California Ag Network

Tag: Berries

  • California Ag Leadership Foundation Announces Class 55 Fellows

    The California Agricultural Leadership Foundation (CALF) is proud to announce the selection of Class 55 of the California Agricultural Leadership Program (CALP), a distinguished group of emerging agricultural leaders who will engage in a 17-month intensive program designed to develop leadership skills and prepare them to lead in California’s dynamic agricultural industry.

    The Ag Leadership Program selects individuals who demonstrate strong leadership potential and a deep commitment to advancing California agriculture. Over the course of the program, fellows participate in immersive experiences, including leadership seminars, national and international travel seminars, and hands-on projects that foster personal growth and drive industry impact.

    “Class 55 will be challenged to broaden their perspectives, expand their influence, and lead with purpose. They embody the very essence of CALF’s mission, to grow leaders who make a difference. This cohort will carry forward a legacy of service-driven leadership that will help ensure California agriculture thrives for generations to come,” said CALF President and CEO Lesa Eidman (Class 49).

    Class 55 represents a wide range of agricultural sectors, including field crops, forestry, rice, tree crops, winegrapes, berries and water and brings diverse perspectives through their work in associations, government, agricultural services, and production.

    The California Agricultural Leadership Foundation has been cultivating leaders for over 55 years, with alumni contributing to policy development, industry advancement, and community engagement across the state and nation. The Class 55 cohort continues this tradition of leadership excellence.

    Class 55 fellows’ inaugural ceremony will take place on October 3rd in Fresno, California. For more information about the Ag Leadership program or to learn more about the Class 55 Fellows, visit agleaders.org Tickets and additional event information are available at agleaders.org/events

    Class 55 Fellows

    • Claire Aicken – County of San Diego AWM, Oceanside, CA
    • Jordan Albiani – Galt High School, Elk Grove, CA
    • Tommy Bottoms – Tremont Farms, Davis, CA
    • Morgan Campbell – Westside Water Authority, Bakersfield, CA
    • Sam Christopherson – Markon, Sacramento, CA
    • Natalie Collins – California Association of Winegrape Growers, Lodi, CA
    • Drew Crane – Crane Mills, Tehama, CA
    • Kelly Damewood – California Certified Organic Farmers, Santa Cruz, CA
    • Jared Davit – Jarran Ag Services, Yuba City, CA
    • Josh Enos – Carriere Family Farms, Glenn, CA
    • Lauren Fann – Almond Board of California, Modesto, CA
    • Omar Alexander Gonzalez-Benitez – Planasa LLC, Watsonville, CA
    • Lisa Howard – Tolenas Winery, Fairfield, CA
    • Casey Kirchhoff – Kirchhoff Family Wines, Clarksburg, CA
    • Kiaran Locy – California Prune Board, Sacramento, CA
    • Cesar Mendoza – BASF Corporation, Fresno, CA
    • Jordon Navarrot – Reclamation District 108, Grimes, CA
    • Jon Neugebauer – McArthur Farm Supply, McArthur, CA
    • Logan Robertson Huecker – Sequoia Riverlands Trust, Visalia, CA
    • Ryan Scott – Monterey Pacific, Templeton, CA
    • Emma Sertich – Center Safe Ag, Ventura, CA
    • Sadie Strain – Strain Farming Company, Arbuckle, CA
    • Kevin Voorhees – AgWest Farm Credit, San Luis Obispo, CA
    • Jeremy Wagner – County of San Mateo AWM, Redwood City, CA

    Class 55 Video: https://youtu.be/sHQCqXNq4hs

    About California Agricultural Leadership Foundation

    The California Agricultural Leadership Foundation (CALF) is dedicated to cultivating leaders who have the vision and capacity to advance, benefit, and promote California’s agricultural community. Since its founding in 1970, more than 1,400 fellows of the California Agricultural Leadership Program have become lifelong leaders, serving as catalysts for a vibrant agricultural industry and making lasting contributions to their businesses, communities, and families. CALF delivers a comprehensive and diverse leadership curriculum in collaboration with its five partner universities: UC Davis, Cal Poly Pomona, Fresno State, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Chico State.

  • Farmers Monitor Storms’ Impact On Crops, Water Supplies

    Sacramento, Calif., (February 23, 2017) – Strong storms during the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend flooded farm fields, caused several dairy farms to relocate their animals and brought other impacts on California farms and ranches. The storms also added more water to an already overtaxed system, and led to renewed calls to modernize the system.

    “In the long term, the surge of storms should bring an improved water outlook,” California Farm Bureau Federation President Paul Wenger said, “but it has definitely brought worries to farmers and ranchers whose land is inundated or whose crops may be at risk. We remain hopeful that weather in coming days will minimize any problems.”

    Wenger noted that many reservoirs have filled and have had to release water, which underlines the need to enhance California’s water storage capacity.

    “Believe it or not, there are people who think we don’t need more water storage, and that we should even tear down many of the facilities we now have,” he said. “These activists don’t care how many people suffer from devastating floods in winters like this. They don’t care how many people suffer from water shortages during droughts.”

    Wenger said California must move as quickly as possible to allocate money from the 2014 water bond, Proposition 1, to create more storage both aboveground and underground.

    “Environmentalists say we can solve water problems by conserving more water and storing more underground. But we’re not able to conserve most of the water flowing through the system now—we have had to let it go. And moving water into the ground takes time. You can’t replenish groundwater if you don’t have aboveground reservoirs and canals to hold and move water to where it can effectively filter underground,” Wenger said.

    Farm Bureau said farmers of a number of crops and commodities will be assessing the impact from the weekend storms, including:

    • Almonds—The storms hit just as almond trees were blooming. Bees that pollinate almond blossoms don’t fly in the rain and prefer temperatures higher than 55 degrees. In addition, a number of almond trees were blown down by strong winds during the weekend. But farmers said the tree losses weren’t as bad as feared, and expressed hope pollination would still be successful.
    • Berries—The rains delayed strawberry harvest along the Central and Southern California coast. Production may be temporarily reduced as farmers wait for waterlogged fields to dry and discard rain-damaged berries.
    • Dairy farms—Several dairy farms located near the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers needed to move their animals to higher ground as river levels rose. Other farmers are watching river levels carefully and preparing to move their animals if needed.
    • Field crops—Fall-planted grain crops that have germinated could take on too much water, which could ultimately reduce yields. Hay fields have also flooded. Soggy or flooded fields will delay planting for a number of crops.
    • Grapes—Vineyards in various grape-growing regions have been flooded. Farmers say that could leave vines vulnerable to root-rot damage if they remain flooded for too long.
    • Vegetables—Rains and muddy fields slowed vegetable harvest in Southern California and delayed planting in the Salinas Valley. Rain generally benefited vegetable crops in the Imperial Valley.
    • Walnuts—Flooded orchards that remain waterlogged for too long could be vulnerable to root diseases that can kill trees.
    • Miscellaneous—Heavy rains in foothill regions have washed out privately maintained roads, making it hard for cattle ranchers to reach their animals, and muddy pastures limit ranchers’ ability to reach herds on horseback. Pear orchards in Lake County have been flooded. Citrus fruit harvest was temporarily delayed. The storms brought large amounts of rain to Santa Barbara County farmers who have remained in severe drought. One farmer there reported losing about half an acre of avocado trees to a mudslide.