California Ag Network

Category: Row Crops

  • UC Launches Drought Video Series Feb. 2

    Oakland, Calif., (February 8, 2018) – Because periodic droughts will always be a part of life in California, the UC California Institute for Water Resources (CIWR) produced a series of videos to maintain drought awareness and planning, even in years when water is more abundant.

    The first of the three videos premieres Feb. 2 on the UCTV Sustainable California channel. Subsequent videos will be launched March 2 and April 6. View the trailer here.

    The videos are inspired by a collection of 19 drought tips produced by CIWR in collaboration with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers during the drought of 2010-16. The tips cover a broad spectrum of California crops, from alfalfa to walnuts. Topics also include salt management, use of graywater in urban landscapes, and the use of shallow groundwater for crop production. Three topics – alfalfa, almonds and citrus – are featured in the three-episode CIWR video series.

    The drought tips collection and the drought tip videos were sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources. Following is the schedule for the video releases:

    Friday, Feb. 2: Drought strategies for alfalfa

    UC Cooperative Extension alfalfa specialist Dan Putnam wrote the drought tip ‘Drought Strategies for Alfalfa,’ on which the first video in the series is based. The video is on the UCTV Sustainable California channel, http://www.uctv.tv/sustainable-cal/.

    The CIWR drought tip series opens with Cannon Michael of Bowles Farming in Los Banos. The alfalfa grower works with UCCE specialist Dan Putnam. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding about alfalfa as a crop,” Michael said. “It does take water to grow it, as with anything, but you get multiple harvests of it every year.”

    Friday, March 2: Drought management for California almonds

    The second episode features almond producer Raj of Meena farms. He works with David Doll, UCCE advisor in Merced County. “One positive of this drought,” Meena said, “is that it has forced us all to be more efficient in how we use our water.”

    Friday, April 6: Irrigating citrus with limited water

    The series finale features Lisa Brenneis of Churchill-Brenneis Orchard in the Ojai Valley of Ventura County. She worked with UCCE advisor Ben Faber to install a new water-efficient irrigation system. “Irrigation is the only job we really have to do,” Brenneis said, “and we have to get it as right as we can.”

    For a complete list of drought tips, see http://ucanr.edu/drought-tips.

  • Cultivating Students & Garbanzo Beans at Reedley College

    Now is the time of year Central Valley growers are planting field crops like garbanzo beans.  Professor at Reedley college Tim Smith wanted to teach this first-hand to his plant science students at the community college.

    Reedley College professor Tim Smith instructs students on preparing planting equipment.

    Students filed out of the classroom and into the on-campus farm to really learn how it is done, and participate in the process.  Students learned the value of mechanized agriculture and learned how to operate planting equipment, and troubleshoot when something is wrong, like when seeds or fertilizer gets clogged up in the tubes.

    Smith teaches many of the agricultural courses at Reedley College.  He has taught over 200 students this fall, and about a third of them are progressing towards getting a PCA license and plan on working in California’s agricultural industry. “In this particular lab exercise, we really wanted to bring home the value of legumes in the industry and their relationship with rhizobium nitrogen-fixing bacteria,” Smith shared.

    This field has been planted in forage oats for the past 20 years, but will soon be covered in garbanzo bean plants.

     

    This legume crop with either be harvested with a combine later or be used as a green manure crop.  The important part is that it was a great hands-on learning experience for the Ag students at Reedley college.

  • How Farms can Donate Fresh Food for Tax Deductions

    Charitable Contributions for Farmers

    It is common for businesses to receive tax deductions for cash donations, but did you know that the agriculture community can donate fresh foods for a similar benefit? California farmers and agriculture businesses have the opportunity to donate fresh fruits and vegetables in return for some pretty hefty tax breaks.

    How much is the deduction? 

    In order to calculate the federal deduction and the California credit, your accountant will need to know the cost basis of the donated fruit as well as the fair market value (FMV) of that fruit as of the date it was contributed.

    Normally, the federal deduction for inventory contributions is limited to the FMV on the date of contribution or the cost basis of the inventory, whichever is lower. However, there is an enhanced deduction allowed for the contribution of food inventory to a qualified organization that allows for an “above-basis” deduction. This deduction equals the lesser of: (1) the basis of the contributed inventory plus one-half of the ordinary income that would have been recognized if the inventory had been sold for FMV on the contribution date, or (2) twice the basis of the property. As is often the case, there are special rules for certain taxpayers. If you are not using full absorption to account for your inventories, consult with your accountant as special rules will apply.

    For farm partnerships, the result of the above calculation would be passed through to the individual partners within the partnership. The deduction is then limited to 15% of their net income from all businesses that made food contributions. This means that their deduction would be limited to 15% of their net income from the farm entity that made the donation. If individual farmers who are also partners in farm partnerships made food contributions to qualified organizations, then the net income of both activities would be added together in determining the 15% limitation. Any unused deduction can be carried over and used in the five succeeding tax years.

    California law

    Under California tax law, a qualified taxpayer who donates fresh fruits or fresh vegetables to a food bank located in California is allowed a tax credit equal to 10% of the cost that would otherwise be included in inventory costs. In the case of farm partnerships, the credit would be passed through and used by the individual partners. Any unused credits may be carried forward for seven years. It’s important to note that this credit has expired, however, there is a possibility of extension, so speak with your accountant to learn more.

    Here’s an example

    Partnership A owns a farm that grows fruit.  The partnership donates unsold fruit to the local food bank.  A determines that the basis of the contributed property is $180,000.  A also determines that one-half of the ordinary income that would have been recognized if the inventory had been sold for FMV on the contribution date is $40,000.  The deduction would consist of the lesser of: (1) the basis of the property contributed plus one-half the profit = $180,000+$40,000 = $220,000, or (2) twice the basis of $180,000 = $360,000.  In this case, the lesser figure of $220,000 would be the enhanced deduction for the food inventory contributed.  That deduction would be passed along to the partners of the partnership. The charitable deduction on the partner’s tax returns would be limited to 15% of the income from the partnership that made the food donation.

    Please note that if the donated inventory was not included in the opening inventory, but rather was produced during the current year,the donated inventory would be considered to have zero basis. This means that the enhanced deduction for food inventory would only be $40,000 in the example above, as the $180,000 cost of that fruit would instead be included as part of the cost of goods sold deduction in the current year.

    If you have questions about charitable food donations or want to learn more about how to claim the deduction, please contact Sensiba San Filippo Partner, John Slater, at 559.437.0700 or at jslater@ssfllp.com.

  • Genome of Wheat Ancestor Sequenced

    Davis, Calif., (November 17, 2017) – Sequencing the bread wheat genome has long been considered an almost insurmountable task, due to its enormous size and complexity. Yet it is vitally important for the global food supply, providing more than 20 percent of the calories and 23 percent of the protein consumed by humans.

    Now, an international team of scientists led by researchers at the University of California, Davis, has come a step closer to solving the puzzle by sequencing the genome of a wild ancestor of bread wheat known as Aegilops tauschii, a type of goatgrass.

    In the study, published Nov. 15 in the journal Nature, researchers applied a combination of advanced technologies to generate a reference-quality genome sequence for Ae. tauschii, which is highly adaptable and tolerant of diseases. It is also the primary source of genes for the bread-making properties of wheat flour.

    The findings will allow researchers to discover new genes that can improve wheat baking quality, resistance to diseases, and tolerance to extreme environmental conditions like frost, drought and salinity.

    The effort has already had one practical result: the discovery of two new genes for resistance to a race of wheat stem rust to which there is virtually no resistance in wheat. The genes were transferred from Ae. tauschii into wheat and are now available to wheat breeders.

    Piecing together the puzzle

    Wheat and its wild ancestors have genomes much larger than humans, which makes sequencing difficult.

    “When we started this project nearly two decades ago, there was no technology to sequence genomes of that size and complexity,” said Jan Dvorak, a leader of the project and professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis. “This group of plants are unique because their genomes are just absolutely full of repeated sequences. We found more than 84 percent of the Ae. tauschii genome consists of closely related repeated sequences.”

    Dvorak describes the project as like tearing up pages of a thick book and trying to piece it back together. “Only imagine that every sentence on the page is nearly identical. That was our task,” said Dvorak.

    The technologies used by the researchers can be applied to any plant genome, so the implications extend beyond wheat.

    Contributors to the research include scientists from USDA-ARS, Albany, California; John Hopkins University, Maryland; University of Georgia, Athens in the U.S.; and from Germany, Canada, China, U.K., France, and Switzerland. The research was funded with a grant from the National Science Foundation.

  • Medfly Infestation Triggers Quarantine In Portion Of Los Angeles County

    Sacramento, Calif., (September 15, 2017) – A quarantine has been declared due to a Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) infestation detected in the Sun Valley neighborhood in northern Los Angeles County.  Two adult males, nine females, and 55 larvae have been detected. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) are working collaboratively on the eradication.

    The 89-square mile quarantine is in the northern San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, northwest of the City of Burbank.  It is bordered on the north by the Angeles National Forest; on the south by Griffith Park; on the west by I-405; and on the east by the Verdugo Mountains.  Additional information, and a link to the quarantine map, may be found here: www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/medfly/regulation.html.

    Increased numbers of sterile male Medflies are being released in the area as part of the eradication effort.  In addition, properties within 200 meters of detections are being treated with an organic formulation of Spinosad, which originates from naturally-occurring bacteria, in order to eliminate any mated females and reduce the density of the population. The flies lay their eggs in fruit, so crews will also remove fruit from trees within 100 meters of sites where larvae and multiple adult flies have been found.

    Agricultural officials are working with fruit growers, wholesalers, and retailers in the area to ensure that the infestation does not spread through commercial channels. Local residents and home gardeners in the quarantine zone are urged to consume homegrown produce on site and not move it from their property.  These actions protect against the artificial spread of the infestation to nearby regions where it could affect California’s food supply and backyard gardens.

    The sterile fly release program has a proven track record of eradication in California.  Sterile male flies mate with fertile female flies in the natural environment but produce no offspring.  The fly population decreases as the wild flies reach the end of their natural life span with no offspring to replace them.

    The Medfly targets more than 250 types of fruits and vegetables, which could significantly impact California’s agricultural exports and backyard gardens. Damage occurs when the female lays eggs inside the fruit.  The eggs hatch into maggots and tunnel through the flesh of the fruit, making it unfit for consumption.

    Residents who believe their fruits and vegetables are infested with fruit fly larvae should call the state’s toll-free Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899.

    While fruit flies and other invasive species that threaten California’s crops and natural environment are sometimes detected in agricultural areas, the vast majority are found in urban and suburban communities.  These invasive species often enter our state by “hitchhiking” in fruits and vegetables brought back illegally by travelers returning from infested regions of the world.  To help protect California’s agriculture and natural resources, CDFA urges travelers to follow the Don’t Pack a Pest program guidelines (www.dontpackapest.com).

     

  • 2017 California Processing Tomato Report

    Sacramento, Calif., (September 6, 2017) – Contracted production for California processing tomatoes is forecast at 11.5 million tons, averaging 50.0 tons per acre. The current forecasted production is 8 percent below the 2016 crop, and 2.5 percent below the May forecast.

    Spring rains brought relief from the drought but delayed planting. Harvest began in early July in the southern growing areas, which is about two weeks later than in 2016. The 2017 crop has experienced lower disease and pest pressures compared to last year. The overall crop has developed well so far with the early harvest reported to be of good quality. Potential concerns reported by the tomato growers

    were the delayed harvest and stress from triple digit heat waves. The projected harvested acreage of tomatoes is 230,000 acres, a decrease of 10 percent from 2016 and the lowest acreage since 1988.

    The shipping reports published by the Processing Tomato Advisory Board showed that shipments through August 19, 2017 were running 22 percent below those of 2016.

    This processing tomato estimate is funded by the California League of Food Processors, in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

    To view the report go to: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/California/Publications/Vegetables/Processing_Tomato/2017/201708ptom.pdf

  • $4.5 Million Grant Funds New Disease-Resistant Strawberries

    Davis, Calif., (August 30, 2017) – The Public Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis, and colleagues in California and Florida have received a $4.5 million grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve the disease resistance and sustainable production of strawberries throughout the nation.

    The collaborative grant is good news for strawberry farmers and consumers everywhere, according to Rick Tomlinson, president of the California Strawberry Commission. To signal its own support, the strawberry commission pledged an additional $1.8 million to the UC Davis program.

    “An investment in the UC Davis strawberry breeding program is an investment in the future of strawberries,” Tomlinson said. “Thanks to their groundbreaking research and strong partnerships, Director Steve Knapp and his colleagues are developing improved strawberry varieties publicly available to farmers.”

    Professor Steve Knapp, director of the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program, in a breeding greenhouse. The US Department of Agriculture has awarded a grant of $4.5 million to the UC Davis program and its partners to help come up with new varieties for farmers. The California Strawberry Commission is contributing an additional $1.8 million to support the effort. (Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)

    Improving genetic resistance to disease -Strawberries constitute a $4.4 billion-dollar industry in the United States, and 94 percent of the nation’s strawberry fruit and nursery plants are grown in California and Florida.

    Strawberries are especially vulnerable to soil-borne pathogens, which destroy plants and greatly reduce yield. Since the 1960s, strawberry growers have depended on fumigants like methyl bromide to treat soils before planting berries in an effort to control disease. But methyl bromide has been phased out by the Environmental Protection Agency and will no longer be available after 2017.

    “Following the elimination of methyl bromide fumigation, strawberry growers are under greater economic pressures, and there is an urgent need for improved, disease-resistant strawberry varieties that will thrive without fumigation,” Knapp said.

    Knapp will head a team of scientists from UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and the University of Florida.

    Together, researchers will identify and manage pathogen threats, mine elite and wild genetic resources to find natural sources of resistance to pathogens, and accelerate the development of public varieties resistant to a broad spectrum of disease and other pests.

    “Strawberry growers are faced with the need to deliver high-quality fruit to consumers year-round, while protecting the environment, fostering economic growth in their communities and coping with profound changes in production practices,” Knapp said. “We look forward to collaborating with our industry partners through research, agricultural extension and education to help them reach those goals.”

    UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program – During six decades, the UC Davis Public Strawberry Breeding Program has developed more than 30 patented varieties, made strawberries a year-round crop in California and boosted strawberry yield from just 6 tons per acre in the 1950s to 30 tons per acre today.

    Knapp took over directorship of the program in 2015. He and his team are working to develop short-day and day-neutral strawberry varieties; studying the genetics of disease-resistance, fruit quality and photoperiod response; and applying genomic techniques to make traditional strawberry breeding more efficient. They have 10 public varieties in the pipeline and plan to release one or two new strawberry varieties later this year.

    Initiative collaborators

    The grant is funded by USDA’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative. Collaborators from UC Davis include agricultural economist Rachael Goodhue, plant pathologist Thomas Gordon, and plant scientists Julia Harshman and Thomas Poorten.

    Other key collaborators are Oleg Daugovish with UC Agricultural and Natural Resources; Alexander Putman at UC Riverside; Julie Guthman at UC Santa Cruz; Gerald Holmes and Kelly Ivors, both at Cal Poly; and Seonghee Lee, Natália Peres and Vance Whitaker, all of the University of Florida.

    By Diane Nelson on August 25, 2017 in Food & Agriculture

  • When Farm Labor gets too Tight, Consider H2A Guestworker Program

    As labor grows tighter, growers are mechanizing their operations as much as possible; however, the need for a solid seasonal labor force is not going away anytime soon. Although not an easy one to utilize, the H2A Ag guestworker program is what more and more growers and farm labor contractors are using to meet their labor needs. Watch this brief interview with Bob Erickson from Foothill Packing and Jeanne Malitz from Malitz Law as they explain the program, and how to get involved in it. Read more in American Vineyard Magazine.

  • Tulare County Reports on Current Crop Status

    Visalia, Calif., (August 4, 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 are making excellent progress; and continue being irrigated, cut, and baled. Corn and sorghum for silage is still being cultivated and irrigated. The corn silage crop is in various stages of development, from already producing tassels to developing ears. Cotton continues to be irrigated, cultivated, and growing well. Cotton is blooming and forming bolls. Black-eyed beans continue to be irrigated and cultivated.

    Mid-season 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, French Polynesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, and Taiwan. Summer pruning and topping of harvest stone fruit groves is occurring. Last season’s almonds and pistachios are being exported to the Chile, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Trinidad & Tobago, and the United Arab Emirates. Walnut, almond, and pistachio orchards continue being irrigated. Both mechanical and chemical weed control continues in orchards. Asian pears are being exported to Mexico. Table grape harvest continues throughout the county, and grapes are being exported to Australia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, French Polynesia, Guatemala, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.

    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. Melons are being irrigated and prepared for the upcoming harvest.

    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 at $119.00 per hundred weight. Harvested grain fields are being sheeped-off in the southern portions of the county.

    Nursery shipments are slowing overall. Wholesale nursery shipments to Canada and domestic markets have decreased due to the hot summer temperatures. 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.

  • USDA California Crop/Weather Report

    Sacramento, Calif., (August 1, 2017) – The weather last week was hot and dry across the State. The summer monsoon across the southwest desert helped trigger some showers across the deserts last week, while additional pockets of moisture found their way into the Sierras and managed to produce a few scattered showers throughout the week. Rainfall was limited to Monday through Thursday across the interior deserts and parts of the central and northern Sierras. A few monsoon showers and thunderstorms dropped up to half an inch of rain in places across the desert, with most areas receiving around a tenth of an inch. A stray thunderstorm near Alturas in the northeastern corner of the State dropped nearly half an inch of rain. Snow cover continued to dissipate across the State; however, some areas of the Lassen Volcanic National Park still had nearly ten feet of snow in some areas.

    Temperature highs were in the 60s to 80s along the coast, 70s to 90s in the mountains, 90s to 100s, in the valley, and 90s to 110s in the desert. Temperature lows were in the 30s to 50s in the mountains, 50s to 60s along the coast, 60s to 70s in the valley, and 60s to 80s in the desert.

    Wheat was harvested for grain and shaft baled for straw. Alfalfa fields were being irrigated, cut, and baled. Corn and sorghum for silage were cultivated and irrigated. The corn silage crop was in various stages of development, from already tasseling to developing ears. Cotton continued to be irrigated, cultivated, and was growing well. Cotton was blooming and forming bolls. Black-eyed beans continued to be irrigated and cultivated.

    Mid-season peach, nectarine, pluot, and plum harvest continued.  Some harvested stone fruit orchards were pruned and topped. Table grapes were harvested and vineyards irrigated. Wine grapes were maturing well.  Valencia orange harvest continued but was winding down due to high temperatures and fruit availability.

    Walnut, almond, and pistachio orchards continued to be irrigated. Mechanical and chemical weed control continued in orchards.  Harvest preparation was underway in almond orchards. Almond harvest began in the warmer regions of Kern County. Pistachios were beginning to split. Navel Orange Worm sprays and fertilizers were applied to pistachios. Walnuts were sizing well.

    In Colusa County, triple digit heat impacted the harvest of vegetables, including processing tomatoes and honeydew melons.  The processing tomato harvest was somewhat erratic, interrupting the smooth flow of ripe tomatoes to the canneries.    The melon packing sheds were affected by the inconsistent flow of fruit.  In San Joaquin County, harvest was ongoing for honeydew melons, watermelons, cantaloupes, onions, and fresh vegetable crops.  Farmers’ Market vegetables continued to be harvested and offered for sale.   In Monterey County, mid-year harvest and production slowed for two weeks.  It was expected to pick back up with more harvesting and preparation for the third or last rotation of the year.  All commodities, lettuces, brassicas, and spinach were in production.  Asparagus was finished and artichokes will pick up again in August.  In Fresno County, harvest continued for both organic and conventional tomatoes with lower yields than expected.  Quality was reported as very good.  Onions, carrots, and lettuce seed were harvested.  Soil was prepared for yellow peppers.  In Tulare County, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and peppers were picked by certified producers and sold at the local Farmers’ Markets.  Yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, Bell peppers, green chili peppers, and cucumbers were harvested and shipped domestically.  Sweet corn harvest continued and was sold at roadside stands and local Farmers’ Markets.  Melons were irrigated and prepared for the upcoming harvest.  In Kings County, the tomato harvest continued with a decent harvest reported.  Tomatoes were sprayed with fungicide and pesticide.

    The decline in nutritional quality of rangeland grasses and forbs continued. Range and dryland pasture conditions across the state were reported as fair to very poor. Wildland fires burned some north state pastures and ranges.  Elevated temperatures continued to impact milk production. Bees were active in melon and sunflower fields.