, are greenhouse gases that, despite having a relatively short residence time in the atmosphere, have a powerful warming influence. They are also harmful air pollutants. Accomplishing swift reductions of SLCP emissions can have a significant impact on cumulative climate change, lessening harmful climate change impacts over the long term, and can improve public health.
Methane from dairy manure and enteric fermentation make up the largest portion of California agriculture’s 8% total greenhouse gas emissions. CDFA houses two incentive programs to provide dairies with financial assistance to reduce methane emissions; the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program and the Alternative Manure Management Practices Program. Despite the development of these programs and the growing efforts to reduce emissions, there are still many challenges which the Working Group will address.
The newly formed Working Group will identify and address technical, market, regulatory, and other barriers to the development of dairy methane reduction projects. The Working Group, made up of CDFA, partner agencies and a diverse group of stakeholders and experts, will produce recommendations to advance methane reductions on and achieve other co-benefits from California dairies and livestock operations while also supporting the resiliency and sustainability of California’s world-renown dairy and livestock industry. The Working Group will also foster important relationships and build the cooperation necessary to maximize environmental benefits, minimize impacts to disadvantaged communities, and utilize available resources efficiently.
In his 2017-18 State Budget released earlier in the year, Governor Brown proposed the complete elimination of funding for the Future Farmers of America program and other programs in Career Technical Education serving students throughout California. Also included in these cuts were the elimination of Partnership Academy Programs, the University of California Curriculum Institute for recognizing CTE courses for admission purposes, and Professional Development Activities for CTE instructors.