A new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report shows use of no-till, crop rotations, more efficient irrigation methods and advanced technologies have climbed in recent years.
The report from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) demonstrates progress made through voluntary conservation over a 10-year period. Findings from the report will inform future conservation strategies, including USDA’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
“This latest CEAP report shows that farmers have done an outstanding job over the years in using innovative conservation strategies that help mitigate climate change,” said NRCS Chief Terry Cosby, “But we have more work to do. Reports like this one help us better understand conservation approaches and make improvements to increase positive impacts. This report will help steer our conservation efforts well into the future to help us adapt to changing trends in production, climate and technology.”
Key findings include:
Farmers increasingly adopted advanced technology, including enhanced-efficiency fertilizers and variable rate fertilization to improve efficiency, assist agricultural economies and benefit the environment.
More efficient conservation tillage systems, particularly no-till, became the dominant form of tillage, improving soil health and reducing fuel use.
Use of structural practices increased, largely in combination with conservation tillage as farmers increasingly integrated conservation treatments to gain efficiencies. Structural practices include terraces, filter and buffer strips, grassed waterways and field borders.
Irrigation expanded in more humid areas, and as irrigators shifted to more efficient systems and improved water management strategies, per-acre water application rates decreased by 19% and withdrawals by 7 million-acre-feet.
Nearly 70% of cultivated cropland had conservation crop rotations, and 28% had high-biomass conservation crop rotations.
Because of this increased conservation, the report estimates:
Average annual water (sheet and rill) and wind erosion dropped by 70 million and 94 million tons, respectively, and edge-of-field sediment loss declined by 74 million tons.
Nearly 26 million additional acres of cultivated cropland were gaining soil carbon, and carbon gains on all cultivated cropland increased by over 8.8 million tons per year.
Nitrogen and phosphorus losses through surface runoff declined by 3% and 6%, respectively.
Average annual fuel use dropped by 110 million gallons of diesel fuel equivalents, avoiding associated greenhouse gas emissions of nearly 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.
About the Report
For this report, farmer survey data was collected from 2003-2006 and again from 2013-2016. NRCS evaluates conservation practice adoption through the CEAP Cropland Assessment, using a combination of farmer surveys, land use and soils information, along with resource models. CEAP project findings are used to guide USDA conservation policy and program development, along with assisting conservationists, farmers and ranchers and other land stewards with making sound and science-based conservation decisions.
CDFA Secretary Karen Ross today reconvened the department’s Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) policy mission in Western Cape, South Africa with a virtual signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two entities.
The MOU galvanizes further international collaboration on CSA between Western Cape and CDFA.
“California is pleased to join the Western Cape in furthering opportunities for farmers and ranchers in climate smart agriculture,” said Secretary Ross.“Our shared commitment to connect farmers, academia and government will help to expand on-farm adaptation of practices that benefit our natural and working lands.”
Secretary Ross was joined by the Western Cape Provincial Government Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Ivan Meyer, who also took part in the signing. Other dignitaries present for the signing and information-sharing dialog included Western Cape Provincial Premier Alan Winde; U.S. Acting Consul General, Cape Town Will Stevens; and USDA/FAS Minister Counselor US Embassy (Pretoria), Ali Abdi.
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MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN
THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OF THE PROVINCE OF THE WESTERN CAPE OF SOUTH AFRICA
AND
THE DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The Western Cape Department of Agriculture and the California Department of Food and Agriculture, hereinafter referred to as “the Participants”, agree as follows;
WHEREAS The agricultural sector in the Western Cape and California share many similarities and challenges related to production, climate, and soils. As Mediterranean climates, both regions are important to global food production and security;
AND CONSIDERING the strategic role of agriculture in addressing current global, national, regional, and local food security needs and environmental challenges, the Participants are committed to ensuring that local agricultural sectors stay competitive in an evolving national and international marketplace, while continuously adapting on-farm practices to address climate change;
WHEREAS ongoing collaboration between the Participants will help to inform on climate smart agricultural practices through exchanges and connections between farmers, ranchers, academia and government.
WHEREAS The goals of this agreement are to:
Exchange information on climate change mitigation and best practices within the agricultural sector.
Connect academic institutions to further research and collaboration on water-use efficiency in the agricultural sector
Further the use and availability of climate smart agricultural technology and on-farm practices to improve soil health, water-use efficiency, and modeling to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Therefore, the Participants have reached the following understanding:
SECTION I
Objective
The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to establish a flexible framework between the Participants in order to permit them to promote mutually beneficial relationships in the collaboration and exchange of information related to climate smart agriculture. In doing so, the Participants share the following common objectives:
Expand the exchange of information, on-farm practices and technologies to support a robust and climate resilient agricultural sector;
Work collaboratively to further international engagement by sub-national governments on climate smart agricultural initiatives;
SECTION ll
Areas of Cooperation
The Participants intend to expand the exchange of information, on-farm practices and technologies to support a robust and climate resilient agricultural sector, through initiatives focused particularly on, but not limited to, the following areas of cooperation:
Improve water-use efficiency with specific reference to groundwater modeling and remote sensing;
Modeling the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector;
Exchange of information regarding policies and regulations, governance models, and documentation;
Intergovernmental and international visits involving policymakers, regulators, academic institutions, and businesses;
Joint activities such as organization of and participation in seminars, workshops, and meetings to share information and practices, educate key stakeholders, and promote ties between our two agricultural sectors twice annually;
Facilitation of innovative partnerships, bringing together parties from public, private and academic entities, bilaterally or multilaterally, to co-develop new technologies and solutions.
SECTION lll
Coordination
The Participants respectively designate the Office of Business Planning and Strategy of the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and the [Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation at the Department of Food and Agriculture at the State of California] to establish the creation of an action plan to implement the objectives of this Memorandum of Understanding.
SECTION IV
Specific Activities
Specific activities to achieve the objectives of this Memorandum of Understanding for the key sectors and initiatives identified in Section II may include:
SECTION VI
No Legal Obligations, Rights, or Remedies
This Memorandum of Understanding is a voluntary initiative. It does not create any legally binding rights or obligations and creates no legally cognizable or enforceable rights or remedies, legal or equitable, in any forum whatsoever. In addition, the pledges in this Memorandum of Understanding are not conditioned upon reciprocal actions by other Participants; each Participant retains full discretion over implementation of its pledges in light of the Participant’s individual circumstances, laws, and policies; and each Participant is free to withdraw from the Memorandum.
SECTION VII
Availability of Personnel and Resources
This Memorandum of Understanding does not involve the exchange of funds, nor does it represent any obligation of funds by either Participant. All costs that may arise from activities covered by, mentioned in, or pursuant to this Memorandum of Understanding will be assumed by the Participant who incurs them, unless otherwise expressly agreed in a future written arrangement in accordance with applicable laws. All activities undertaken pursuant to this Memorandum of Understanding are subject to the availability of funds, personnel and other resources of each Participant.
The personnel designated by a Participant for the execution of this Memorandum of Understanding will work under the orders and responsibility of that Participant and any other organization or institution to which the personnel already belongs, at all times maintaining any preexisting employment relationship only with that Participant and organization or institution, and not with any other Participant.
Any difference that may arise in relation to the interpretation or application of this Memorandum of Understanding will be resolved through consultations between the Participants, who will endeavor in good faith to resolve such differences.
SECTION X
Final Provisions
This Memorandum of Understanding is effective from the date of its signature, for a five year period, unless renewed or extended by the Participants in the same manner that the Participants may otherwise modify this Memorandum of Understanding.
This Memorandum of Understanding may be modified at any time by mutual consent of the Participants. Any modification shall be made in writing and specify the date on which such modification is to become effective.
Any of the Participants may, at any time, withdraw from this Memorandum of Understanding by providing a written notice to the other Participant(s). A Participant who intends to withdraw from this MOU shall endeavor to provide notice of such withdrawal to other Participants [30] days in advance.
The termination of this Memorandum of Understanding shall not affect the conclusion of the cooperation activities that may have been initiated during the time this Memorandum of Understanding is in effect, unless the Participants mutually decide otherwise.
Signed in Cape Town, South Africa and Sacramento, California on Friday, March 11, 2022, in two original copies in English.
FOR THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE OF THE WESTERN CAPE GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH AFRICA
FOR THE SECRETARY OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Tucked behind the First Congregational Church, in one of Santa Ana’s oldest neighborhoods, are verdant rows of spinach, Brussels sprouts and other leafy greens dotted with the orange hues of marigolds.
Six-year-old Diana Bautista, a mainstay and unofficial tour guide at the CRECE Urban Farms Co-op in the Orange County city, takes care of the lavender, tends to the oyster mushrooms and teaches patrons the difference between the fragrant and not-so-fragrant herbs.
“We help the plants, and the plants help us,” she said.
Founded in 2016 as a farming co-op by Abel Ruiz, Valeria Esqueda, Emanuel Presiado and Diana’s father, Jaime Bautista, the CRECE garden had a simple goal: to give back to the city through food. The operation serves a steady clientele of local customers by providing produce staples that they can pick up at the farm.
Serving its low-income immigrant community, CRECE represents just a small part of urban farming ventures—from modest community co-ops to larger-scale agriculture—that are now thriving in many California cities.
The ventures have been helped along in part due to 2014 California legislation, Assembly Bill 551, which allowed cities to create urban agricultural incentive zones that offer tax incentives for urban farmers.
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom also allocated $12 million to jump-start the state’s first-ever Urban Agriculture Program. These days, the University of California’s Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program provides educational resources and technical assistance for city agriculture.
“Urban farmers can bridge gaps between their more peri-urban and rural counterparts and inner-city food supply needs, serve as community food systems leaders and support healthy retail opportunities at the micro and small scale,” said Rob Bennaton, an urban agriculture advisor for UC Cooperative Extension, which includes the sustainable agriculture program.
To be certain, expansive rural farms in California’s traditional agricultural economy provide the overwhelming share of produce in urban markets and food banks. But inner-city farms provide a convenient, healthy produce niche in communities with a dearth of nearby grocery stores. They can also foster a close relationship between farms and customers.
Over 1 million Californians, many from low-income communities, live without easy access to fresh food, according to California FreshWorks, a grant and loan program that provides financing for urban food producers.
“It’s a very common story to be growing up in neighborhoods where a bunch of liquor stores and junk-food places are everywhere, more so than in the more affluent sides of town,” said Ruiz, a driving force behind the CRECE farm.
The farm provides everything from kohlrabi to kale, which Ruiz said is one of its most popular produce items. CRECE also runs a small-scale crop-swapping program, through which people exchange fruit from their yards for farm-grown leafy greens.
The urban garden also grows produce of specific cultural interest to its neighbors in Santa Ana, which has a large population of immigrants from Mexico. Among its selections are prickly-pear cactus and pitayas, both of which are native to Mexico but grow well under the Southern California sun.
Globally, the urban farming market accounted for $213 billion out of the world’s $5.5 trillion agricultural industry in 2020, and is projected to increase as populations grow, according to IndustryARC, a market research firm. Advocates say it is a natural for California, which boasts both America’s largest agricultural economy and its greatest concentration of cities.
According to UC Agriculture and Natural Resources research, urban farms can stimulate local economies, promote local job creation, help people save on food and potentially serve as incubators for growing businesses and technologies.
Open Silo, a nonprofit organization that provides educational resources and assistance for urban agriculture in Los Angeles County, now lists 18 client farms including in Compton, Boyle Heights, El Monte, Long Beach, Whittier, Vernon and Bell.
In East San Jose, the 6-acre Veggielution farm started in 2008 and benefited in the years since from technical advice from UC urban agriculture farm advisors “who are able to help us through any questions we have,” said Emily Schwing, the farm’s public affairs director.
In the past two years, Veggielution has partnered with other community farms and workers to grow $6 million in produce for the local food ecosystem. Schwing said the urban farms are providing food as well as “compensating and contributing to the economic well-being of those who are growing our produce and driving the produce to us.”
Urban agriculturalists say the pandemic likely helped sprout a wider appeal for their farms as people took to eating more at home and looked for easy-to-obtain local produce. Some urban gardens also stepped up with additional provisions as California food banks reported increased demand amid the pandemic. And many inner-city farmers who worked in wholesale pivoted toward community-supported agriculture after pandemic-related restaurant closures.
“I think there was a feeling of safety in the local food supply chain, and in particular in (community-supported agriculture) because the relationship with your farmers is so much more close,” said Julia Van Soelen Kim, North Bay food systems advisor for UCCE.
Veggielution recently transitioned to a farm box donation model to help families in the low-income Mayfair neighborhood of East San Jose. Many families included members who were medically vulnerable to COVID or became unemployed due to the pandemic.
What began as a 40-person program two years ago has now ballooned to hundreds of patrons, with 500 individuals benefiting from the program by next summer, Schwing estimated. Veggielution is providing community members with vegetables such as lettuce, radishes, carrots and beets.
Schwing said nonprofits such as Veggielution help connect residents to what they eat by providing them food grown in their own neighborhoods.
When Ruiz co-founded CRECE Urban Farms in Santa Ana, he brought with him a knowledge of gardening that many immigrants know from traditional growing practices back home. From learning how to farm from his grandparents in the small town of Tlachichila in Mexico to helping feed residents of Santa Ana, Ruiz has spent his life working around food.
“I was able to fill in that gap between my childhood and what I want to do with what I am doing now for a living,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz said he and his team members take their mission to heart and are working toward obtaining land for more urban farms throughout the city, and they’ve already acquired some property through a land trust. He said they also want to start wide-scale fruit exchanges, start operating an aquaponics system and plant more culturally relevant foods such as quelites, wild greens native to Mexico, and amaranth.
“I really look forward to that,” Ruiz said, “(to) being able to incorporate plants that not even the stores have.”
Today is International Women’s Day, and March is Women’s History Month, and CDFA would like to highlight and recognize the substantial contributions of women farmers in our state. According to the USDA’s Census of Agriculture, California’s 46,235 farming and ranching women account for 10.9 million acres and $15.6 billion in agriculture sales.
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in California is encouraging producers to sign up for a special cover crop initiative offered through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). Interested producers can apply and final selections will be made by March 10, 2022.
NRCS previously announced that it is providing $6.8 million in fiscal year 2022 for the utilization of Cover Crops on agricultural land throughout California as part of a targeted effort to improve soil health through EQIP. Cover crops can provide a multitude of benefits including reduction of soil erosion, increasing soil organic matter, managing soil moisture, suppressing weeds, and increasing biodiversity. Through this voluntary conservation program, NRCS can support the goals of agricultural producers throughout the state and increase the critical benefits that cover crops provide. More information on EQIP and the initiative can be found here.
This initiative will accelerate such outcomes by incentivizing the implementation of conservation practice standard 340 Cover Crop through a rapid and streamlined contracting process. Applicants must have farm records established with their local Farm Service Agency and meet all eligibility criteria to be considered for selection.
NRCS is a federal agency that works in partnership with resource conservation districts and other conservation partners. With the mission of “Helping People Help the Land,” NRCS provides products and services that enable people to be good stewards of the nation’s soil, water, and related natural resources on non-federal lands. More information on NRCS’ products and services can be found on the NRCS California web site at www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov.
Whether you are a California resident, a visiting tourist, or you own a company that does business in the state, you engage daily in transactions that include weighing, measurement or counting using a commercial weighing or measuring device. It is crucial that commercial scales and meters are accurate.
Take vehicle fuel for example. California consumers are currently paying an average of $4.79 per gallon for regular gasoline. That’s a $1.10 increase in one year. While the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Division of Measurement Standards (DMS) cannot control the prices of fuel, DMS can help ensure that each motorist who buys gas gets exactly what they pay for. DMS partners with county offices of weights and measures to test dispenser accuracy at approximately10,000 fueling stations in California. State and county officials also check pricing on dispensers and street sign advertising to make sure they match. In addition, DMS operates two laboratories that analyze fuel, lubricants, and other automotive products for quality purposes.
California leads the nation in the adoption of alternative transportation options, including fuel cell electric and battery electric vehicles (EVs). As Californians embrace EVs, state and county weights and measures officials are expanding their testing programs to ensure that electric charging stations and hydrogen dispensers are operating correctly and to protect consumers and businesses.
Supply chain issues, labor shortages, and other factors have disrupted nearly every facet of the marketplace. Right now, grocery prices are another focal point for consumers. Isn’t it good to know then that somebody is checking the accuracy of grocery scales, checking packages to make sure they contain the correct amount, and conducting pricing checks throughout stores? Weights and measures officials in California’s 58 counties are actively doing these checks throughout the year.
There are more than 1.8 million commercial weighing and measuring devices in the state. Everything gets checked; from retail water dispensers, farmers market scales and propane meters all the way to truck and railroad scales.
National Weights and Measures Week, every March 1 – 7, is recognized to celebrate the first U.S. weights and measures law signed by President John Adams in 1799. The theme for 2022, “For the Sake of Equity,” addresses the importance of equity in commerce for both the consumer and seller. This week is an opportunity to remember that behind each commercial transaction there are people dedicated to preserving and defending our established standards of measurement.
In-depth study will interview more than 500 truck drivers to examine critical link in supply chain and state’s economy
California agencies overseeing agriculture, business, labor and transportation are commissioning a study to examine the unique aspects of agricultural trucking in the state and provide policy recommendations to address longstanding driver recruitment and retention issues that have worsened since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study led by Dr. Steve Viscelli of the University of Pennsylvania – in partnership with the UC Berkeley Labor Center, the UC Davis Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, and the UC Merced Community and Labor Center – will provide the first in-depth look at the labor market for agricultural truck drivers in California. Jointly funded by the California Workforce Development Board, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), and the California State Transportation Agency, the study is expected to be completed in mid-2023.
“Agriculture is one of the primary engines powering the fifth-largest economy in the world – contributing tens of billions of dollars every year to California – and this research will be critical to maintaining that competitive edge,” said the Governor’s Chief Economic and Business Advisor and Director of GO-Biz Dee Dee Myers.
“People all over the world enjoy California-grown crops every day, and that journey begins from the field in a truck,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Hauling crops is a vital piece of the supply chain, and this study will help explore ways to make those jobs more desirable.”
“With more than 480,000 Class A commercial driver’s license holders in California, we know the problem is less a lack of available workers and more about attracting and retaining talent,” said Natalie Palugyai, Secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. “This study will add critical insight and provide policy recommendations to improve recruitment, reduce turnover and stabilize the industry.”
As part of the study, Dr. Viscelli will lead a team of researchers conducting surveys and in-depth interviews in multiple languages with more than 500 truck drivers, along with agricultural shippers, trucking carriers and other stakeholders. They will also observe workers hauling a variety of crops and visit processing and packing facilities that handle multiple crops to understand the unique characteristics of the job.
While focused on the perspective of agricultural truck drivers in California, the study also will put the findings in context with the broader industry and national truck driver labor market.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for in-depth research on every link in the supply chain, particularly the long-haul trucking industry and hearing directly from the drivers,” said Dr. Viscelli, whose work has been cited by the White House Supply Chain Task Force. “There has not been a study of this workforce anywhere in the U.S. in almost 30 years, and California’s nation-leading agriculture sector provides unparalleled conditions for this much-needed research to find a better way forward.”
California’s agriculture producers have been facing challenges recruiting and retaining truck drivers for decades, which the COVID-19 pandemic only intensified as part of broader supply chain disruptions. Unlike most other trucking jobs, hauling agricultural commodities often is seasonal and can require specialized equipment. California’s nation-leading variety of 400-plus different crops and livestock commodities creates additional layers of complexity and further illustrates the need for a close examination of the sector’s unique characteristics, employer challenges and workforce barriers.
“California’s agricultural trucking sector sits at the intersection of transportation, commerce and labor, and I thank my fellow agency leaders for coming together to fund this study so we can better understand the complexities of this critical industry and help its workforce and our economy thrive,” said Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency.
Beekeeper Helio Medina displays a beehive frame outfitted with a GPS locator in Woodland CA. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)
By Daisy Nguyen
For a few frenzied weeks, beekeepers from around the country truck billions of honeybees to California to rent them to almond growers, who need the insects to pollinate the state’s most valuable crop.
But as almond trees start to bloom, blanketing entire valleys in white and pink flowers, so begin the beehive thefts that have become so prevalent that beekeepers are now turning to GPS tracking devices, surveillance cameras and other anti-theft technology to protect their precious colonies.
Hive thefts have been reported elsewhere in the country, most recently three hives containing about 60,000 bees taken from a grocery chain’s garden in central Pennsylvania. They happen at a larger scale and uniquely in California this time of year because bees are most in demand during the largest pollination event in the world.
In the last few weeks, 1,036 beehives worth hundreds of thousands of dollars were reported stolen from orchards statewide, authorities said. The largest heist involved 384 beehives taken from a field in Mendocino County, prompting the state beekeepers association to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to their recovery.
“It’s hard to articulate how it feels to care for your hives all year only to have them stolen from you,” Claire Tauzer wrote on Facebook to spread the word about the reward. A day later, an anonymous tipster led authorities to recover most of the boxes and a forklift stolen from Tauzer’s family business some 55 miles away, at a rural property in Yolo County. One suspect was arrested.
Investigators also found frames, of the kind used to hold honeycombs, belonging to Helio Medina, another beekeeper who lost 282 hives a year ago.
Medina said the theft devastated his apiary, so this year he placed GPS trackers inside the boxes. He also strapped cable locks around them and installed cameras nearby. As the almond bloom approached and the hives became most valuable, he drove around patrolling the orchards in the dark.
“We have to do what we can to protect ourselves. Nobody can help us,” Medina said.
Thefts usually happen at night, when no one is in the orchard and the bees are back in their hives. The rustler is usually a beekeeper or someone familiar with the transportation of bees.
“More often than not, they steal to make money and leave the bees to die,” said Rowdy Jay Freeman, a Butte County sheriff’s detective who has been keeping track of hive thefts since 2013.
A tightening supply of bees and soaring pollination fees — jumping from less than $50 to rent a hive two decades ago to as much as $230 per hive this year — are likely motivating some beekeepers to go rogue.
The demand for bees has steadily risen over the last 20 years as the popularity of almonds turned California into the world’s biggest producer of the healthy, crunchy nut. Accordingly, the amount of land used to grow almonds has more than doubled to an estimated 1.3 million acres.
Beekeepers have been keeping up with that growth by providing an ever-increasing proportion of the nation’s available stock of hives. This year, a survey of commercial beekeepers estimated that it would take 90% of honeybee colonies in the U.S. to pollinate all the almond orchards.
“What that means is that beekeepers are coming from as far as New York and Florida, and to get them to come all that way, pollinator fees have to rise,” said Brittney Goodrich, an agricultural economist at UC Davis.
The drought that gripped Western states last summer also weakened colonies. The lack of rain ravaged wildflowers that provide the nectar that bees turn into honey. Beekeepers had to artificially supplement their diet with sugar solutions and pollen substitutes — and incur more costs.
For beekeepers, the loss of a hive means the loss of income from honey production and future pollination, not to mention the expense of managing the hive throughout the year. They say they hardly break even.
“For every $210 paid to rent a beehive, we put close to that much into it the whole year feeding the bees because of drought. We do all the health checks, which is labor-intensive, and we pay our workers full benefits,” Tauzer said.
Denise Qualls, a pollination broker who connects beekeepers with growers, suspects the thefts are happening because some beekeepers can’t provide the strong colonies they promised and therefore turn to stealing. The thieving beekeepers sell their loot and collect the money from the grower, “and then they leave the hives,” Qualls said.
“The grower is just as responsible when they accept them,” she said.
To help her clients track their investments, Qualls merged her business with tech startup Bee Hero to equip hive boxes with a GPS-enabled sensor.
Freeman, who got into beekeeping after investigating his first hive theft, said he advises beekeepers to use security cameras and put their names and phone numbers on the boxes.
He said some beekeepers have tried tagging their boxes with SmartWater CSI, a forensic tool used to help police trace recover stolen property. The clear liquid is visible only under UV light, even through layers of paint, so police can ascertain the rightful owner even when thieves try to disguise boxes.
To raise the crime’s severity, Freeman worked with prosecutors in 2016 to charge a man accused of stealing 64 beehives with theft of livestock. Under California law, theft of property worth $950 or less is classified as a misdemeanor. But the theft of any agricultural product worth at least $250 is considered a felony.
“Stealing one or 10 or 100 hives would result in the same charge,” he said.
The man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years’ probation.
The California State Beekeepers’ Assn. urges beekeepers to communicate regularly with growers about where their hives are placed, and encourages growers to hire reputable beekeepers who can show proof of ownership of their hives.
The almond industry, meanwhile, is trying to reduce its dependence on bees by growing “self fertile” almond varieties that require fewer bees for pollination and by investing in research and other initiatives aimed at improving their health.
The Almond Board of California also joined a coalition of agricultural, environmental and government groups to create habitat for wild bees, butterflies and other pollinators on privately owned working lands such as cattle ranches and orchards. The state government is funding $15 million toward the effort, calling it an investment in “climate smart agriculture.”
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Inspection Services Division Director Natalie Krout-Greenberg (back row, center) met in Sacramento this week with Future Farmers of America (FFA) students from throughout California participating in the Sacramento Leadership Experience (SLE) during FFA Week. Students participating in the week-long event step into the role of a California legislator to learn about the intersections of government, agriculture policy and advocacy. Krout-Greenberg, an FFA alumnus, visited with students about their key interest points, CDFA’s broad mission, and the role of the Inspection Services Division.
In 2021, the drought cost the California agriculture sector about $1.1 billion and nearly 8,750 full-time and part-time jobs, according to estimates in a new analysis led by UC Merced researchers as part of a California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)-funded research project.
The $1.5 million project partnered UC Merced with the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) to assess the impact of the drought. The project is also enhancing an existing web-based platform to examine economic impacts of drought to agriculture.
Once the effects on other economic sectors are considered, total economic impacts are estimated at $1.7 billion and 14,634 full-time and part-time jobs lost.
The Economic Impacts of the 2021 Drought on California Agriculture Preliminary Report, released today, analyzes the impacts of last year’s drought in the Central Valley, the Russian River Basin and northern intermountain valley areas. The researchers developed these preliminary estimates of economic impacts using surveys, reviews of hydrological information and remote sensing data gathered from those areas and comparing them to average conditions, as well as to the 2012-2016 drought.
The report identifies at least additional 395,000 acres of idledland — roughly 385,000 acres in the Central Valley alone with respect to pre-drought conditions due to drought-related water cutbacks.
Several regions in the Sacramento valley, the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, Tulare County and Kern County were the most affected. Other drought-affected areas include the Russian River Basin and intermountain agricultural areas in Siskiyou, Shasta and Modoc counties. The crops most significantly affected by increased fallowing include rice in the Sacramento Valley, cotton in the San Joaquin Valley, and grain and field crops statewide.
“In comparison with the 2012-2016 drought, conditions were much worse for the Sacramento Valley and the Russian River Basin, yet the statewide impacts have not been as severe as in 2015— the deepest point in the last drought,” said School of EngineeringProfessor Josue Medellín-Azuara, lead author of the report. “Should dry conditions persist throughout 2022, a higher tier of adaptation measures may come into play to reduce economic impacts on agriculture and communities that host thousands of households relying on agriculture for living.”
The report also highlights strong commodity prices that have helped mitigate some economic costs of the 2021 drought. Milk prices rose because of global demand, raising revenues and offsetting some of the drought-related effects of higher production costs. The dairy sector also explored alternatives to hay and winter grains that, in some cases, increased cow milk productivity. The beef cattle sector also had to adapt to scarce winter pastures and higher forage prices, but the state’s beef cow herd increased, as did its share of the national cow herd, leading to potential revenue gains.
While Californians are familiar with drought, the 2020-21 water years were the second driest two years on record. Although precipitation deficits were widespread, drought conditions were more severe in the Sacramento Valley and the North Coast regions. A lack of atmospheric rivers and a below-average snowpack depleted most reservoirs and aquifers in 2021, the report states.
“This has been a fast-paced drought and it shows how climate change increases the challenges we face in managing water in California,” said researcher and co-author Alvar Escriva-Bou, an engineering and policy expert at the Public Policy Institute of California. “Sadly, we are going to see more and more droughts like this, so we need better tools to anticipate and minimize the socio-economic impacts.”
But drought is not only defined by the water supply, the researchers wrote. Warmer temperatures and already-dry conditions increased crop irrigation demands and widened the gap between water supply and irrigation needs.
“Warming has impacted seasonal water availability, namely through reducing spring snowmelt runoff and through increasing atmospheric thirst,” said Professor John Abatzoglou, climate expert and co-author in the report. “These factors in concert have intensified drought severity and impacts in the state and increased the need for actionable solutions to cope with drought.”
“This report differs from previous drought impact analyses in that it draws information from multiple areas of the state in addition to the Central Valley, and it places impacts in the context of changing climate conditions — higher temperatures, earlier irrigation needs, higher evapotranspiration — as well as SGMA implementation,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “I would like to thank our partners at UC Merced and the PPIC for this very important work and we look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts statewide as we continue to adapt to a changing climate and manage drought to mitigate impacts on agriculture and our rural communities.”
The drought hit during the early implementation of Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) sustainability plans. The Act is designed to avoid the undesirable consequences of unsustainable groundwater use. Groundwater sustainability plans for critically overdrafted basins were submitted in 2020 and plans in other priority basins are due early this year. These plans remain in progress throughout the state for these and other priority basins. California’s increasingly variable supply of surface water and overdrafted groundwater aquifers present serious challenges for meeting societal needs, the report points out.
“It is no surprise that California leans more heavily on groundwater to help meet its water supply needs during drought. SGMA is now well underway, and it is shaping how we respond to drought, especially in the Valley. Despite the very real economic impact, this report also indicates an enormous capacity for innovation and adaptation in the agricultural industry, not limited to augmenting cattle feed with almond hulls —typically a byproduct — and also direct investments in aquifer recharge techniques and technologies,” said report co-author Professor Joshua Viers. “These innovations, coupled with better information about water application and use, will ultimately help us manage scarce water supplies more effectively.”
Funded by the $1.5 million research grant from CDFA, Medellín-Azuara, Abatzoglou, Viers and Escriva-Bou have worked since last fall to develop this economic analysis, along with decision-support tools for the agriculture industry during droughts. Other authors include UC Merced Environmental Systems graduate students Spencer Cole and José M. Rodríguez-Flores and Professor Daniel A. Sumner from UC Davis.
Building on the California Comeback Plan’s $5.2 billion investment over three years to support immediate drought response and long-term water resilience, the Governor is proposing more than $300 million in the 2022-2023 state budget to bolster on-farm water efficiency and conservation through the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program; support land repurposing to deliver co-benefits for communities and the environment; provide direct water assistance; advance groundwater recharge projects across critically over-drafted basins; and provide technical assistance for the development of farm conservation management plans and groundwater management, with a focus on supporting underserved producers.
“In the weeks to come, the research team will work with its expert advisory panel, stakeholders and partner groups to update ongoing drought conditions and impacts on the agricultural sector, as well as data and assessment tools, to inform drought management and decision making,” Medellín-Azuara said.
