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Madera CountyFarM Bureau

September 2016 Vol. 6, No. 9agriculture todayBecome a member,

Win a YETI!See page 11 for details

Ag United Harvest Celebration

Annual MeetingOctober 23, 2016

See Madera FFA; Page 5

11 Madera FFA members to be awarded American FFA Degree

By Robert Rodriguez, The Fresno BeeAugust 26, 2016

Almond harvest has begun in the San Joaquin Valley and with it comes the hope of better prices, expanding markets and stronger con-sumer demand.

This year, the industry will need all the help it can get.

Demand has cooled in markets like China where the nuts were a hot com-modity. Prices plummeted to half of

the $5 a pound the nuts fetched last year. Now, with harvest under way, growers could be looking at a bumper crop.

If the estimate from the U.S. Department of Agricul-ture holds true, California’s almond growers will surpass 2 billion pounds for the first time since 2013.

That’s a lot of nuts. And one of the reasons why almonds have become one of the state’s most dominant crops. In Fresno County

alone – one of the state’s top almond-growing regions – the nuts were valued at more than a $1 billion.

Despite the challenges, growers re-

main optimistic that they can develop new products and find new markets to ensure almonds keep flying off the store shelves as fast as they are shaken

CAlENdAr

Contributed, Madera TribuneAugust 20, 2016

Eleven local Future Farmers of America members will accept Ameri-can FFA degrees at the four-day 89th National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis this fall.

Aaron Caballero, Jenae Hansen, Omar Herrera, Virat Kang, Janette Larios, Matthew Mealey, Elwin Reyes, Max Ramirez, Eduardo Rodriguez, Fredy Ruiz and Francisco Vasquez have shown “the utmost dedication” to FFA “through their desire to develop their potential for leadership, personal

growth and career success through agricultural education,” according to the national organization.

The American FFA Degree is bestowed annually for ability and achievements in agricultural busi-ness, production, processing or service programs. This year American Degrees will be awarded to 3,780 members – less than 1 percent of current FFA members.

To be eligible, FFA members must earn and productively invest $10,000 through a supervised agricultural ex-perience program in which they start, own or hold a professional position

Almond farmers unshaken by lower prices, cooling markets amid bumper crop

September8-11 Madera Fair

11 Ag One BBQ from 4-8 p.m, dinner 5:30- 6:30 p.m. Place: Rancho Vista del Rio (Borba Ranch), Madera. Located at the San Joaquin River and Hwy 99. Tickets can be purchased through the Ag One Foundation office at (559)278-4266

22-24 Ag In the Classroom Conference, Holiday Inn Sacramento-Capitol Plaza. For more info call 916-561-5625

24 10:00 am Old Timers Day Parade & Courthouse Park Celebration. Hosted by the Madera Downtown Association. Booth Info available by calling 559-673-0291

28 Federal/State Basic Payroll Tax Seminar 9:30am-3:30pm. For more info visit www.edd.ca.gov/Payroll_Tax_Seminars or call (866)-873-6083.

28-Nov 19 2016 Celebrate Agriculture with the Arts Competition & Exhibition at the Circle Gallery, 1653 N. Schnoor Avenue, Suite #113, Madera. Contact the Gallery at (559) 661-7005 or www.maderaarts.org for more information.

October1-2 Chukchansi Picayune Rancheria Pow Wow

Annual Chukchansi Picayune Rancheria Pow Wow - for more information, contact the Coarsegold Chamber of Commerce at (559) 642-2262

5-16 Fresno Fair

18 Board of Directors meeting, 1:00-3:30pm, MCFB Ben Hayes Hall, 1102 S. Pine Street, Madera (559)674-8871 info @www.maderafb.com

23 Ag United Harvest Celebration

See Almond Farmers; 5

2 | September 2016 Madera County Farm Bureau

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Contact the MCFB Office at (559) 674-8871or www.maderafb.com for details.

August has been a challenging month for all growers within Madera county, if it hasn’t been starting harvest, it has been keeping an eye on the legislation coming at us.

That’s right, the newest change is AB 1066, the ag overtime rule that recently passed in a

final assembly vote of 44-32. It’s a bone chilling law that its authors and sup-porters believe will help farm workers that work 10 hours per day under this new law they would work 8 hours, and then they would be paid overtime. Most farm laborers want to work the extra hours, as it allows them a better take home wage. Under this new law, their ability to provide better for their families is restricted. AB 1066 also hinders those that that farm more per-ishable crops by constricting harvesting labor hours to an 8hour day instead of adjusting labor needs according to the demands of Mother Nature.

This new law will change the crops

we farm in California along with the the landscape of California agricul-tural. Harvest is more than on its way, with most growers in the area in the harvest mode for many days now. To that effect I always say “early in, early done”. I hope Mother Nature brings us some nice, winter rain to help motivate us all in getting the crops up and out.

As the farming community moves forward I believe that we need to have a united voice against the challenges, needs and issues that affect us all.

These challenges have not decreased as time has gone on, but rather have increased.

Farmers (for many generations) have invested their lives and made it their priority to grow crops that help feed the world. Why would we want to stop that? California’s prodigious agricul-ture must be recognized as the finan-cial generator it is for all of the com-munities across the state, in addition to how it has shaped the Agriculture industry.

We need to take control and be bold in shaping our own destiny and future. Let’s be active, be informed.

With that, I wish a happy and safe harvest to all.

Once again agricul-ture is at the mercy of our elected officials… As many of you know, the Overtime Bill (AB1066) passed the Assembly, and is now on the Gov-ernor’s desk. I ask that everyone take a few minutes out of their busy sched-ules to write a letter explaining how this will impact not only

your operation, but most importantly your employees’ livelihood. UFW has helped to paint quite the picture, and we need to paint the actual picture. Our voice needs to be heard, and that can only be achieved by speaking up and speaking out!

On the water front, things are still moving along. MCFB has been work-ing with a group of white area land-

owners to create a private entity to help represent their interests in the SGMA process. For those that have land that fall within the “white areas”, I encour-age you to contact our office for more information on what is going on with the group, as well as to educate yourself on the potential impacts of SGMA. If you don’t know what SGMA is, and you pump groundwater, then you better pick up the phone and call us. SGMA will potentially impact every farmer and rancher in Madera County significantly, so I cannot stress how important it is to be educated on what’s to come.

On a positive note, harvest is well under way for most, and MCFB is planning its Ag United Harvest Cel-ebration and Annual Meeting. We are looking forward to having everyone together once harvest has concluded to celebrate a successful harvest, enjoy some good food amongst friends, and

President’s Message

Executive Director’s Address

Jay Mahil,President

Christina Beckstead,Executive Director

2015 - 2016 Executive CommitteePresident: Jay Mahil

1st Vice President: Nick Davis2nd Vice President/Treasurer: Michael Naito

Secretary: Laura GutileAppointed by President: Steve MassaroAppointed by President: Dennis Meisner

Appointed by President: Tom RogersAppointed by President: Chris Wylie

directors at largeRobert Cadenazzi

Ryan CosynsClay Daulton

Stephen ElgorriagaJason Erickson

Michele Lasgoity

Jennifer MarkarianScott Maxwell

Neil Mc DougaldJeff Mc KinneyPat Ricchiuti

Robert Sahatjian

California Farm Bureau - district 9 director Tom Rogers

California Farm Bureau CommitteeEnergy, Air, and Climate- Clay Daulton

State Budget, Taxation, and Land Use- Nick DavisAgriculture Labor- Jay Mahil

Forestry, Fish & Wildlife, and Public Lands- Neil McDougald

Office StaffExecutive Director: Christina Beckstead

Executive Assistant: Kristen Sargent

Madera County Farm Bureau1102 South Pine Street

Madera, CA 93637(559) 674-8871; www.maderafb.com

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MCFB would like to thank all of our members who help support our work through their

voluntary contributions for the month of August:

new MCFB donors

new MCFB MembersMCFB welcomes the following new Agricultural (producer), Associate

(consumer) Collegiate, and Business Support members who joined in August:

TO BECOME A MEMBER CALL

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Madera County Farm Bureau September 2016 | 3

By Tami Jo Nix, Madera TribuneJuly 30, 2016

The next generation and the future of local agriculture have a champion. in the 12-member board of the Madera County Ag Boosters, which raises money to finance youth agriculture projects.

Any time the 4-H clubs, FFA chapters and ag schools throughout the county need financial help, all they need to do is ask, said vice president Dave Loquaci.

The membership represents all areas of the ag industry to include growers, ranchers and other men who work in the ag industry.

“Everyone on the board has a niche area of expertise where they work,” said treasurer Bruce Norton.

One of the many examples shows how the group operates. Last year a 4-H club sewing leader placed a clas-sified ad in The Madera Tribune. Only two of its six sewing machines were functional. The ad appealed to the

community for help with financing the parts and labor to repair the machines. The ag boosters responded to the advertisement, but not by fixing the old broken machines. The boosters took a different tact.

“We told them to go out and buy eight new sewing machines,” said di-rector Stan Samuelson. “Then we wrote a check to pay for them.”

Since the group was founded on July 22, 1983, they have given away more than $1 million and an additional $45,000 in just the last year. They esti-mate they are able to finance 95 percent of the requests they receive.

The organization was founded by the late Ralph Stoetzel who enlisted the help of local business leaders such as Jim Myers of J.W. Myers Chev-ron, banker Ken Cufaude of Bank of America, the late Bob Naden, Don Warnock of Warnock Foods, and local growers Bobby Houlding and George Crafton. They served as the group’s founding board members.

In the early years, the boosters raised

money hosting dinner-dances. Today, they have one highly successful fund-raiser a year.

The Bob Houlding Memorial clay pigeon shoot took place in June on the Houlding Ranch. There is a waiting list to attend the event. The $125 entry fee includes a commemorative ball cap, meals, beverages, targets and ammu-nition. Competition winners receive custom-made silver belt buckles.

The sponsors of the event supply food and cooking for breakfast, a prime rib luncheon, targets, wine, beer and desserts. Each of the ancillary items needed such as targets, portable toilets and paper goods are provided by the sponsors.

“The Houlding family provides us a beautiful venue with shade trees every year,” said Loquaci. “Without the venue we wouldn’t be able to hold the clay shoot.”

When Robert Houlding Sr. died in 2003, the event was named in his memory.

Different sponsorship levels are

available. An entry level silver sponsor-ship is $200, the gold is $500 and the platinum level sponsors donate $2,500 or more.

One of their annual standing grants is earmarked for the 4-H clubs.

“Community service projects are part of the 4-H Club’s purpose,” said Loquaci. “Any 4-H club that makes a presentation at our meeting about their project we give them a check for $500. They can apply every year.”

In spite of this, there are only a few of the clubs that take advantage of this program, which was limited to 100 shooters.

“You would be surprised how hard it is sometimes to give money away,” said Loquaci.

The group sent a national beef judg-ing team to an international competi-tion in Ireland.

“The ag schools enter the competi-tions, but when the kids win, they don’t have money in their budget to finance travel expenses to send them to

Supporting youth in agriculture for more than 30 years

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See Supporting; Page 9


By Ching Lee, AgAlertAugust 3, 2016

With California wildfires becoming more frequent and intense, ranchers and other natural resources experts say public policy on livestock grazing as a potential tool to manage fuel and veg-etation needs to be reevaluated to allow more flexibility.

Despite mounting research that shows well-managed grazing could help reduce wildfire risk and severity, livestock stocking rates on public lands have dropped substantially through the years—and continue their downward trend today.

“At this point, I think it’s fair to question whether or not we need to continue to decline those numbers or if we’ve declined them too far,” said Ken Tate, University of California professor and Cooperative Extension rangeland watershed specialist. “In our opinion, the current science doesn’t support it—certainly not a continued decline.”

Justin Oldfield, vice president of gov-

ernment relations for the California Cattle-men’s Association, said forests used to be man-aged more efficiently and effectively 50 years ago, but regulatory constraints or threats of litigation have changed how management deci-sions are made—and in many cases, have halted them altogether.

“Inaction has caused inaction, which has led to increased fuel loads on the forest,” he said. “This ultimately leads to more wildfires and definitely more devastating and hotter-burning wildfires.”

At one time, public rangelands and forest-lands across the West had been grazed more heavily in order to make use of all of the forage on the landscape, Tate said, acknowledging

that was not without environmental impact.

“I won’t try to tell you that grazing has been perfect for the last hundred years,” said Laura Snell, UCCE live-stock and natural resources advisor in Modoc County. “But a huge change took place in that time period.”

Prior to the 1980s, production of food, fiber, fuel and water was the pri-mary focus on public lands, Tate said, and that affected streams, wetlands and other riparian areas. But by the 1990s, with concerns about riparian habitat and endangered species, grazing poli-cies began to change and conservation became more of a focus, in order to al-low public lands to be used for a variety of purposes. These changes resulted in

significant reductions of livestock on public lands.

Since 1980, the number of animal unit months—which refers to the amount of forage a thousand-pound cow and her calf will eat in one month—on U.S. Forest Service lands dropped by 50 percent, UC researchers found. From 2000 to 2013, total AUMs declined 27 percent on national forestlands and 23 percent on U.S Bureau of Land Management lands in California. Of the more than 700 grazing allotments on Forest Service land in the state, only about 500 are actively grazed,

Tate pointed out.At the same time, the number of

grazing herds of deer, antelope and other wild animals also has diminished in forestlands, allowing overgrowth of vegetation and increasing fire risk, Snell said.

She noted that research and conser-vation efforts have “really revitalized” grazing practices, pointing out that overgrazing is now viewed as unhealthy for both animals and the landscape. Not only have stocking rates declined on forestlands, but ranchers now prac-tice rotational grazing, so that they’re not leaving large numbers of cattle in one area for the entire grazing season.

Managed grazing helps forests, experts say

928212811

See Grazing; Page 5

Cattle graze in the Devil’s Garden Ranger District of Modoc National Forest, which currently has 89 grazing allotments administered through 74 permits, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Livestock help to manage vegetation to reduce fire risk, and provide nutrients to the land.

Photo/William Suckow


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GRAZINGContinued from Page 4

MADERA FFAContinued from Page 1

Grazing animals also provide nutrients back to the soil with the waste they deposit, she added.

“Protecting the resource space is beneficial for agriculture,” said Leslie Roche, UCCE specialist in rangeland management. “We know that in these landscapes, livestock prefer the more diverse meadows, and we know that meadows with a diverse forage base have greater quality. So that’s a win for both agriculture and for diversity.”

As a rancher and a UCCE livestock advisor in Siskiyou County, Carissa Koopmann Rivers said grazing not only helps to reduce fuel loads but also allows more diverse plants to establish by cleaning up dominant species that tend to shade and choke out new seed banks, preventing them from ger-minating. Having a mosaic layout of forages is nutritionally beneficial for wildlife and livestock, she noted.

By employing management practices such as cross-fencing and developing water facilities for livestock, Koop-mann Rivers said ranchers can control their livestock and distribute them more efficiently across the land so that they’re not overgrazing in one area.

“The ranching community has come a long way,” she said. “There’s been a

lot of intensive grazing in the past and we’ve learned from that. Folks that have ecological concerns about live-stock grazing on California landscapes have to look at it like this: It’s not the animals; it’s the management of the animals. Once managed correctly, they’re a very great tool.”

Roche is currently leading a study examining the effects of post-wildfire grazing, which BLM has restricted to no sooner than two years after a fire, even though limited research exists on what’s an appropriate length of time livestock should stay off recently burned areas, she noted. The concern with the two-year rule, she said, is that invasive weeds such as cheatgrass could move in and overtake the land-scape, creating a fire hazard.

“If you’ve taken one of the tools—grazing—off the table, then you’ve hampered your ability to control that invasion,” she said.

In this contemporary era of grazing management, Tate said he is “fairly confident” that livestock numbers could come back up on public lands for vegetation management while still safeguarding riparian areas and other habitat. But he emphasized good man-agement also takes time and labor, and in the end, those management goals—whether for vegetation or conserva-tion—must work for the rancher.

“It’s got to be profitable. You can’t do it for free and you certainly can’t do it for a loss,” he said.

Land management agencies, howev-er, continue to be hamstrung by fierce opposition to grazing by some groups, he noted, and that limits their ability to adapt and to use grazing as a tool. This inflexibility in policy continues to drive down AUMs. But ranchers and others agree that with the state facing a drier future, more needs to be done to ensure better prevention of forest fires.

With enough flexibility in policy, Tate said livestock could be used on public lands that have high fuels dur-ing a drought or during a period of high wildfire risk, while at the same time alleviating pressure on private rangelands and on some of the need to feed hay.

“If we learned anything from the Valley Fire or the Napa Fire or the Butte Fire—where the fires are now not out in the wilderness and abstract and just annoyingly smoky but burn-ing up towns—it’s that we seriously have got to look at using all the avail-able tools to manage our vegetation in a drying, fire-prone system,” he said.

(Ching Lee is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at [email protected].)

in an existing enterprise. Recipients must also complete 50 hours commu-nity service and demonstrate leader-ship abilities and civic involvement.

Each recipient of the American FFA Degree receives a gold American FFA Degree key, certificate and mat-ted frame after being recognized on stage Oct. 22 at the national conven-tion.

The award is sponsored by ADM Crop Risk Services, Case IH, Elanco, Farm Credit and Syngenta as a proj-ect of the National FFA Foundation and the National FFA Organization.

Founded in 1928, the National FFA Organization provides agricultural education to 629,367 student mem-bers who belong to one of 7,757 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. For information, visit www.ffa.org.

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By Greg Northcutt, Contributing WriterAugust 3, 2016

Following a strong start around mid-July, about 7-10 days earlier than usual, nut fill in the pistachio orchards in Kern and Kings counties was expected to be completed by the end of July, reports veteran pistachio grower and consultant Carl Fanucchi of Fanuc-chi Diversified Management, Inc. in Bakersfield, Calif.

“The crop appears quite good in most areas,” he says. “Although the nuts aren’t big, most fields have many large clusters. I think we’ll put a lot of nuts in processors’ hands this year.”

Many industry observers expect pis-tachio growers to harvest a minimum 650 million pound (in-shell) crop this year, notes Fanucchi. He says produc-tion could actually reach 700 million pounds or more statewide.

This compares to last year when drought and the lack of adequate win-ter chilling hours limited total Cali-fornia pistachio production to a disap-pointing 271 million pounds, about 40 percent below earlier projections.

“This year the supply of federal and state surface water is consider-ably better than the last two years, but it’s no-where near the full al-location,” Fanuc-chi says. “Growers are still pumping heavily from deep wells.”

As growers have drawn down groundwater supplies to irrigate crops, the quality of pumped water has de-clined. This, along with the shortage of water to flush salts out of the soil, has led to increased salinity levels in the root zone in many orchards, he says.

However, almond orchards are suf-fering more from this than pistachio

trees which can better handle higher saline con-ditions.

“I haven’t seen any impact of higher soil salinity in mature pista-chios,” Fanuc-chi says. “Still, the

drought is providing a good test of just how salt-tolerant pistachio trees are. In some places, growers are irrigating with just salty water.”

This season, growers in the southern San Joaquin Valley haven’t seen the unusually high number of blank nuts found last year. Fanucchi attributes last year’s blank problem to insufficient winter chilling hours in pistachio or-chards south of Madera County.

This year, the proportion of blank nuts he’s seen was in the typical 10 percent to 20 percent range.

Fanucchi says relatively few early

splits and the lack of insect pressure bode well for the quality of the 2016 crop. So does the widespread use of AF36, a wheat-based biological control agent that helps protect pistachio nuts from contamination with cancer-caus-ing aflatoxins.

Growers with the Golden Hills variety which continues to expand in acreage and the Kerman variety are more likely to double shake at harvest time, especially if the crop is a largebig one, Fanucchi believes.

The idea is to harvest early-maturing nuts first at peak quality rather than face the increased threat of damage from rain and Navel orangeworm by waiting until the remaining nuts are ready.

“This way you can get a large por-tion of the crop with a light first shake, reducing the amount of nuts at risk of damage,” Fanucchi says.

“Considering the bonus paid for high quality nuts and the relatively low cost to tree shake, a two-shake harvest is likely to make sense if you expect pro-duction around 2,500 pounds per acre or more.”

Growers in his area who opt for the two-shake approach could begin har-vesting Golden Hills from Aug. 10-15, and could begin shaking Kerman trees Aug. 20-25, Fanucchi says.

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Large southern SJV pistachio crop coming on strong

“The crop appears quite good in most areas. Although the nuts aren’t big, most fields have many large clusters. I think we’ll put a lot of nuts in processors’ hands this year.”


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Prospects of a light crop strengthen prices for California’s 2016 wine grapes

By John Holland, Modesto BeeAugust 24, 2016

Dust rises as machines harvest almonds up and down the Central Valley. Except on 10 acres southwest of Modesto, where a new method is get-ting a look.

Billy Lyons created a test plot that is not harvested the conventional way, with one machine shaking the nuts to the ground and another picking them up. The work is done by a modified olive harvester that strips the almonds from the branches and tosses them into a gondola without hitting the dirt.

“Very little dust — that’s the driver on this,” said Bob Curtis, director of agricultural affairs at the Almond

Board of California. He was among the observers at a demonstration of the method Wednesday.

Lyons is part of the family that owns Mapes Ranch, a large expanse of cattle and diverse crops along Highway 132. His father is Bill Lyons Jr., former food and agriculture secretary for the state.

Billy Lyons planted the test plot with dwarf trees at high density so it would be suited to the olive harvester, which reaches into the canopy and knocks the crop off as it moves along.

Almonds are among the biggest crops in California, with $6.77 bil-lion in gross income to growers in 2014. About a third of the volume is in Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin counties.

VERY LITTLE DUST — THAT’S THE DRIVER ON THIS.

Bob Curtis, Almond Board

Excessive dust from the August-October harvest can irritate sensitive people and even cause vehicle acci-dents. The problem is much reduced from decades past, thanks in part to Modesto-area equipment makers that have refined the shake-and-pickup method.

Lyons’ trees were planted three years ago at about 900 per acre, compared with about 120 in a conventional orchard. He said the smaller canopy allows for pruning by machine rather than hand tools, and the reduced root zone means less water and fertilizer.

“The whole idea is to try to cut costs,”

Lyons said. He expects yields to be similar to those of almond orchards in general.

Growers also have to rent bee colo-nies for pollination each winter, but the test plot has an advantage here, too. The trees are self-fertile, meaning some of the pollen is transferred from the anther to the stigma within the same flower. Bees are still needed to move pollen from bloom to bloom, but at a lower number.

Zaiger Family Genetics of Modesto created the self-fertile variety, Inde-pendence. It was grown for the test plot by Dave Wilson Nursery of Hick-man, using rootstock from Agromillora California Nursery in Butte County.

Grower takes new approach to almond harvest

By Greg Northcutt, Contributing WriterAugust 10, 2016

Judging by early results from the un-usually early start to this year’s harvest, California’s 2016 wine grape produc-tion could total no higher than aver-age, if that much, reports Jeff Bitter, vice president of operations for Allied Grape Growers cooperative.

The prospect of a light crop has left some buyers scrambling to line up fruit, pushing up prices on the spot market from last year and holding out the promise of restoring balance to the

state’s wine industry, which currently is sitting on excess supplies of some varietals.

Harvesting of the earliest-maturing varieties in the far-south end of the Central Valley began the first week of July. Farther north in the Valley’s main wine-grape producing area from Fres-no and Madera Counties to the Lodi area, growers began picking lower-sug-ar varieties for sparkling wines as well as Pinot Grigio and Muscat Canelli for still wines in the last week of July, Bitter notes.

“So far, yields have been coming in under earlier estimates,” he says. “Nothing is coming in heavy.”

Bitter speculates the past three and four years of drought is taking its toll on production as vines direct some of their energy from producing berries to simply surviving the stress of limited water supplies. That, for example, might have reduced differentiation of last year’s fruit buds which gave rise to this year’s crop.

Spells of hot weather in June and July didn’t help either, stunting berry growth as vines responded to the heat. What’s more, growers are seeing some

fairly loose clusters, indicating a less-than-strong fruit set following bloom.

Meanwhile, sugar readings, includ-ing those of red varieties, are rising quickly – another indication of a smaller crop, he notes. “Brix levels are going through the roof. Early wines, like Pinot Grigio and Muscat Canelli, have been reaching or even exceeding target Brix levels earlier than usual.”

GRAPES UPDATESTrusted farming industry news for

grape growers in the western United States: commodity information, grow-ing analysis, news, and grape produc-tion trends.

This will require wineries to adjust their processing to deal with higher al-cohol content and changes in the acids and pH ratios resulting from over-ripe grapes, he notes.

Bitter predicts a quick end to this year’s harvest. “It’s coming on fast and furious,” he says. “I don’t see it drag-ging out.”

Expectations of a light crop this year have stabilized spot market prices of some wine grape varieties and lifted prices of others, depending on the region. “Even the market for Chardon-

nay, which was weak a year ago due to surplus grapes, has strengthened considerably this year,” he says.

North Coast spot market prices have increased significantly, Bitter reports. “Not a lot of North Coast grapes are available this year,” he says. “There are multiple bidders, especially for Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir. Supplies of certain white varieties, like Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc, are also short. If you want to buy in this area, you’ll have to get in line.”

In the Central Coast, he expects availability of Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon, which was extremely short last year, to remain limited this year. Also, the Pinot Noir crop here appears to be light, Bitter notes.

Overall, a light 2016 California wine grape crop could pay off for both grow-ers and wineries, Bitter notes.

“It would help correct the over-supply of wine at the lower end of the market and should encourage buyers in the upper end to look at alternative ar-eas where supplies are currently high,” he says. “That would help balance the industry and achieve our quest for stability in the market.”

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ED’s ADDREssContinued from Page 2

suPPORTINGContinued from Page 3

hear from Sacramento Bee’s Dan Wal-ters. Mr. Walters will discuss the ever evolving agriculture industry, and have a Q&A session. MCFB’s 2016-2017 Officers and this year’s scholarship recipients will be recognized, and a prime rib dinner will be served. Tick-ets are $60 in advance and $75 at the door, so get them soon. Sponsorships are still available, so please call the office if you are interested is supporting our event.

One last note, for those with trees on their property near the roadway, please make sure that those trees are not blocking any signage or visibility of on-coming traffic. Residents have contact-ed their respective governing bodies and complained about visibility issues, and although most farmers do not have a problem trimming their trees back when asked, sometimes in the rush of everything, those types of small things are forgotten, and can create a hazard-ous situation. So please be mindful of your trees and the roadways.

With that I want to wish everyone a great harvest! Happy September!

INTErESTEd IN AdVErTISINg? CONTACT:

DEBRA LEAk MID-VALLEy PuBLIshING

(559) 638-2244the next level,” Loquaci said.

The ag boosters funded a new livestock pavilion at the Chowchilla fairgrounds, have helped capital projects for the Minarets and Lib-erty high school ag farms and put a great deal of money into the Madera South High’s School of Agriculture.

They finance trips to leadership conferences and competitions for teams attending schools throughout the county.

“Ag boosters are different from most clubs. Most groups have large memberships but it is usually only a small percentage of the members doing all the work,” Loquaci said.

The board meets for lunch the third Tuesday of the month. The conference room at Kuckenbecker Tractor is their official clubhouse. During the meetings the board reviews requests for funding from youth ag groups.

For information or to seek support for a project, call Stan Samuelson, 674-2496.


By April Charlton, Lee Central Coast NewsAugust 14, 2016

Every year, migrant farm laborers make the trek from their homes in Mexico to the United States border crossing, where they’re interviewed by customs officials and loaded onto buses that transport them to farms across California.

The 30-something men, who make up the majority of the workers, aren’t looking to cross the border for a chance to live the American dream.

Instead, they come to the country to complete some of the most back-breaking labor in the state — hand-harvesting the fields.

Once in California, the men will spend anywhere from two to 10 months picking crops as part of the federal H-2A visa labor program.

The program was established in the 1980s to supplement a shortage of do-mestic agricultural workers and allow foreign nationals to temporarily enter the country for seasonal farm work. The workers leave when their visas expire.

Given the transient nature of the work and requirements of the federal labor program, the thousands of mi-grant farmworkers entering California every year are dependent on the grow-ers who employ them to provide them with housing while they’re working the fields.

However, in a state where rentals are in short supply and affordable hous-ing is virtually nonexistent, especially in coastal and rural areas, providing a place for the workers to reside that meets H-2A program regulations and mandates is difficult to do, if not impossible.

But it can be done.Not your typical farmworker hous-

ingSanta Maria-based Bonipak is

among a host of agricultural employ-ers that not only have struggled with attracting local laborers to fill their workforce in the fields but have taken an expensive, out-of-the-box approach to house the migrant laborers they have turned to for help.

Earlier this year, Bonipak won the unanimous approval of the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission to construct a 600-person farmworker housing complex commonly known as the Curletti project on the outskirts of Santa Maria’s city limits.

The project is expected to help allevi-ate the area’s lack of housing for H-2A workers, and although it will be the first migrant farmworker housing of its kind constructed locally in decades, similar projects are cropping up across the country as well as up and down the state.

As of late June, there were 1,141 certified H-2A workers in Santa Barbara County and 417 in San Luis Obispo County, according to state Em-

ployment Development Department numbers.

It’s also expected at some point this year, there will be at least 12,000 H-2A laborers employed in California, with numbers projected to continue growing in the future. All those work-ers will need somewhere to live.

“We are trying to forecast for our needs going forward,” said Bonipak managing partner Mitch Ardantz, about why the company opted to build migrant farmworker housing.

He added that Bonipak currently houses the several hundred H-2A farmworkers it employs every season in a converted motel-turned-apartment building it owns on Broadway in Santa Maria.

Nipomo-based farm labor contrac-tor Carlos Castaneda said he’s seen growers in Northern California use fairgrounds, where tents were pitched to house H-2A laborers. Growers in Washington have resorted to using military-style barracks for housing, and trailer parks have been utilized in Oregon, he said.

Planners in San Luis Obispo County are looking at possibly converting the former California Youth Authority’s El Paso de Robles Youth Correc-tional Facility that sits vacant in rural Paso Robles into migrant farmworker housing to expand supply. Staff also is working on guidelines for development of farmworker housing in the county, which are expected to be presented to the Planning Commission in April 2017.

“It’s hard to make affordable housing in this county,” said San Luis Obispo County 4th District Supervisor Lynn Compton. “It’s even harder to do it for agriculture.”

Spreckels, CaliforniaJust outside Salinas in nearby Mon-

terey County, which along with Santa Barbara County has seen the biggest surge in employment of H-2A labor-ers in recent years, produce grower and shipper Tanimura & Antle recently opened the doors to its brand-new Spreckels Crossing apartment project.

The 100-unit project, which can house 800 seasonal workers, was origi-nally conceived for H-2A housing. But in the course of developing the residen-tial complex that’s been built within the traditional housing borders of the tiny community of Spreckels, plans changed.

“What Spreckels Crossing does is provide employees with housing,” said Wesley Van Camp, Tanimura & Antle general counsel. “It allows people to travel for work and live just for the season in an affordable area.”

Spreckels Crossing draws Tanimura & Antle-employed larborers, and oth-ers, for harvests from areas like Ari-zona, El Centro and Coalinga, where the workers can live affordably for the majority of the year. Thus far, it has proven successful, Van Camp said.

“We have never had the need for H-2A in Salinas,” Van Camp said, not-ing that obtaining approvals for hous-ing projects such as Spreckels Crossing is rarely easy because of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), its numerous rules and regulations, and finding property for large-scale devel-opments.

“It’s really locating a parcel,” she added. “We are talking about coastal California, where land is very limited to construct. Development in general is just difficult (in California). It’s basi-cally a no-growth environment.”

Monterey County Senior Plan-ner Bob Schubert said the Spreckels Crossing project was built in a great location near municipal services, where farmworker housing should be devel-oped, and that the county worked hard to help make the apartment complex become a reality, in part, because of the county’s shortage of farmworker housing.

But Schubert also said the plans caused a lot of controversy in the Spreckels community, as do most proj-ects of a similar nature. He believes it’s politics that stop the development of farmworker housing in California, not necessarily CEQA.

“The biggest impediment is the NIMBYs out there,” Schubert said. “The neighbors come out of the (wood-work), because they have visions of what they think these people are like and they don’t want them in their com-munities. It’s politics.”

Van Camp believes if Californians don’t wake up to the reality there’s a serious housing crisis for laborers, the state’s economy will take a direct hit and individuals who work in service-industry type jobs, as well those who work in the fields, will be squeezed out, which in turn will affect everyone in the state.

Challenges, changes, future of H-2A program

See Challenges; Page 13


PG&E offers debris removal at epicenter of

tree mortality crisis

See PG&E; Page 16

By Gina Clungston, Sierra NewsJuly 31, 2016

SAN FRANCISCO — As woody debris piles up from dead trees killed by drought and bark beetle infestation, Pacific Gas and Electric Com-pany (PG&E) has launched an expanded debris manage-ment program to support its customers in 10 counties severely impacted by Califor-nia’s growing tree mortality emergency.

PG&E is offering the expanded debris removal program to customers in Kern, Tulare, Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Cala-veras, Amador, El Dorado and Placer counties, where unprecedented tree mortality has occurred and a local State of Emergency has been de-clared. Customers can request PG&E’s assistance in hauling away larger woody debris from their property at no cost to the customer.

The U.S. Forest Service has identified an additional 26 million trees dead in Califor-nia since October 2015 due to drought and bark beetle, bringing the total to 66 mil-lion since 2010. The tiny beetles, the size of a piece of cooked rice, tunnel under the bark of drought-stressed trees such as the Ponderosa Pine and cut off their food and water supplies. PG&E is forecasting to remove ap-proximately 160,000 dead or dying trees in its service area this year as part of its drought emergency response program.

“Nothing is more important to PG&E than public safety,” said Eric Back, director of electric asset management, compliance and risk manage-ment for PG&E. “That’s why

we are removing dead and dying trees near our power lines to reduce wildfire risk. The high volume of limbs and trunks on the ground are a fire hazard and impact a home-owner’s ability to use their property. This new program will help our customers stay safe and enjoy their natural surroundings.”

The expanded debris man-agement program is avail-able to customers with dead or dying trees impacted by drought and/or bark beetle that could contact PG&E electric facilities in the ten counties listed above. The util-ity only will dispose of debris that it takes down. The debris must be reasonably accessible by equipment/machinery; and debris must be within 100 feet of permanent structures or within 20 feet of serviceable roadways.

Customers who are inter-ested in utilizing the expanded debris management program should contact PG&E at the time of inspection before it removes the tree(s), if possible, or at 1-800-743-5000.

PG&E is actively partici-pating in the Governor’s Task Force on Tree Mortality and responding to the drought emergency and extreme fire risk in a number of ways.

· The company has doubled the number of vegetation patrols in high-fire risk areas around its high-voltage power lines;

· It launched daily aerial patrols in five regions to help spot and speed fire agency response to wildfires;

· It continues to look for new ways to utilize advanced technology to better detect dy-ing and diseased trees earlier in the cycle.


8798

Excess nitrogen can impact the environment,

human health, and climate

By UC Division of Agriculture and Natural ResourcesAugust 10, 2016

SACRAMENTO — Plants need nitrogen to grow, but excess nitrogen – from livestock facilities, septic systems, car exhaust and other sources – that escapes into groundwater and the air can impact the environment, human health and the climate.

A new report from the Agricultural Sustainability Institute at UC Davis offers a big picture look at the scale and impacts of nitrogen in California. According to the California Nitrogen Assessment, excess nitrogen in the state comes primarily from agriculture and fossil fuel combustion.

The report, published by UC Press, offers a scientific foundation to develop practices and policies that allow nitro-gen’s benefits while reducing the risk.

For years, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources scientists have been working with farmers throughout the state to refine fertilizer management, irrigation efficiency and other farming practices to manage nitrogen, and the work continues.

The following are some examples of UC ANR research and extension projects underway.

App helps farmers better manage nitrogen fertilizer and water

Growers can use CropManage, de-veloped by Michael Cahn, UC Coop-erative Extension advisor in Monterey County, and UC ANR Communica-tion Services and IT staff, to track and manage water and nitrogen fertilizer applications for their crop fields. The online application can be used on mobile devices or computers to help farmers use two tools to conserve water and make better use of nitrogen fertil-izer while maintaining crop productiv-ity and quality. Growers use the soil nitrate quick test in the field to mea-sure the nitrogen level of their soil and the app to determine the optimal level of nitrogen fertilizer to apply based on UC ANR research on crop nitrogen use. CropManage also recommends water needs of a crop from weather station data and crop development models.

Matching nitrogen applied to crop need improves efficiency

Richard Smith, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in Monterey Coun-ty, is leading several research projects evaluating the nitrogen requirements of vegetables including including cole crops, spinach, baby lettuce, a salad

mix and cilantro. Smith is evaluating crop rotations with broccoli to scavenge nitrogen from the soil profile. He is also evaluating slow-release fertilizers to minimize nitrate leaching losses in shallow-rooted crops such as baby let-tuce and spinach in the Salinas Valley.

Wood chips remove nitrogen in tile drain water

Using wood chips and supplemen-tal carbon sources, Tim Hartz, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sci-ences, worked with Cahn and Smith to refine a process to remove nitrate from tile drain water, which typically is very high in nitrate. The carbon in the wood chips supports the activity of anaerobic bacteria that chemically reduce the nitrate to N2, a benign gas.

Irrigation water fertilizes vegetables Water quality regulations in many

regions of California now require farmers to report the amount of nitrogen fertilizer that they apply to their fields and the nitrate concentra-tion of their irrigation water. Smith, Hartz and Cahn have just finished three seasons of field trials that dem-onstrated that the nitrate in ground-water supplied a substantial portion of the fertilizer requirements for lettuce and broccoli. By accounting for the nitrate in irrigation water and using the soil nitrate quick test to monitor soil nitrogen levels, growers may be able to significantly reduce the amount of fertilizer nitrogen they apply to veg-etable crops.

Micro-irrigation offers almond growers a tool to control leaching

The majority of almond growers ap-ply fertilizer through micro-irrigation systems and an increasing number of growers are irrigating with water that is saline. Patrick Brown, professor in the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, is studying how to use micro-irrigation to reduce nitrate leaching and manage soil salinity by varying the frequency of irrigation and the length of time water is applied during irriga-tion.

Managing irrigation to reduce nitrate leaching

To identify the best irrigation man-agement practices to control soil salin-ity and to minimize nitrate leaching to

groundwater, Laosheng Wu, profes-sor and UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the UC Riverside Depart-ment of Environmental Sciences, is using computer simulation to consider soil, water, crop nitrogen demand and fertilization with irrigation methods. In collaboration with UC Cooperative Extension advisors, Wu is conducting field experiments on alfalfa in Imperial County, almonds in the Central Valley and avocados at South Coast Research & Extension Center in Orange County to validate the simulations.

Online tool being developed to estimate soil nitrogen mineralization rates

To develop a tool for growers and crop advisers to estimate soil nitrogen, Daniel Geisseler, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources at UC Davis, is gathering data through-out California to estimate field-specific nitrogen mineralization rates. This project, funded by UC ANR’s Cali-fornia Institute for Water Resources, will use nitrogen mineralization data to develop an online tool to help growers adjust their applications of fertilizer. The tool has the potential to increase nitrogen use efficiency in crop produc-tion, resulting in lower risks of nitrate leaching to groundwater.

Nitrogen management training for Certified Crop Advisers

Between 2014 and 2016, approxi-mately 900 Certified Crop Advisers participated in a nitrogen management training program coordinated by UC ANR’s California Institute for Water Resources with support from CDFA’s Fertilizer Research and Education Pro-gram. The technical and applied train-ing improves CCAs’ understanding of sound nitrogen management practices to make informed recommendations to growers.The California Nitrogen Assessment book

The book, “The California Nitrogen Assessment: Challenges and Solu-tions for People, Agriculture, and the Environment,” is available for purchase at ucpress.edu. The 20-page executive summary can be downloaded for free at asi.ucdavis.edu.

Improvement in Nitrogen Assessment


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“We have to provide housing for California’s workforce or we won’t have California’s economy,” she said. “People are going to continue to come to the area and make it more difficult (for the people already there). We are going to continue to create that pressure. There’s no simple solution ... but we have to build the housing by all means neces-sary.”

Taking a wait-and-see approachDespite a lack of housing and a

growing need for migrant farmworkers in Santa Barbara County, applications for projects comparable to the Curletti project aren’t piling up on the desks of planners at the Planning and Develop-ment Department.

The county has not received any additional applications for farmworker housing projects since it received and processed the Curletti application last year, and planners also aren’t aware of any pending applications on a scale as large as the Bonipak-backed develop-

ment“We do receive applicants that want

to add small guest farmworker hous-ing,” county Senior Planner John Zo-rovich said. “We get the ones and twos sprinkled throughout the year.”

Additionally, the interest in develop-ing farmworker housing has all been concentrated in North County, accord-ing to planning staff, which expects to see more applications for similar projects if the Curletti development gets built.

“I think everybody is kind of look-ing at what happens with (the Curletti Ranch) before anyone else goes in and tries to do anything like that,” Santa Barbara County 4th District Supervi-sor Peter Adam said. “It’s my sense they probably want to see how that plays out and what effect it potentially has.”

Zorovich said the county has never had a project of the magnitude of the Curletti Ranch to his knowledge.

The senior planner also said there are no regulations on the planning books for farmworker housing projects and

that the county doesn’t have policies dictating whether it should encourage the development of farmworker hous-ing.

“We have provisions in our general ordinance ... that say if you have a farmworker working full-time on the property you shall have working water and septic,” Zorovich explained. “But we don’t have specific policies saying we should (promote) farmworker hous-ing or we shouldn’t.”

Where H-2A goes from hereWith the labor shortage expected

to continue growing, the need for the H-2A program will remain if people want to continue enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables grown in California at affordable prices.

“California never really relied much, if at all, on the H-2A program, but now that there is a labor shortage the only viable and legal program is the H-2A program,” said Rob Roy, presi-dent and general counsel of the Ven-tura County Agricultural Association.

In fact, some such as Roy predict the program will make a shift to the West

Coast from the other side of the coun-try, where it’s been utilized for years, mainly by tobacco farmers in Tennes-see and apple growers in New York and New England.

“There is going to be a major para-digm shift in the H-2A focus from the East Coast to the West Coast,” Roy said “You are going to be seeing more growers utilizing the H-2A program here, and in Oregon and in Washing-ton.”

And constructing projects like Spreckels Crossing and the yet-to-be-built Curletti development will only help to provide some of the housing needed for the laborers who get the state’s crops out of the fields, while also keeping agriculture a top commodity in the state.

“If you are going to survive in busi-ness, you have to adapt,” Ardantz said. “I believe there needs to be some kind of program. We need something in this vein to get the crops harvested.”

ChALLENGEsContinued from Page 10


The Fresno BeeAugust 23, 2016

A bill that would create a groundwa-ter management agency for the Kings River basin in Fresno and Tulare coun-ties has been approved by the Legisla-ture and awaits signing by Gov. Jerry Brown.

The bill was introduced by state Sen. Andy Vidak, R-Hanford. Co-sponsors were state Sen. Jean Fuller, R-Ba-

kersfield, and Assemblymen Devon Mathis, R-Visalia, and Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield.

“The ongoing drought has created unprecedented drops in our Valley’s water table and this is a proactive step in ensuring that future generations will have reliable groundwater,” Mathis said.

Under Senate Bill 37, the Kings River East Groundwater Sustainability

Agency would be created and would be overseen by a seven-member board. The agency’s charge would be to de-velop a plan that ensures the ground-water basin that gets replenished by the Kings River would not be overdrafted.

The agency’s boundaries will consist of the area now covered by the Alta Irrigation District, the city of Reedley and a portion of the Kings River Water District. The city of Sanger is left out

of the agency’s boundaries.Six board members would be chosen

from the Alta district; the counties of Fresno and Tulare; and various cities and special districts within the agency’s boundaries. A seventh member would be chosen by the board to represent agriculture.

If Brown signs the bill, the agency would become the 16th such entity in California commissioned to manage a specific groundwater basin.

Preventing Common Farm-Vehicle Accidents

Safely navigating large agricultural equipment over rural roads to and from the fields is a chal-lenge for even the best drivers. Nationwide reminds you to consider the following rules on the safe operation of your equipment to help reduce the number of farm-vehicle accidents on America’s rural roadways.

The basicsMost states allow leeway regarding

the use of implements of husbandry on public roadways. For the most part, regulations for size and type of equip-ment don’t apply when you operate agricultural equipment on roadways. But you need to be aware of bridge and road embargos to help prevent serious injury and damage to roadways and equipment.

The increase in size of agricultural equipment makes it almost certain that portions will extend left of center when operated on public roads. Courts have generally upheld the right of equip-ment operators to use public roads, but that doesn’t give immunity from liability should you have an accident when the size of your equipment is in direct violation.

Accidents are more prevalent at certain times of the day. Operating in the morning presents an increased risk as people head off to work and school. Drivers are usually in a hurry and often lack the patience to follow a slow-

moving vehicle. The same is true during afternoons and early evenings as schools let out and people are returning home from work.

Don’t forget about the trailer. When pulling trailers, operators often rely on the lights from the power unit as their

warning system. This can increase the risk of collision because these lights can become obstructed by the roadway curving or the large loads being pulled, such as large hay bales.

Recommendations for avoiding farm-vehicle accidents

Before pulling onto the road, you must understand the hazards of driving and the importance of sharing the road with others. Never allow an inexperi-enced or untrained driver to get behind the wheel. Regulations require drivers to be trained on how to operate the specific equipment they are assigned to use and to how to navigate the equipment in the environment they’re operating in.

Because the potential for accidents is high, we offer common-sense tips to road safety and other preventive measures to common farm-vehicle accidents to help keep America’s rural roadways safe.

Let’s look at the following scenarios to learn more:

Left-turn collisionsThe left-turn collision is one of the

most common accidents involving ar-ticulating farm vehicles, such as a trac-

tor pulling a tool bar and nurse tank. When attempting to make a left turn, equipment operators commonly pull to the right in order to make a wide left turn. Motorists behind the equipment may view the movement of the equip-ment to the right as permission to pass.

Accidents may be prevented if equip-ment operators use equipped turn signals or hand or arm signals when operating older equipment. Before committing to the turn, operators should pay close attention to oncom-ing traffic and check all mirrors or look over their shoulder to ensure motorists are not trying to pass.

Rural bridgesLarge farm equipment and old

bridges don’t mix. Before crossing a rural bridge, make sure your vehicle weight will not damage the bridge or cause it to collapse.

Because rural bridges are often very narrow, allow oncoming traffic to clear the bridge before starting across. This reduces the total weight on the bridge and gives you more space to maneuver.

Tractors, combines and sprayers have high wheels with tires that have large lugs to facilitate traction. If you pull right to cross the bridge with oncom-ing traffic, your tires can easily come into contact with the guardrail and subsequently cause your equipment to climb the rail or even tip off the bridge.

Passing carsWhen driving a slow-moving

vehicle, there will always be other motorists wanting to pass. You should never wave a driver to pass. Ultimately, it’s the passing driver’s responsibility to pass – not yours.

You shouldn’t drive with half of your vehicle on the shoulder either. As the passing vehicle straddles the center

line, your equipment may sideswipe it if you have to swerve to avoid an oncoming mail box, road sign or other obstruction.

Always drive with the left side of your vehicle to the centerline, even though the width of your equipment extends onto the shoulder. If a vehicle needs to pass, the driver will have to make that decision based on the law and safe opportunity to do so.

Rear-end collisionsOn contouring roads, it’s easy for a

car traveling at higher rates of speed to be surprised by a larger, slower-moving vehicle, especially around a sharp bend or after the crest of a hill. It’s difficult for drivers of faster, smaller vehicles to judge the speed and gap distance of a larger piece of equipment.

You can help avoid rear-end colli-sions by monitoring your mirrors for fast-approaching vehicles and making sure your vehicle’s warning devices, such as SMV signs, are clearly visible. When moving large ag equipment on heavily traveled paved roads, you should utilize an escort vehicle.

Single-vehicle accidentsSingle-vehicle accidents typically

occur when an operator drives on the road’s shoulder, which may be soft, wet or steep, causing the vehicle to tip over. Accidents also occur when operators strike stationary objects such as mail-boxes, guardrails, signs or telephone poles.

Driving on the shoulder is often hard to avoid. But you can reduce the chance of an accident by knowing where shoulder hazards are before you start out.

Kings River groundwater agency nears formation to guard against overdrafts

Rural Road Safety


ALMOND FARMERsContinued from Page 1off the trees.

This time of year, growers and their crews are busy in the Valley’s vast or-chards. Nuts are shaken off the tree by machines, lined up in rows to dry for several days and then scooped up and trucked to a facility for hulling.

With more than 900,000 acres of al-monds in production statewide, harvest will take nearly three months.

Almond farmer Tom Rogers of Madera has just started shaking his trees and is pleased with his yields so far. He jokes that he is always optimis-tic at the start of the season.

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be in farm-ing,” he said.

Farmers, like Rogers, know the challenges that lie ahead, including securing an adequate water supply, producing larger crops and keeping consumption growing.

About 80 percent of the world’s almond supply comes out of the San Joaquin Valley, and almonds have been the fastest-growing crop in the state. Growers have abandoned certain crops like grapes to plant the higher value nut. Others have added almonds to their diversified farming operations.

For several years, growers had an especially good run, especially in export markets like China where de-mand was red hot. But when nut prices climbed too high, as they did early last

year, buyers backed off and the price tumbled from nearly $5 a pound to half that amount.

“We keep dreaming about those high prices,” Rogers says. “But things have settled down.”

After surviving several years of drought, Rogers and many other almond growers are also dealing with a new reality – farming with limited water supplies. He has deployed several water saving tools on his farm, includ-ing moisture sensors that helped him cut his water use by 25 percent.

“Water is like any other resource – when you get a lot, you get careless,” he said. “And when it is short, you start learning about what you need to grow your crop.”

Almond farmer Alison Nagatani said that despite the drop in prices, grow-ers still are in relatively good shape. She farms about 400 acres in Tulare County and has replaced about 23 acres of aging trees with newer trees. She also remains bullish on almonds.

“Things had been really good for al-mond growers,” Nagatani said. “I have faith that we can continue to grow and still maintain demand.”

To keep prices stable and even nudge them a little higher, Richard Waycott, chief executive officer of the Almond Board of California, said his marketing team is planning to target countries, including France, Germany, Japan and Mexico.

“We have never had any activity in

Mexico, and it is a large and growing market,” Waycott said.

The almond board, an industry-funded organization, also is trying to increase consumption in Canada.

“We have lots of things in the hopper because we expect our crop sizes to continue growing,” Waycott said. “And we want to get ahead of that growth.”

Waycott estimates that by the end of the decade, growers will produce up to 2.5 billion pounds.

Farmer P.J. Sandhu, who heads Crown Nut Co. in Tracy, is confident the industry can handle a larger crop. Crown Nut is a grower and proces-sor farming about 11,000 acres in the North Valley.

“The demand is still there, and I don’t see it dropping,” Sandhu said. “We just have to come up with prod-ucts that consumers like.”

To make that happen, Sandhu’s com-pany has begun creating new products for the retail market.

Sandhu’s family-run operation recently introduced a line of seasoned nuts at the Fresno Food Expo. He was among several nut companies debuting new almond products.

Now, along with shipping almonds in bulk to foreign and domestic cus-tomers, they have developed a line of seasoned almonds in honey barbecue, maple bacon and sriracha flavors.

“What is interesting is that our export customers have been the ones asking us for these kinds of different products,” Sandhu said.

Waycott agrees that foreign mar-kets have become more attractive for almond products, including almond milk, almond butter and recently almond flour.

“This is a product that seems to be reinventing itself,” Waycott said. “And the demand continues to increase.”

By Mike Burns, Farmer Bureau Group ManagerSeptember, 2016

If you were asked to choose one piece of equipment that best symbolizes the farm, it would most certainly be the tractor. While it is hands down the most important tool on the farm, it is also one of the most dangerous.

It may surprise you to learn that nearly half of all fatalities on U.S. farms every year involve tractors. Rollovers and runovers top the list. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Organization (OSHA), the farm operator is the person at greatest risk. By age and gender, men over age 60 are at highest risk of work-related farm fatalities.

As is true with other potential haz-ards on the farm, preventative mea-sures and proper training are the best

forms of protection. Make sure that everyone who operates a tractor has re-ceived proper training and is physically fit. It is important that tractor opera-tors first familiarize themselves with the tractor operator’s manual, paying particular attention to the safety infor-mation.

Also, be sure that all tractor driv-ers conduct a safety inspection before using the vehicle. Have them check to see that the ROPS (rollover protective structure) and seat belts are in place, that the PTO master shield has not been removed and that the operator’s platform is clear of debris. Also have them check the lights, brakes, hydrau-lics and tires and be sure the reflec-tive “slow moving vehicle” emblem is posted.

Safe work practices are the key to accident prevention relating to trac-tors. Most of these practices are just plain common sense—but you would

be amazed at how frequently they are ignored. For example, how many times have you seen a tractor driver walk away from his vehicle and leave it running. Many accidents occur when vibrations cause the tractor to shift into gear on its own and surge forward without warning. Never allow anyone to leave the cab of the tractor without first turning off the engine and taking the key.

Manufacturers have made major strides in recent years to improve trac-tor safety. But when it comes to tractor accidents, most can be traced directly back to operator’s error. As farm and ranch operators, it is important to lead by example when it comes to tractor safety. Take the time to be safe and insist that others do the same.

State Fund has a wealth of informa-tion on safety topics available for easy access on our website at www.state-fundca.com. Click on “Employers” and

then “Resources” to find the extensive list of topics.

Today, State Fund is the largest workers’ compensation carrier in Cali-fornia. State Fund has regional offices throughout the state, which provide a full range of services to policyhold-ers and injured workers. We provide coverage to employers of all sizes, from “mom and pop” operations to major organizations.

Since 1943, the California Farm Bureau and State Fund partnership has provided farmers with affordable worker compensation insurance cover-age and accident prevention training for agricultural employers and their employees. In addition to providing farm and ranch employers with work-ers’ compensation insurance protection, we also have taken on the mission of assisting employers in providing safe places to work.

Don’t ignore the importance of tractor safety

Jason Tikijian, Office Manager/Controller12501 Road 19, Madera, CA 93637Email [email protected]

Office 559-664-8863Fax 559-664-8221

• Orchard/Vineyard Removal• Grinding • Ripping

• All Aspects of Land Devlopment



John Yergat, President12501 Road 19, Madera, CA 93637Email [email protected]

Office 559-664-8863Cell 559-960-6791Fax 559-664-8221

Jason Tikijian, Office Manager/Controller12501 Road 19, Madera, CA 93637Email [email protected]

Office 559-664-8863Fax 559-664-8221





John Yergat, President12501 Road 19, Madera, CA 93637Email [email protected]

Office 559-664-8863Cell 559-960-6791Fax 559-664-8221 61

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To enterSubmit up to five print or high-resolution digital photos. Enter online or

postmark by the deadline: Sept. 30. Go to www.cfbf.com/photo-contest

to find rules and forms, enter or see past winners. Or call 916-561-5550 for

entry forms and rules.

Take your best shot!Snap a photo of anything that celebrates California agriculture, such as:

• Fresh food, plated or in the field• Rural scenery• Animals, crops and harvests• Life, work and family on the farm or ranch

Any amateur photographer who is a member of a county Farm Bureau in California or a contributing member of the California Bountiful Foundation can

participate. Join at www.cfbf.com/join or www.californiabountiful.org.

FRESH PERSPECTIVE

PHOTOCONTEST

2016

PRIZESAll agesGrand Prize − $1,000

First Place − $500

Second Place − $250

Third Place − $100

Honorable Mention (six winners) − $50

Budding Artists (ages 13 and younger)



$1,000Grand Prize for your

FRESH PERSPECTIVE

on California agriculture









FRESH PERSPECTIVE

PHOTOCONTEST

2016










FRESH PERSPECTIVE










FRESH PERSPECTIVE

PHOTOCONTEST

2016










FRESH PERSPECTIVE










FRESH PERSPECTIVE

PHOTOCONTEST

2016










FRESH PERSPECTIVE


Customers can help prevent property damage, power outages and wildfires by inspecting trees on their property. PG&E will remove dead, dying or diseased trees near high-voltage power lines for free. Customers can report a hazardous tree by calling PG&E at 1-800-743-5000. To learn about how PG&E is working to improve service reliability and power line safety click here.

PG&E is subcontracting the debris management work to Phillips and Jordan, a nationally-recognized civil contractor. Phillips and Jordan special-izes in emergency response, disaster cleanup and debris management, and led debris disposal after Hurricane Katrina and the Butte Fire.

PG&E and Phillips and Jordan are identifying sort yard sites where they can haul the debris. At the sorting sites, the debris may be processed into biomass chips, cut into useable lengths for making lumber, or hauled away for animal bedding shavings or fiberboard chips.

PG&EContinued from Page 11

madera county farm bureau · madera downtown association. booth info available by calling...

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