Planting Seeds - Food & Farming News from CDFA

Category Archives: Drought


California Department of Water Resources launches new digital tool that may help growers restore groundwater

SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has announced the public release of its new data visualization tool, the California Land Use Viewer. The tool allows Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), growers and the public to easily access both statewide … Continue reading

Posted in Drought | Leave a comment

SWEEP program among solutions for California’s small farms facing water challenges – from UC’s California Institute for Water Resources

By Faith Kearns Small farmers were hit hard by California’s drought. Perhaps none as hard as the Hmong and other Southeast Asian farmers that lease small plots of land, often with declining groundwater levels, shallow wells, and outdated irrigation systems. … Continue reading

Posted in Drought | Leave a comment

Garlic harvest brings good quality, plentiful supplies – The Packer

By Tom Burfield, The Packer Most of the U.S. fresh garlic now being harvested is coming out of California, where grower-shippers say supplies are plentiful and quality is good. “We had a great growing season,” said Bill Christopher, president of … Continue reading

Posted in Drought | Leave a comment

This quiet agricultural ‘moonshot’ could change the future of food – from the Washington Post

By Jenna Gallegos The global population is skyrocketing, the climate is changing, and diets are shifting. So how do you tackle the problem of feeding 9 billion people by 2050? Assemble an elite team of scientists for a year-long brainstorming … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Drought, Environment, Food Access | Leave a comment

New approach would better serve fish and farmers – from Ag Alert

By Justin Frederickson The remarkable success of the Butte Creek project highlighted in this issue represents a microcosm of what the new Resiliency Strategy envisions throughout the Sacramento Valley. And recent developments on the Tuolumne River, for example, suggest something … Continue reading

Posted in Drought, Environment | Leave a comment

Water in Agriculture Forum highlights cooperation between California and Israel

Today, Secretary Karen Ross and Israeli Agricultural Minister Uri Ariel signed a Letter of Intent (see below) on agricultural cooperation furthering the commitment between California and Israel in addressing issues related to a changing climate. The document was signed during the opening … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Climate Smart Agriculture, Drought | Leave a comment

Farmers look back at range of impacts from drought – From Ag Alert

By Dave Kranz, Ag Alert Lessons learned during the multi-year California drought will help farmers and ranchers cope with the next one—and those lessons extended beyond the farm to the realms of policy and public perception, according to farmers who … Continue reading

Posted in Drought | Leave a comment

Drought Documentary “State of Urgency” – milestones, lessons from California’s historic drought

On Friday, April 7, 2017, Governor Brown issued an executive order ending the drought emergency in all but a few California counties. This came about 27 months after he declared a state of drought emergency for California on January 17, … Continue reading

Posted in Drought | 1 Comment

California and Israel to co-host forum on Water and Agriculture Policy – May 25th in Sacramento

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will co-host a joint forum on shared issues related to water and agriculture. The forum will bring together Israeli and Californian government officials … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Climate Smart Agriculture, Conservation, Drought, Healthy soils, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Photos: California drought, then and now – from the San Jose Mercury News

California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared an end to the state’s water emergency following a five-year drought, thanks to a historically wet winter. Getty Images photographer Justin Sullivan recently revisited areas of California he photographed at the height of the … Continue reading

Posted in Drought | 1 Comment