By Tim Hearden

A continued lack of water availability is causing field crop acreages in California to dip even lower than expected, government and industry representatives say.

Rice acreage in California is now expected to top out at 385,000, a steep drop from the 431,000 acres of rice harvested last year, according to a USDA field crop report.

The actual acreage may end up being lower, cautions Charley Mathews, a Marysville, Calif., grower and member of the USA Rice Federation’s executive committee.

“The industry number we’ve been using is between 350,000 and 375,000,” Mathews said. “I think they (the USDA) started off kind of high.”

Early this spring, farmers told the National Agricultural Statistics Service they intended to seed rice on 408,000 acres, or 6 percent below the acreage seeded in 2014. However, NASS now expects medium- and short-grain rice acreage in California to decrease by 11 percent and 9 percent, respectively, from 2014, its updated field crop report states.

Nationwide, areas planted to rice in 2015 are estimated at 2.77 million acres, down 6 percent from last year, because of lower price expectations this year, according to NASS.

Water uncertainties amid a fourth straight year of drought have continued to fluster growers, particularly along the Sacramento River in Northern California. With regulators wanting to keep enough water in the river for migrating fish, many growers had to wait for deliveries before they could start planting in late April.

Recently, the federal government’s need to keep cold water in Shasta Lake for fish has further complicated the timing and quantity of remaining deliveries to settlement contractors along the river.

“There’s kind of a worry that it’ll decrease their diversions,” Mathews said.

Rice is one of several field crops in California showing sharp acreage declines this year, according to the report. Among others:

• Corn acreage in the Golden State is estimated at 430,000 acres, down from 520,000 acres a year ago. Corn planted nationwide totals 88.9 million acres, down 2 percent from last year.

• California’s 51,000 acres of cotton are down from the 56,000 acres harvested in the state last year.

• Growers have planted 35,000 acres of sunflower in California this year, down from 44,000 acres last year.

The declines come as growers with limited water have sacrificed some annual plantings to concentrate on perennial crops, such as nut orchards, they have said.

For the area survey, NASS officials visited randomly selected tracts of land and interviewed growers in early June, according to a news release.

NASS crop acreage report: http://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/acrg0615.pdf

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By Lesley McClurg

As the drought continues and the weather heats up, California farmers are grappling with how to allocate dwindling water supplies.

Patrick Dosier, an independent agronomist and agriculture tech consultant, says smartphone or tablet apps can help with water efficiency.

“If you can think of your irrigation water supply as your savings account and checking account, you’re basically running at a deficit right now,” says Dosier. “An app can do the accounting for you, and help you to spend your limited resource more wisely.”

Dosier says there are a growing number of apps that can help farmers monitor equipment, track labor and manage farms remotely.

Anne Burkholder is a soil scientist. She’s standing in an alfalfa field in Davis that has an unusual large dead patch in the middle of it.

“Basically the alfalfa is maybe five inches tall, and it’s really yellow and crunchy right here where we’re walking,” says Burkholder.

She pulls out her smartphone and clicks on an app called SoilWeb to see what’s going on. She clicks on ‘Get my location.’ The app tells her she’s standing on soil that’s very salty and alkaline called the Pescadero series.

She walks about 100 yards forward to a bright green lush section of the field.

Standing hip deep in flowering alfalfa she pulls out her phone again to check her location on the SoilWeb app.

“It pops up that we are on the Yolo series,” says Burkholder. “And, it gives me a picture as well. It’s called a ‘pedon,’ which is a 3-D representation of the soil under the ground.”

Burkholder says the Yolo series soil type is much better for growing crops.

The app has identified why one section of the field is producing well, and another not all.

Back in the office, Burkholder clicks through reams of digital data, graphs and maps to learn more about the two types of soil.

At the iPhone app store, there are nearly 900 apps related to agriculture.

“The current generation of young farmers that are going to inherit the operations all have smartphones, they all have tablets,” says Patrick Dosier. “And, they’re scanning for the new product that’s coming their way that’s going to help them be more efficient.”

Dosier organizes a hackathon called Apps for Ag. This year’s event is in Davis in the fall.

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The latest segment in the Growing California video series, a partnership with California Grown, is “Friends of the Range,” a profile of a brother-sister ranching partnership and their extensive family history in Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

By Karen Rifkin

The Mendo-Lake Food Hub, a grant-funded program initiated by North Coast Opportunities to connect local farmers with local retailers and restaurants in order to meet the growing demand for local food, is up and running.

Coordinator John Bailey, the man at the helm, explains that the program is funded by a two-year, nine-month grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program), developed and written by NCO employees Susan Lightfoot, Miles Gordon and Patty Bruder.

“It originated from the Farm to Fork grant to help create the connections and infrastructure for local foods to be used in food processing at local schools—to re-establish the knowledge and equipment to deliver fresh food.

“From this came the knowledge that a lot of farmers were struggling to get food to the market. The next step was to establish these connections and a base to create a system that can work and keep on working,” he says.

Many local growers earn retail dollars at farmers markets but there are only so many people who go there, and most food that is eaten is not bought at a farmers market.

Bailey asks, “How do we help smaller local farmers get into places where most food is bought and consumed?”

Lake and Mendocino counties are spread out, with a small population base and a lot of small farms, some of which are hours away from food centers.

“We are talking about one- to five-acre farms, maybe 10,” he says.

Lightfoot created a database of information and researched other food hub models throughout the country. Many food hubs have sprung up over the past 15 years, and in the last five years many more have been developed to figure out how to revitalize local food systems.

A traditional food hub model is a vegetable distributor with a main warehouse, trucks and full time staff.

“You need a million dollars a year gross revenue to make that model work,” says Bailey.

In working out the puzzle pieces, individuals were interviewed and it was determined that barriers for suppliers were transportation and cold storage and for buyers they did not know who the farmers were or what they had for sale.

Bailey connected with Josh Cavender, a Mendocino coast producer who was already distributing produce on the coast that he purchased from wholesale markets down south.

They came to an agreement, per box, for Cavender to carry local produce from farmers in Fort Bragg to retailers in Willits and Ukiah on his regular trip south. From there the produce is delivered to retailers in smaller vehicles.

John Foster Trucking is in the process of creating the nodes, retrofitting 30-foot shipping containers complete with insulation, a roof, refrigeration and internal lights. The Kelseyville node is up and running; the Willits and Ukiah nodes will be in place next; and the Caspar node will be there in late July.

The nodes have two temperatures, one in the mid to high 30s for leafy greens and one a bit higher with temperatures in the mid to high 50s for watermelon, peppers and tomatoes.

Additionally, Gowan Orchards has offered to make part of its cold storage available if needed.

The website—www.mendolakefoodhub.com— a fully functional shopping cart, provides a sales platform for farmers to display their produce and for buyers to purchase by the case. It is open for buying clubs, restaurants and grocery stores.

“Our biggest goal is to support local food systems, our local farmers selling fruits, vegetables and nuts,” says Bailey.

Produce is available from conventional growers; no spray; Mendocino Renegade, a local certification that conforms to organic standards, certified by a committee of farmers with less paperwork at a lower cost; and fully certified USDA organic.

“Young people who get into farming do it for a few years, realize they cannot make a go of it and give up. I operated a row crop farm in Potter Valley for four years; it was very hard to sell my produce wholesale and the farmers market did not bring in enough money. I didn’t see a future in it. This kind of system can make it viable. Farmers can make retail dollars at the farmers market and sell wholesale without having to drive everywhere.

“Independent farmers are the bedrock of American democracy and tradition. We have to have those independent voices that know what it takes to make a living off the land and supply food to people. Without that kind of link to the land and our tradition, we risk losing something valuable for our culture. The healthy food is part of it but there is a deeper cultural importance to independent farming,” he says.

Local farmers participating include: Lovin’ Mama, Covelo Organic, Irene’s Garden, Sky Hoyt, Fortunate Farm, Black Dog, Seely’s Farm Stand, and more are being added every week.

Buyers so far include Harvest Market in Fort Bragg and Mendocino, Ukiah Co-op, Taste Buds, Saucy, and Patrona. In addition, Lake County Public Health is purchasing through the Hub for its Harvest of the Month program. The number of producers and buyers is expected to climb in the coming weeks.

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Link to CDFA Specialty Crop Block Grant Page

By Alysson Aredas

To the Stanislaus County Area Agency on Aging, a coupon is more than just a piece of paper.

Rather, the Seniors Farmers Market coupon booklet the organization has distributed to local seniors for over a decade helps promote healthy eating amongst older adults and provides an economic boost to local farmers.

“I think it’s a win-win for us,” said Agency on Aging manager Jill Erickson. “It serves as a farmer subsidy by encouraging people to shop in Stanislaus County and it also helps seniors eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

“We aim to help seniors with low income especially, since the first thing they often omit from their budget is fresh fruits and vegetables,” added Erickson.

Although the Stanislaus County Area Agency on Aging will be handling distribution, the coupons are made available through the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program.

“The California Department of Food and Agriculture teamed up with the Department of Aging so that they can help promote seniors eating more fresh fruits and vegetables while also promoting farmers markets in order to get more fresh fruits and vegetables at markets,” explained Erickson.

The program provides low-income seniors with check booklets that can be applied towards purchases of fresh fruits, vegetables, cut herb and honey at Certified Farmers Markets. Each booklet contains $20 worth of coupons.

To be eligible to receive a coupon booklet, seniors must be 60 years and older, live in Stanislaus County and have a limited income of $1,800 per month or less for an individual and $2,426 per month or less for a household of two. Only one booklet can be obtained for each eligible senior on an annual basis.

Note – Distribution of coupon booklets has already begun in Stanislaus County and will continue at the Oakdale Farmers Market on July 1 and the Hughson Farmers Market on July 9.  Distribution is also underway statewide.  For more information contact your Local Area Agency on Aging office.

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